Roots & Culture

In this moment of early 21st century American conceptual photography, illusionistic space is being redefined. By employing sculptural and optical illusionary techniques, a two-dimensional plane is achieved from the arrangement of three-dimensional objects. This contemporary photographic trend is explored through the reformulation of tropes and regressive framing devices oft times discussed through the vocabulary of painting. Returning to formal means to combat the figure-ground such as pattern, color fields, and frames within a frame, these photographers ruminate on the still-life tradition.  

By abstracting the image and eschewing depth of field, the compositions deny a feeling of three-dimensionality. This fractal, surrealist and syntactical combination of images within images is representative of past motifs, yet abstract and contemporary. The effect, a mise-en-abime, as if one was peering into an infinite hall of mirrors.