There is something about photography, something missing. I have had a hard time identifying exactly why, but I just can’t convince myself to give photography the same attention that I would pay to other visual art forms. When I see a beautifully composed photograph, or one with exceptional subject matter, I will stand in front of it, and I will try. I will try to get pulled into the image. I will try to stay focused, and really consider the piece. I will try, but I will usually fail.

Obviously, creating a great photograph takes a lot of planning and precision. I am not trying to claim that photography is easy, or that it is not a useful and potentially powerful form of art. Maybe it is because I spend so much time using photography as a tool to create prints or paintings. Maybe it is because I spend too much time on the internet, burning hundreds of throwaway images into my eyes each day. I don’t quite know the answer, but I default to treating photography (even the really good stuff) the same way I treat my Instagram feed. Quickly stopping in front of the ones that catch my eye, then moving on about my day without ever slowing down to collect more than an immediate impression.

Last Friday, I set out to check out the Jacob Collins show opening at Adelson Galleries here in Boston. Now, landscape and still life paintings… are not exactly my thing. This is not the kind of subject matter that would normally motivate me to get up off my couch and across town on a Friday night. In this case, I hoped to find something in Jacob’s process. By all accounts, he is a talented realist painter, and while I am not generally concerned with following traditional methods, I still know enough to see that there is a lot I can learn from them. So I headed to the show in hopes of finding some technique that really spoke to me. I wanted to be dazzled, not by his imagery, but by his process.

I left that show after not much more than a quick lap around the gallery.

Instead, I found what I was looking for in Dell Hamilton’s photographs at SubSamson. As I walked into her space (she is the current resident artist at SubSamson), Dell was describing her work to another visitor, and I was immediately pulled in. She was describing exactly the problem I had been having with so much photography. Creating a great photograph takes planning. It takes technical precision. It is not an easy process to get right, but most of the work is done before the act of actually hitting the button. A lot of what I respond to in a work of art, has to do with the process. There is a lot of magic that can happen, after the plan has been established, but before the final product is presented. The act of creating, of working through problems, of making mistakes, and then finding a way to use them to your advantage; this human touch lends an air of importance to art work, and it is missing in a most photography. In the case of the photographs Dell was showing, composing and taking the photograph was just the beginning.

She described using the initial photographs as the basis for improvisation, experimenting with traditional analog, as well as digital techniques to introduce distortions and allowing each process to leave its mark along the way. Some of the marks are identifiable, key codes from old film, dust or fingerprints collected along the way; others are harder to pin down, distortions introduced by older scanners, glitches from editing software. The resulting images combine that nostalgia for old analog mediums, with the visual ques that may one day arouse similar feelings (future nostalgia?), in a way that really sings.

The work, and Dell, really speak better for themselves, so I will simply say that I left inspired, and recommend that you pay her a visit.

Diving into the next glitch portrait today.

Tried to step up my panel game for this one.

I never really envisioned that I would end up a realist painter.

If you had asked 20 year old me, “what do you think of realist paintings?” My response would have probably been something along the lines of, “what is the point of doing something worse, that I camera can do better and faster?”

But here I am, painting portraits that can really be described no other way. That is not to say that I went quietly down this path. I have spent a lot more time and energy coming up with ways to make my paintings more graphic, less realistic, than I would ever spend focusing on learning traditional technique.

Lately, I have been struggling with this. Feeling a bit lost with where to take my work, feeling somewhat frustrated with the paintings I have been putting out. Not to say that I don’t like the pieces that I have done recently, but it has been a while since I have finished a painting, stepped back and felt satisfied. It has been a while since I stepped back and said, “yeah, that’s it.”

Now I am posting a piece that I really am satisfied with. A piece that I am truly excited about. A piece that is, by far, the most realistic painting I have ever done.

I finally decided to take my own advice. To get out of my own way and let the painting decide how it needed to be rendered. Instead of forcing my ideas about what makes an interesting painting, onto pieces that those ideas do not make sense for.

Portrait From Web, Portrait From Life #1

Nobody ever asks hang to hang my paintings in their café, restaurant, or cooperate office. That isn’t a complaint, I think it means I am on the right path.

Ok, one time someone did ask to hang paintings in their cafe.

During my short time helping to organize shows (I am going to stop well short of calling it curating), artists would frequently ask me how their work, or the exhibition, was being being received by the people visiting the gallery. Artists are, after all, just like everyone else, they want feedback to let them know whether or not they are doing a good job. Most of the time, visitor feedback was pretty simple. People wanted to support the artists, support the space, be polite, so most of the time the feedback was something along the lines of, “Looks pretty good.” Which is not really a surprise because, most of the time, the shows looked pretty good.

Occasionally though, a show, or an artist would do something really interesting. Inevitably, in these cases 75% of the people who gave me feedback would hate it.

Most of the time, if 75% of the people offering feedback just fucking HATE what you are doing, it’s a problem. The thing is, whenever this happened, the other 25% would really love it. Beyond that, I would get double, or sometimes triple the normal amount of feedback. People were actually engaged enough to drop the polite small talk and take sides. In other words, these were the most successful pieces. Unfortunately, it was always difficult to report this exciting news back to the artists. In my eyes, this is the best case scenario for art, this is the moment when it is working. But, nobody really wants to hear that 75% of the people who saw their work didn’t get it, or didn’t like it.

I still believe that the most successful art is not the stuff that everyone seems to like, it’s the stuff that gets conversations started. The best art the stuff that, love it or hate it, motivates people to take sides.

As an artist, it can be hard to live by those beliefs at times, but I am trying. So I am going to start 2016 off by celebrating the victories I have had and thanking the people who have supported what I am doing over here.

A few weeks ago, I made a decision to start doing weekly posts on my site. Not that I think everyone is really sitting around waiting to hear what I have to say but, as an artist it is important to put thought into the work you are making and be conscious of what the decisions you make with your work are communicating (or not). Right now, I have a lot going on, and writing about it is a good way to keep myself on track, and engage with anyone who happens to take an interest.

Obviously, I have already failed.

It has been weeks since I have published a blog post so, I am going to publicly state my goal so that it becomes a bit more tangible. Before I got off track with my goal of weekly posts, I started writing a little about preparing for this show but, I never finished the piece. I think in this case, putting the post off may have been a blessing in disguise because, while I have a lot to say, this show speaks best for itself.

My last text message painting is headed down to Miami this week and, will be included in a show that opens at the end of the month and includes a reception during Art Basel week. Now, I am not someone who is against the important aspect of commerce in art but, during a week when so many exhibitions will focus primarily on commerce, I am proud that my piece will be in a show that has something to say.

Details, along with a few teasers from the show below.
Help support the event, join and share the event on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/events/1253323308027943/

what’s INSIDE HER never dies… a Black Woman’s Legacy.

Nov 30th, 2015 – Feb 28th, 2016

Panel: Wednesday, Dec 2nd 1pm

Artist Reception: Saturday, Dec 5th, 10pm- till

Yeelen Gallery

294 NW 54th Street

Little Haiti, Miami 33127 954.235.4758

Patrick Earl Hammie – “F.B.J.” – oil on linen

(Miami, FL) October 2015 – Yeelen Gallery presents what’s INSIDE HER never dies…a Black Woman’s Legacy, a group exhibition curated by Karla Ferguson and in collaboration with Poets & Artists Magazine; on view through Art Basel Miami Beach week from November 30 to February 28, 2016. Bringing together a select group of like-minded artists, curators and cultural tastemakers, Yeelen celebrates the legacy and influence of the Black Woman.

“what’s INSIDE HER never dies…” will mark the three-year anniversary of Yeelen Gallery and will include a compelling body of 25 artist/activists including: Sylvia Parker Maier, Tim Okamura, Joseph Adolphe, Jerome Soimaud, and Numa Perrier. Yeelen’s annual Art Basel reception will be Saturday, December 5th from 10 pm-till attracting one of the largest constituencies of artists and influencers outside of the usual fair grounds; this gathering has become the ultimate expression of creativity during Miami Art Week.

“We are proud to pay homage to the beauty and resiliency of the Black Woman, we aim to continue to fight for her rights and equal respect,” said Karla Ferguson, gallery owner and director. The exhibit will present through portraiture, drawing, photography and installation, the beauty and the emotions of these heroines whom inspire us generation after generation.

Judith Peck – “Pulled Over” – oil and plaster on board

Artists include:

• Ayo Akinwande
• Christie Neptune
• Debra Balchen
• Erica Elan Ciganek
• Hattie Mae Williams and Loni Johnson
• James Clover
• Jerome Soimaud
• Joseph Adolphe
• Judith Peck
• Marco Gallotta
• Mariette Allen Pathy
• Naima Green
• Nick Ward
• Numa Perrier
• Patrick Earl Hammie
• Rodney Ewing
• Shie Moreno
• Susanne Mitchell
• Sylvia Parker Maier
• Tim Lowly
• Tim Okamura
• Victoria Selbach
• Taha Clayton

Joseph Adolphe – “Fragile” – oil on canvas

Yeelen Gallery – 294 NW 54th Street – Little Haiti, Miami – 954.235.4758

I have had so many amazing volunteers for this series that, I’m starting to feel bad that it will take so long for them to see what comes of their images. I changed the size for this one so, I will have to rethink the last one so it fits into the final series. Hope to finish ten in this same format this year… day one, painting one.

When I started working on the painting that led to this series, I did it on a whim. I didn’t expect to be starting a new series, I didn’t expect people to get it, or for it to resonate with anyone; I just wanted a way to experiment with some new imagery and some elements of abstraction, in a way that made sense with my own version of realism.

Once I was working on the painting, I started to see that it had the potential to do more. Honestly, I was surprised with the response I got, people got it. For me, this is a total extension of the same elements I have been using for a while. The pixelated skin tones, the text, and the graphic elements of color. The same things that have earned me such a divided response in the past, have finally gone somewhere that seems to connect with a wider audience. Which, I suppose, is good (Even if it doesn’t fit into my overall theory that the response to any art worth looking at should be hated by AT LEAST half the people that see it).

Beyond that, I really started to see that this project had the potential for bigger things. People were excited to volunteer to model for the paintings and, as the reference photos started coming in, they started to reveal things more interesting than the models skin.

I think I have laid out the idea for the project a few times before but, before I go any further, let me explain what I asked of the models when they agreed to participate. I am just going to copy and paste directly from one of the emails here.

The idea is to do a painting in two panels that pair a painted translation of an image sent via text/email, with a more formal portrait done in the studio. The first image is intended to feel like a snapshot that someone would send to their romantic partner if they were out of town. So, kind of a sexy/cute photo that you take of yourself. Since I want this to feel like a private moment that is not meant to be seen by the whole world, some hints of nudity definitely help but, it doesn’t need to be anything too wild, as long as the picture feels like it was not meant for the world to see. I’ll take this image and edit it so that it looks a little bit distorted and glitched, so it feels as if it has been saved and sent many times, and then use that to make a painting. I am hoping that this will evoke feelings of lost identity and lost control of the sexual image. The identity of the model is then revealed in the more traditional portrait of the second panel, allowing her to reclaim ownership of the images of her body.

First image will be painted from a photo taken by you and emailed/sent via text to me.

Second image will be done primarily from photographs taken in the studio but, if you area available, I would like to do a couple sessions working from life.

Beyond the vague instructions that it should be a, “kind of a sexy/cute selfie” I gave the models very little instruction.

What came back was really amazing.

Despite being fairly anonymous figures with mostly hidden faces, the images were incredibly revealing about the people who took them. Everyone had very different takes on the concept, everyone took on different rolls in the photos, everyone had features they hid, and features they favored. The images did a better job of telling stories than I ever expected, they brought life to the whole project. (So, thanks for being awesome.)

Here is my first (mostly) complete full scale attempt at one of these. At the moment, I am having a hard time focusing on anything except all the small changes I want to make in my approach for next time but, I think it is getting pretty close to what these paintings need to be, in order to work. I am going to bring a lot more photo realism into the rendering of the text message image in the next one (and tone down the glitchy effects overall just a bit) so, maybe that will put it all over the top.

So far, I have had five people volunteer to help with paintings in this series. I am not sure exactly the final form for project but, I am feeling very optimistic about the project as a whole, despite the fact that I have a hard time looking past the small changes I want to make in my approach.

If anyone else wants to help out with one of these, definitely get in touch. My goal is to do at least ten of these paintings so that I might be able to hang them all together for a show.

I have a bad habit of exploring ideas out loud. As I am thinking my way through problems, I will ask questions, spit out ideas, request feedback on half baked theories and generally allow most any thought that passes through my head to escape as sound. In the world of bad habits (even in my own world of bad habit), this one is fairly benign but, it does have a way of confusing, annoying and generally making me look foolish to anyone with the poor fortune of being within earshot at one of these moments.

I feel like I have allowed this habit to infect my writing lately as I have been publicly working my way through the pixelated private message paintings. In other words, it has been helpful to send my ideas out into the world, to receive the confused glances that come with bad ones, along with the excitement and support that come back from the good ones but, I expect that everyone is just about ready for me to shut up about it all ready.

With that in mind, I am sending my latest study for this series to a show at the Dorchester Art Project.

I am sending my piece to this show and I am telling you not to worry, you are not going to this show to see my latest exploration into this idea, you are going to DAP to see the other artists. You are going here to marvel at latest group of amazingly talented artists coattails that I have somehow managed to ride.

Here are a few teaser pieces from the show, keep reading below for official press release and dates.

BETWEEN YOU AND ME: RESIDENT GROUP SHOW

Exhibition: August 14­ – September 18

Artist talks: September 12

Closing Reception: September 18

Dorchester Art Project

1486 Dorchester Ave Boston

The Dorchester Art Project is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition, B?etween You and Me: Resident Group Show. C?urated from work produced by DAP resident artists, B?etween You and Me locates the tenuous threads that bind together artists working within communal space.

In the front gallery, photographs consider how individuals relate to their worlds and constructed tableaus explore otherworldly scenes. Paintings of faces fall apart into pixelated squares, mimicking the failure of cellular communication between people, while in other works, intertwined figures emerge from abstraction. In the back gallery, a site­specific installation of sculptures that reference painting recreates the artist’s studio within the gallery space. Collages made from phone books and other paper detritus sourced directly from the Dorchester environment are as much about absence of information and individuals as their presence. Across the paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings, there is a commonality of artists engaged in critical discourse and thinking as the artists interpret their environments and interact with the surrounding communities.

Operating in the space formerly occupied by the Howard Art Project, the Dorchester Art Project is dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment for critical discourse and creative engagement for emerging artists. Located in the Fields Corner neighborhood of Dorchester, DAP provides studio and communal space to artists, while programming our gallery space with regular exhibitions of critically engaged, emerging local artists, as well as artist talks and lectures. DAP aims to engage a wide audience, and bridge the gap between urban residents and the critical art establishment.

Join and share the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/494095904089321/

I feel like there is probably more than one art professor out there that is going to roll their eyes at me for this one but, I am really learning a lot about what these text message paintings should be after working a few studies. I think I still want to try one more idea before I move into the full scale pieces but, here is the latest attempt in its current state. As you can see there is a bit more blank canvas to work but, I think overall it is looking pretty solid.

I’m excited to get started on a large scale attempt but I am trying to contain myself here… I still need to find a good way to integrate the look of the traditional portrait so that will make sense hanging next to this glitched looking image so, the next attempt may have to be a half scale attempt at the full diptych. Overall, I think that once I work out the bugs, this is going to be a really interesting series of paintings.

Have some down time while I wait to get moving on some new projects so, I dragged this piece back out of storage. Time to finally find a conclusion to this piece. Maybe another glitchy piece?