FATEMEH BURNES

In "Interstices," Fatemeh Burnes builds photographs that have the appearance of luminous abstract paintings with billowing shapes reminiscent of waves, clouds, colorful scarves blowing in the wind and smoke. Some are rendered in bright primary and secondary colors, others are restricted to black and white. Her tools include primarily lenses, creative use of apertures, mirrors to reflect subjects and people and shapes in rapid motion. If there are discernible subjects, they are bodies in motion, dancing, twirling, reveling in the ecstasy of the moment. Burnes explains that she loses herself completely in the process of creation, submerged within the photos she builds. Once the work is complete, the creative experience is over and the art is put out there, living its own life. The recent addition of resin to the work adds accessibility and sensuousness, producing semi-reflective effects in which viewers see themselves. In that way there is a degree to which we vicariously experience the artists moment of inspiration. But most important, the photos stand out for their aesthetic beauty without being trite or derivative. In Flesh is an installation composed of 20 small square pieces, each an abstract study in browns, oranges and yellows. Off is an explosion of blues and greens, seemingly done with expressive brush strokes, which is in fact created with the camera. The black and white Wedding features peaks and valleys of smoke-like images, while Landing, also in black and white, has puffy images that are more robust. If the artists works defy classification, it is because "I resist at every turn our tendency to simplify the world by categorizing it into types of things, or kinds of art. There are no categories for me, only experiences (The George Gallery, Orange County).

 
Liz Goldner

Back