On display in the South Gallery at the Columbia Art League
July 30 - August 24, 2024
Artist Statement
As an artist and musician, my interest is in the study of repeated patterns in light and sound. Observing the separation of light and shadow in a landscape, a window-lit room, or the lights of my studio, as they shower my tools and workspace, compels me to record those fragments in mostly realistic impressions.
Whether working from my photographs or life, my subjects are almost always happened upon, rarely assembled or constructed, although I may make decisions of omission and inclusion. The elements of chance and discovery are the primary contributing factors in these compositions.
The moment of creation for me is in the visualization of a possibility, discovering that viewpoint in space where the dance of shapes and shadows falls into a rhythmic balance of light and dark. Then, with my camera or a simple mat board viewer, the image is isolated and I join the dance and become a participant as I record the moment.
Artist Bio
Joel Chrisman was born in 1947 in Blue Springs, Missouri. He attended public school K-12 in Blue Springs and served in the US Air Force from 1966-70. He began working in county government in Denver, Colorado, as a cartographer in 1970, until he began studying graphic design at the Colorado Institute of Art in 1975. In 1978, he started his business as a freelance commercial artist and graphic designer, which he did through 1993. Custom picture framing occupied his time until 2006 when he shifted to making art solely for his own pleasure.
