Artist’s Statement:
‘Lost Flamingos in the Cloud Forest’ is an exploration of beauty out-of-place and an awkwardness for survival. The moody, inland environments of the Cloud Forest (Costa Rica) is the backdrop for these misplaced, lone birds. (Flamingos are very social birds and live in colonies consisting of thousands.) In this series, the flamingos have gone awry and are defenseless, vulnerable, barely surviving in their misplaced isolation. The occasional phone line or other hints of civilization emphasize the painful custody to an ‘internal’ space rather than its natural, external habitat of open skies and large bodies of water. (Habitats are large alkaline or saline lakes or estuarine lagoons that usually lack vegetation.) The flamingos ‘sculptural’ forms and loud pink color are incongruous, odd, mystifying within the Cloud Forest’s sullen landscapes. (The Cloud Forest in Costa Rica has a varied landscape consisting of fields, jungles and villages.)
Artist’s Bio:
My quest for the unusual in nature takes me, at times, to bizarre or spectacular locations. My aesthetic leans toward the sublime and quirky—not necessarily always together. The Romantic Movement and other art historical traditions have influenced me. I am also an award-winning photographer whose work has been shown around the world. Some of my awards in the recent years have been the London Creative Awards, ‘Talent of the Year Award’, Paris PX3 Photo Awards, First Place Nature, International Photo Awards Finalist, the Lucie Award ‘The Discovery of the Year Award’. I have taught digital imaging at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. I live and teach in New York City.