Nostalgia, 2018. Digital photocollage
photo collage
The power of symmetry /
The power of symmetry as applied to wires in an Internet service provider's warehouse. Digital photo collage, 2018. Looks like a Grotjahn painting
Several other games with photo collage symmetry, including intriguing comparisons to Pacific Northwest art and a self-portrait of Leigh Bowery
Black Power Capacitor /
Black Power Capacitor, 2017. Digital sketch (photo collage)
Speak your truth, digitize it, post it online, and change global consciousness. The power of digital is political power. For what do you stand?
open studio: destination wedding /
Destination Wedding, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Coral reefs have it bad. Coral is suffering from so many different problems, it's hard to be optimistic about the existence of reef ecology beyond this century. Increased temperatures and UV radiation lead to bleaching; water pH (think acid rain) disintegrates coral; chemical-run off is poisonous; biological waste supports algal growth where it does not belong; fisherman actually detonate underwater explosives to "catch" fish; fishermen also douse coral with cyanide to paralyze fish for capture; boats gouge coral with propellors and anchors; sediment from erosion and dredging smothers coral; people collect coral; swimmers stand on reefs without realizing their fragility; and then there's trash.
Snorkeling is one of my favorite activities. It's like entering another world, full of color, texture and sculptural form. There are few experiences more amazing than exploring a living reef. Unfortunately, it is ever-harder to find reefs that are healthy ... but there I go sinking into environmental depression. I need to make more pretty and humorous images. Vorwärts!
open studio: catching UV rays /
Catching UV Rays in at Tired Beach, Colorado (2016). Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Technically, we can't see UV... but if we could, it would look something like extremely rich purple. The good news about big holes in the ozone layer is that we will have plenty of opportunity to train (more likely evolve) our eyes to see weird photons. Seeing as the oceans will rise a good amount, I figure that Colorado could have some nice beachfront property. I hear that they have a massive dump of old tires in Colorado, a "tire graveyard" as they morbidly call it. Tires are very slow to decompose and are not prone to erosion like soil or sand. What a great place to relax in the late Anthropocene!
open studio: sometimes all i need is the air /
Sometimes All I Need is the Air, 2016. Digital photo collage (sketch). Kelly Heaton
A romantic encounter in the late Anthropocene, after much of the ozone layer has been destroyed and land is flooded. Increased electromagnetism in the atmosphere will support beautiful Aurora Borealis.
open studio: apocalypse of the heart /
Apocalypse of the Heart, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
In case you're wondering why the flurry of blogging, I am once again bedridden - this time, with a bad cough and malaise. I'm sketching ideas on my computer, so it's not all bad. In case you're wondering why the cheesy apocalyptic image: I am obsessed with human impact on the planet and it makes me awfully depressed, but I am determined to cure myself with humor and beauty. As a child of the 70's, there's nothing dearer to my heart than a technicolor view of life, especially where love and nature are concerned. Admittedly, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a product of the '80s, but the shoe fits.
open studio: a voice crying in the wilderness /
A voice crying in the wilderness. Digital photo collage (sketch), 2016. Kelly Heaton
Human population is skyrocketing along with our impact on planet earth: smog, loss of natural habitat, loss of diversity, global spread of invasive pests, deforestation, exploitation of natural resources, landfills, toxic waste, garbage in the ocean, death of coral reefs, pesticides everywhere, crowded cities, escalating competition for resources, drought, soil erosion, ... the list goes on. Because our numbers are so many, even small or unintended actions add up to a big problem: eating seafood or beef, burning wood or coal, drinking bottled water, disposable packaging, pissing medication into the water supply, driving a car, and so on. A manmade solution to population growth is not obvious, which is to say, no ethical solution has materialized. It appears that we are on a collision-course with nature's solution to excessive population: death by bottleneck. Surely there is an alternative. Surely we can all agree to be a little more reasonable, if that means to save our kind? Or are our natural instincts to reproduce, and to compete for resources, so strong that we cannot save ourselves?