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Artist Statements from the Cultivate + Nurture = Transform exhibit
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Corey Armpriester

STATEMENT
These photographs are named after people that have made an impression on my life.  They are a part of the meditation that I experienced while working with the still life materials, including- flowers, acupuncture needles and layered light.  Handling these materials would often create a trance state during which time I became a SCIENTIST, VOODOO PRIEST, BIOLOGIST, PERVERT, MURDERER and HEALER.  I soon realized that during long periods of working with a few of the flowers, they began to name themselves.

Light became a type of water for the flowers and they just kept drinking and drinking, which encouraged me to meet the intimacy required for photographing flowers.  They constantly surprised me with their demands for a certain amount of attention to details.

I kissed each flower after it had been photographed; this was my feeble attempt to apologize for the possible brutality I had inflected during needle insertions and for revealing their sensual nature to me in a dark studio with artificial light, for hours on end.

Design called and convinced me into believing flowers live forever because they have sex magic.  These portraits are my contribution to that everlasting life.

BIO
A native Philadelphian, Corey Armpriester grew up in a military family bringing new places, people and influences frequently into his life.  Travel at a young age was the saving grace of his middle to late childhood.  During his early teens he was drawn to poetry and painting.  At the age of 15, his interest in photography was a thorn in his parent’s side that he never let them forget. Photography became the medium of his expression, with or without the right tools, and in the early years the tools were all wrong.

 Painter Clarity Haynes was the source of encouragement for submitting work to galleries and it was painter/textile artist Kathryn Pannepacker (once director of Da Vinci Art Alliance) who first invited him to exhibit in her gallery.  This was where Corey Armpriester received a firm foundation for becoming a professional artist. During this time, he also assisted photographer Tony Ward.  His time with Ward he describes as “learning to extract elegance from a potentially vulgar situation”.

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John Warren Davis

Statement
What happens when we cross the line between nature photography and abstract art?  What happens when we saw through the trunk of a tree to discover what’s inside?  What happens when we try to capture, up close, the legacy of a tree?

Is it possible that trees capture the world around them in the shapes and patterns their wood creates?  What happens when we employ the technology of a digital camera and computer to unlock the secrets inside of the centers of trees and then interpret the results through the human imagination?  Is the result a kind of mystical experience that allows us to see, among all the concentric circles, swirls, rough edges and ridges, the beauty, mystery, and order of our world?  Is it truly possible that of all the products and uses of trees we experience in our daily lives, that a new kind of transubstantiation occurs?  These are, after all, only blocks of wood that we gaze upon.  Why is it, then, that we are able to see so much more?

 BIO
John Warren Davis has been working with digital photography for the past ten years, mainly in the Pittsburgh area.  His work centers around a range of subjects from fine art photography to creating images for local musical groups and volunteer organizations.  He is currently at work on a long-term product entitled, "Displays: What They Say about Who We Are" which captures public and private displays of merchandise and politically-focused exhibits in an attempt to analyze American culture.

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Sandy Moore

Statement
The title for this series is" Merging waters".  The photos are of tropical waters.  My goal as I shoot is to stop the motion, retain a high depth of field and to maintain an overall sharpness.  I match two images perfectly to one and other, using distance, light quality and image likeness.  There is much zen quality time in shooting the photographs.  I find that like drawing, as the time goes by shooting one picture after another I start to get into a zone.  I have learned to understand the timing and patterns of the waves so that I can predict the perfect situation for shooting.  When I am in sync with the events and can operate the camera appropriately for the timing of the waves I feel very energized and excited.  I will shoot for hours and take upwards of 5,000 photos in a period of days.

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Lindsay Feuer

Statement
Suspended in the realm between fantasy and reality, my sculptures explore the organic processes of growth, replication, and locomotion.  Deliberately ambiguous combinations of biological imagery reflect the perfect integration of form and function found in the natural world.  Through an intuitive process, I allow these elements to respond to one another, creating “hybrid” forms with movement and fluidity.

Porcelain is an ideal medium for my work because its white luminescence showcases rich surfaces and curvilinear components.  The strength and responsiveness of this clay also enables me to achieve whimsical and delicate sculptural elements.

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Tadao Arimoto

Statement
A stone may have a cycle measured by millions of years, a tree for hundreds and a human for tens of years.  As an organic material, a tree ”dies” once but the wood remains and that form could “live” for another hundreds of years.  I feel that I leave my mark on the wood as a part of a process that wood goes through in its second cycle. I sometimes leave in the piece I build markings left by a human (typically a lumber jack or a sawmill person) or a force of nature and hope they can suggest the time and space the piece of wood went through.

Things get better with time. I feel that some objects can record time well by changing slowly with time in its cycle and become even more beautiful.  And the element that contributes to the change includes all aspects, including accidental   marking left by the user.  I like to design and build things that get better with time, so I strive to create the right design, use the right tools and apply the right finish to help them get better in their second cycle.

I design and build things with the user / owner in mind. I am not looking for a first impact or expression of my feelings.  The things I build must stay in the user’s space hopefully for a long time.  Thus it should be physically strong, visually fairly quiet and highly functional.

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