Organization Monkey

My life outside the library is as a fine art digital photographer. For the last few years I’ve abandoned traditional camera-made photography in favor of a flatbed scanner. My subject matter is botanical: leaves, twigs, flowers. I scan the objects directly into the computer, manipulate them using Photoshop, and print them on a large scale Epson printer. I’m experimenting with printing as large as 24″X24″. Check out the portfolio of recent images at http://marie-kennedy.com.

Artist statement: The surprising visual power behind their simplicity is what transforms the natural objects in these photographs into metaphors: a mushroom’s cap becomes a halo; three seedpods develop into a lover’s triangle; a drying leaf turns into fire. Complex interpersonal relationships, religion and sex are the themes in these photographs in which natural objects stand in for the human form. The objects are looked at both taxonomically, displaying the beauty of the natural form, as well as metaphorically, describing what else the natural form implies.

These pieces were inspired by the idea of creating a new kind of icon; one that is not manufactured due to a religious or moral construct, but rather one that celebrates the simplicity of the here-and-now of nature. The objects in the artwork were collected during walks in my immediate area, making me acutely aware of the exquisite detail that surrounds me in my daily life. The elegance of the objects is championed in these pieces.

A list of exhibitions of my photographs