Author’s Hallucination No. 43 “Sam”
17×17
Archival Pigment Print
I am a former photojournalist and filmmaker. During open heart surgery in 2012, I suffered a major stroke leaving me legally blind and subject to vivid visual
hallucinations. This life event changed my artistic vision, opening up an entirely new visual style.
With a life-long habit of experimentation, I picked up my iPad and started to
explore.
Taking those facial fragments that filled half of my lost visual field and utilizing imaging software that corrupts visual data, I was effectively able to replicate what was happening with information within my own brain.
It wasn’t until years later that I learned from neurologists and neuroscientists that my stroke allowed subconscious imagery to reach my conscious awareness.
I find a certain splendor in taking a corrupted .png file on an iPad – a technique from the 21st century – and making an iron print from that file – a technique
invented in the 19th century.