Fine art by Jason
Hill
Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 |
Gallery
3
Generally the ideas for my images originate out of some pretty
abstract thoughts. I'm less interested in making a concrete statement
than in creating a vibe. It may sound silly, but I guess I'm trying
to evoke a feeling of a wonderful carefree dream of innocence-
Like floating on a cloud in a perfect world. On one hand I'm trying
to perpetuate and canonize forgotten places and images, stripping
them down to their most pure and iconic form to give them a kind
of representational clarity. On the other, I'm trying to create
a blend of naturalism with futuristic optimism, and together with
the bright color palette it comes together as a kind of psychedelic
hyper-realism!
I had this hobby photographing old neon signs from the 50's.
I would take pictures of them & sure enough, a year later they
would be gone or the building would be demolished. So I started
to document modernist and googie type architecture too. When I
moved to Phoenix I fell in love with the architecture here and
photographed a lot of it while learning my way around town. It
never really dawned upon me that other people were as attracted
to these subjects as I am. I made this series of photos for myself
that I printed using a duo-tone technique and hand painted them
with acrylic. I decided to show them on First Friday and was blown
away by the public's reaction! They had so much fun trying to figure
out the locations and told me all kinds of great stories about
their histories. Now the sales of my photography rival my paintings
and I've begun creating larger prints.
When it comes down to physically making the paintings, I'll
start with a series of sketches for compositional purposes. I'll
then mix my own photos with found images and hand drawn elements
together on the Mac. I transfer the image to canvas and then all
of the detail work and color palette is completed in acrylic.
I live just a few blocks from the "Phoenix Financial Center" on
Central and Osborn, popularly known as the "punchcard building." When
I first saw that building, I fell in love with it- I've photographed
and painted pictures of it. I even went to the public library and
researched it's history, which is quite fascinating. Construction
began in 1964 and originally held a 4.2 million dollar Univac computer
that was one of the largest in the world. A "fallout proof" time
capsule was placed in one of the fountain cornerstones at the time
of construction. The items in it were chosen because of their relevance
to Arizona in 2012, the 100th anniversary of statehood and the
year in which the cornerstone is to be opened. I wonder if anyone
will remember to open it?
Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 |
Gallery
3