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Magic, Visual Time & Image Making

Lightning Round: Deborah Tharp

Saturday, September 14 - 9:20AM to 9:35AM
ELIF 301

Creative fine art photography has been my passion since I saw my first image appear in the developer while taking a photography course at the John Herron School of Art (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1980. Although I was majoring in graphic design, I was so charmed by the "Magic of Photography" that I stayed another year to complete a double major BFA in both areas.


Photography still holds that same sense of "Magic" for me today although I currently create with very different tools and technology. Digital photography is just a different method but ideas are still the heart and soul of my creative journey. I enjoy how the visual orchestration of multiple images allows me to create the concepts, nuances, and emotions from composited /collaged digital images. This method of working allows for the construction of new realities where computer-blended imagery and imagined creative possibilities collide.


Magic!


Time has been both an underlying theme in my images and an emerging body of work. Time is the driving paradigm of human existence. It is maybe one of the most complex forces in life. Time holds the past, creates the present, and proposes a future. Time unfolds periods of emotion. There are times of regret, sadness, loss, happiness, elation ... etcetera. Time shapes daily routines. Time dictates an allocation of moments in life, a time to meet goals, reproduce, search for meaning, build relationships, and create a legacy of our existence. Time measures our hopes and dreams for the future. Time is predictable and unpredictable. It is both real and abstract. It measures how long we exist. Time can be seen as a gift for living beyond what we feel is our allotted time.


Humans perceive time as limited due to mortality, but is it? Time can be perceived as dire when precious seconds tick away if life is in the balance. There is said to be a time or seasonal time for events to happen in one's lifespan. Time can be a friend when savoring it at a special event in life. It is a foe when competing to beat the clock or to win against time. Time measures history and unveils the future with each ticktock moment, chime, or numeric shift of the calendar. We perceive time marching forward or time running out. We refer to "making time" for something of special importance in life. Time can seem both infinite and finite, controlled and uncontrollable, by ourselves and unseen divine forces. Is there a Time Keeper documenting how we have spent our time? Are we all just Time Travelers on the road of life? Time is a rich theme that inspires vivid imagery for my imagination and ignites my visual senses for making artwork.

speaker

Deborah Tharp
Deborah Tharp

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