Josh Hobson
Artist Statement
Sunstroke is a series of digital enlargements of contact printed lumen prints. This work is an expression of climate angst and anxiety. The colors and textures produce a sublime, abstracted landscape at once alluring and alarming. Utilizing an experimental approach, but with the visual language of atmosphere and celestial bodies the resulting images are otherworldly, yet familiar. I aim to produce an affective reaction in the viewer, one of awe, wonder, and fear.
Lumen printing is an alternative process which exposes traditional gelatin silver paper to UV light outside of the controlled environment of the darkroom. This is essentially a misuse of the material and results in fascinating chemical reactions. The behavior of the paper during lumen printing is determined by many factors including age and paper manufacturer. The original images were made as either 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20 prints. Given the intended affective impact of the work, I opted to digitize and then enlarge the works to their current scale of between 24” x 20” and 50” x 40”. A complete suite of 24”x 20” prints will be produced for the Blue Sky Gallery Viewing Drawers.
The works from Sunstroke are process-oriented and heavily layered. They are produced by a combination of contact printed transparencies, physical objects, time, luck and chemical magic. I call it magic because despite my education in the medium, the effects still feel marvelous. The transparencies are appropriated aerial images of uncontained forest fires. These photos are what give my images their atmospheric quality, although what appear to be clouds are actually billowing towers of smoke. Other elements 0f these works are created by physically laying objects (of various opacity) on top of the exposing paper. I began work on this series of camerales images during the summer of 2021 when a heatwave gripped the PCNW. The sun, the sustainer of all life, merciless and dispassionate force, became my collaborator and antagonist.
Josh Hobson | Spokane, Washington