Paul David Redfern
Comments by Henry Caserotti
New York City, Fairfield County
Digication website
All Photomorfosi images copywrite by the artist.
Paul David Redfern is a digital artist who was born
in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1958 who currently
resides and works in Gorizia, Italy. He states the he
"discovered digital and computer art in 1990... in
1994 I created the first Photomorfosis"© which
Redfern defines as "a series of digital
'photomanipulations'". Since that time he has
played an active role in the arts by organizing
showings and workshops using his own art as well
as working closely with the Graphiti Association
which is a group based in Gorizia dedicated to
bringing the digital arts to wider audiences.
Redfern's work contains a depth not commonly
found and is certainly worthy of perusal by a wider
audience.
Working with only three tools, an IMac, a digital
camera and Adobe Photoshop, Redfern
creates some very interesting pieces. What makes
them interesting comes from two aspects of his art
that is more commonly seen in traditional visual
media. The first is that Redfern incorporates a
tangible sense of texture into many of his pieces.
This illusion of surface texture makes it appear that
the image has been created on an actual surface,
such as wood or stone. Someone viewing the piece
can easily imagine that what's being seen is an
actual object rather than a digital creation. This can
completely change the viewers perception of the
art. After all, an image that is actually a series of 1's
and 0's is still very much in the realm of idea
whereas an image that appears to be a tangible,
physical object also gives the allusion of existing in
reality.
Secondly, Redfern makes the viewer work to really
see what's happening in his images. It is not always
immediately obvious what one is seeing when first
looking at his work. Often there are human figures
hidden in the compositions that reveal themselves
only with a period of observation. In other words,
the viewer must dedicate some time to unravel the
image. This time spent is incredibly important
because it forces the viewer to live, for a while
within the world created by the artist, to explore it
more fully and possibly feel or understand better
what the artist is attempting to express.
What I find most enjoyable about Redfern's work is
the complexity he achieves using digital media. It is
the type of work that may only unravel some of it?s
deepest secrets over an extended period of time.
This is very different from much of the digital art
seen today which relies heavily on surrealism or
visual puns to relate relatively concrete ideas.
Redfern says that he is trying to share his dream
world through his art and dreams are not generally
straight forward experiences to relate. His works
complexity is what puts Redfern's art into the
category of fine art.
To see more of Redfern's work please visit his Flicker
page or works for sale at Art Limited. Also worth
seeing is his award winning video, "Earth - Il cuore
della terra".
Email: pauldavidredfern@gmail.com
Paul David Redfern's art on the Web
Paul David Redfern's AutoGallery exhibit