Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50
Last week I found out that my project “Constructed Realities” was selected for the Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50, as one of the best 50 fine art projects of the year.
Over the past 15 years of working on narrative-driven personal projects, I have always referenced Critical Mass as a benchmark for the quality of work that I need to create for my own work. During this time, I have had a number of projects that I have submitted to this annual awards competition, only once have I had work place among the 200 finalists (a less refined version of this project in 2020). This is the first time for my work to be featured in the top 50.
I feel very grateful and honored to have work included this year with many great projects by my peers in the industry.
The Caged Bird Who Refuses to Fly, 2021, from Constructed Realities
The Critical Mass Top 50 artists include:
Debra Achen, Debe Arlook, Christine Back, Donna Bassin, Lois Bielefeld, Emily Buckley, Annette Lemay Burke, Granville Carroll, Jo Ann Chaus, Tianquitao Chen, Yu-chen Chiu, Marcus DeSieno, Nykelle DeVivo, Brianna DowdGary Emrich, Hossein Fardinfard, Harry Fisch, Fran Forman, Jason Gardner, Sam Geballe, Lauren Grabelle, Arielle Gray, Sarah Grew, Maxine Helfman, Jeffrey Heyne, Charise Isis, Robert Kalman, Sergey Karpov, Andrew Kung, Eric Kunsman, Alain Laboile, Jena Love, Christos Palios, Mark Peterman, Walter Plotnick, Jason Reblano, Geralyn Shukwit, Seok-Woo Song, Fazilat Soukhakian, Liz Steketee, Elizabeth Stone, JP Terlizzi, Raymond Thomson Jr., Vaune Trachtman, Ian Van Coller, Preston Wadley, William Warren, Ingrid Weyland, Becky Wilkes , Man Zhu
See the top 50 projects here.
About Critical Mass:
Photolucida Critical Mass provides career-building opportunities to promote the best emerging and mid-career artists working today, focusing on exposure, connection, and community.
About the project:
The intricate play between perception and reality is the core of my work as a visual storyteller.
My most recent series called Constructed Realities is made up of fictional scenes, drawn from cinematic and literary influences, built with 1/12 scale size sets and props. This work involves a multi-tiered creative process that includes a crafted narrative, built environments and photographs that serve as the final document of the work.
Each finished photograph contains elements of mystery and a general sense of unease. The work is made to evoke a response where the viewer is compelled to know more about what is happening and question everything. The clues that I present in my images are intended to be like a detective story where the reader feels compelled to turn the next page. I beg the viewer to feel the mist in the air, smell the rain and sense the excitement before embarking on an adventure where they are unsure of what may lie ahead.
As the series progresses, questions are meant to arise for the viewer as the scale is not revealed but only hinted at. There are times the 4th wall appears to break but the hidden hand is never fully revealed. The delicate play between perception and reality is the core of this work.
Click here to view the new “Constructed Realities” project.