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All images ©2001 JOANNE WARFIELD
Artist Statement
"I approach my art with a great sense of freedom from preconceived constraints. This includes freedom from what is considered traditional or expected in photography and other art forms. I stand aside and let the muse emerge, and feel fortunate to have the luxury of creativity. The whole realm that is called ‘alternative photography’ combined with any art medium becomes a possible vehicle for my explorations. I use the camera like a paint brush and spontaneously click the shutter based on what I see or what I feel; I am an intuitive. There are always discoveries and surprises that continuously keep the process exciting.
"The work I have been doing with the various Polaroid alternative processes in the past five years has been very exhilarating. I started with image and emulsion transfers and went on to try all of the Polaroid processes. For two years my work was concentrated extensively with experimentation using wet paper negatives. Through this work, I developed my own unique process similar to Cliché Verre or painting on glass in which I allow the emulsion to flow out from the wet emulsion-laden negative before I re-shoot it. This results in a very primordial effect which feels very ancient yet maintains the expression of modernity. The colors are very rich and saturated, which lends an air of mystery and spontaneity to them. (See Blue Venus, Apollo's Glory, Crimson Athena, and Orchid Illusion, which are good examples of this technique.)
"The manipulated SX-70 print held other interesting possibilities after I dug into it. Of course I could not just leave it as a typical SX-70 print. I felt compelled to take it to another level, which meant processing and changing it. So I began by cutting open the film and, instead of throwing away the backing, I decided to see what would happen if I distressed it with water. The results were, once again, exciting! This is a process I have dubbed ‘Time-Zero Corrosion™.’ The images Cobalt Rift and Rosa Doble Gold are prime examples.
“For me, creating new processes is akin to adventure—which I love—and usually includes doing the opposite of what is suggested in the instructions, then adding something else to that result. And as much as I have specific techniques with these processes, inherent in them is the fact that nothing can ever be repeated with the same results, so it remains illusive—like trying to catch mercury. I embrace this. The magic of the unpredictable is what I thrive on."
In 2000 and 2001 two of Joanne's images, “Neon Palms” and “Fresh Paint,” won the third place in the Venice Visions competition. “Persephone Rising” was selected as one of the winning entries in the Women in Photography International 20th Anniversary juried exhibition titled “Tea Time: Images of Women, Images of Tea,” and will be shown in the prestigious Photo l.a., January 17th-20th 2002 in Santa Monica, California. Other shows include six juried exhibitions at the San Diego Art Institute, Gallery 214 in New Jersey, and the Venice Family Clinic auction. Her progressive Polaroid work will be extensively featured throughout the second book by Kathleen Carr entitled Polaroid Manipulations, to be published by Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, N.Y., due out in April 2002. The Polaroid web site included Joanne's work in the portfolio section, and she was the August 2001 featured photographer in the TheScreamOnline, the Internet magazine for Art, Photography, and Literature, which is visited from all over the world. It can be seen at www.thescreamonline.com in the August archives.
Joanne's website shows her extensive body of work in various processes and currently highlights her latest portfolio, “The Beauty of Afghanistan Remembered,” with over 100 photographs from her visit there in 1977: a quieter time in that now war-torn country. Five of those images can be seen in the WIPI f2 eZine. In the main "Home" section of her own site you can see the full series from the work featured here on the WIPI site.
JOANNE
WARFIELD 