I’m a St. Paul based visual artist who mixes photographic and painterly concerns through photo collage.  On one level I'm a nature photographer, but it's not as simple as that.  Tree trunks, roots, rocks, and plants.  Natural elements.  Natural light and color. Unnatural composition.  Multiple images.  My process is guided by curiosity.  

 

  I begin with photographing exposed roots of toppled trees that line the banks of the Mississippi River near my home.   The roots have been washed and eroded by years of rising/falling water exposing unique textures and colors.  Through a simple process of mirroring and multiplication a new image blossoms with its own identity and presence.  Patterns, weaves, otherworldly organic shapes, and primordial forms emerge - as if they have always existed in the inner life of these trees, and are now unveiled.

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 My practice also explores the photograph as an object.  I often print large-scale on industrial vinyl, treating the substrate not as a passive carrier for an image, but as an active component of the work itself.  The works are unframed and floated off the wall allowing for subtle shifts and gentle curves, much like free hanging textiles. ​

                                                                                                                                                                                 James Byrne