S T E P H E N J O S E P H S O N

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I woke up one day and realized that I needed an artistic  outlet and yet lacked the patience and extensive training that painting or sculpture required.  Possibly because I grew up with a father who loved his (basement) darkroom, I decided to pick up my camera and hit the proverbial road.  I began to hunt for images, both subtle and blatant that turned me on.

I seemed focused on capturing some piece of the whole; some color, line or context that grabbed me.  Initially I was drawn to the readily available street art/graffiti and identifying embedded archetypical images and universal gestures.  Soon I shifted to nature, architectural and textural details as I explored an endless number of environments with hidden treasures.  My art took me to Peru, Turkey, Argentina, Spain, Hawaii, Cuba, Sardinia and Corsica (to name just a few!) in the last five years.  

Understand that my work as a psychologist requires that I zero in on what I think is the most critical component of an often complex set of problems (and patterns).  This necessitates hyperfocus and discrimination to identify not only what is really going on, but what will practically help me facilitate change and growth in a given individual.

Clearly there is compatibility in my work as a psychologist and as an artist.  When I'm walking down the street I am making similar complex choices as I rapidly examine patterns and small pieces of those patterns that move me visually or cerebrally.  It all becomes very personal because of the choices I make to extract certain images.  

My work is the opposite of the current emphasis on the global/gestalt. Whether it's figures, objects, motifs or some other abstract form, my attention is drawn to lines, color, iconic symbols, body contours and universal or culture specific states of gestures, being and relations.  I understand and am instinctively drawn to the economy of line and am trying to infuse energy in all of these images if it is not already present.  I am drawn to the amalgam of different styles and layering of textures.  I am profoundly attracted to the art that individuals leave behind and the meaning that they were trying to convey.

To say it simply, the challenge of finding something that others couldn't see is very satisfying.  I simply love the way that certain images make me feel.  I am very good at recognizing beauty possibly because of my years of viewing art and I have accepted that art, like all, is ultimately imitative.  Whether you 're trying to copy images in your mind or things that you see, art at its best makes us happy when we see it in the morning.