Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Van de Wetering.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m a native San Diegan. I took a brief detour and lived in Los Angeles for 15 years, but now I’m back in town. If I had to distill my character down to one simple phrase it would be “I like to make things.” Over the years, that has manifested itself by work in theater, music, software development and, most recently, visual art. As a child, I liked to draw, and I also liked to take apart my toys and put them back together in new and different ways. In high school, I worked as the master electrician and lighting designer for the Mission Playhouse, a pioneering San Diego community theater. In college, I worked on and off at the Old Globe Theater as a stagehand. I finally settled on software development as my career path and have worked at that for over 30 years. I’m a founding member of San Diego’s own folk-punk band The Downs Family and have been playing with them for nearly 25 years. We just released our third album last year.
I began to seriously pursue photography about eight years ago when my wife gave me a DSLR for my birthday. I love the local desert and started photographing there. I had some success in the annual photography contest of the Anza Borrego Desert Foundation and that sort of launched me down this path. I stumbled upon a class taught by Aline Smithson at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, and it really was life-changing. She opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography and gave me permission to call myself an artist. She has become a good friend and cherished mentor. Since then, my work has gone in directions I never would have expected. I’ve exhibited in galleries all over the country, and my artistic practice has become a tremendously fulfilling and exciting part of my life.
Please tell us about your art.
My primary medium is photography, but I really consider myself a visual artist — an image maker. My work doesn’t always fit neatly into the accepted genres in the photography world. I love experimenting with new techniques and ideas, so my work has a considerable diversity. I have two fairly well-developed bodies of work.
The first is called “The Acting Hand.” It is a conceptual series shot in the studio — well various parts of my house actually. This series explores what I think are universal ideas about how we as human beings deal with the calamities and difficulties in our lives, be they natural or manmade. As social creatures, we are born with a theory of mind, the ability to attribute intent, emotions, beliefs, and knowledge to ourselves and others. We are drawn to create order out of this randomness by assigning it some external reason, intent, or plan: the Acting Hand. Whether we blame the Devil, God, fate, the stars, kismet, or destiny, we gain comfort from imagining an actor and motivation behind our suffering. With order comes solace. With chaos comes madness. I’ve brought this invisible hand to life in a series of staged vignettes depicting a variety of unfortunate events designed to prompt further reflection on causation, randomness, and free will. This work is nearly complete, although there are still a couple of images in my head that I need to work on.
My most recent body of work builds on a camera-less photographic technique called lumen printing. This is a contact printing technique that has its roots in some of the earliest history of photography. I create my images by painstakingly arranging various botanical objects (flowers, leaves, seeds, vegetables, whole or in cross-section) on photographic paper and exposing them to direct sunlight. I combine techniques of lumen printing and chemigrams with digital enhancement and inkjet printing to create the final works. My process requires experimentation and often produces unexpected results. Zooming in on a high-resolution scan reveals astonishing detail and exploring a single impression can yield multiple new compositions. This uncertainty is part of the adventure and makes this artistic practice a journey of discovery as well as creation. My compositions in this series are influenced by science and microscopy as well as my interest in the surrealist painters of the early 20th century.
In addition to these more formal bodies of work, I also really enjoy street photography, especially photographing at night. I take my camera with me when I play shows with my band, and I have an ongoing body of work of various San Diego music venues and dive bars seen through my own creative eye.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
Being an artist is always a difficult path. Especially if one expects or hopes to make a living at it. Almost all of the artists I know have day jobs. In the current political and social climate, it seems that art is seen more and more as a luxury, but I think it is more important than ever. It is the soul and conscience of a society. The most important thing we can do for each other as artists is to create and foster community rather than competition. Whether it be through small, informal groups of artist friends that meet to share and critique work, or more formal organizations like the Medium Festival of Photography (https://www.mediumsandiego.org/), the San Diego Watercolor Society (https://www.sdws.org/), and Open Show (http://www.openshow.org/en/what-we-do/).
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I’m still in search of that elusive solo gallery show, but I continue to have work exhibited in various juried group exhibitions around the country. I recently had work in a show at the LA Center of Photography. I’m also less adept at self-promotion than I should be. So I don’t do much more to promote those exhibitions than post on Facebook or Instagram. Right now I’m more focused on making the work than promoting the work. People can always check on my website from time to time as I post new work and list exhibitions and publications.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://brianvandewetering-photo.com/
- Email: brian@brianvandewetering-photo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwetering/
From the series “The Acting Hand”
From the series “The Acting Hand”
I love shooting people #playingpool in a good #divebar. #blackcatbar @blackcatbar #blackandwhitephotograph #blackandwhitephoto
Image Credit:
Brian Van de Wetering
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