Alison M. Doherty

I am a Cambridge-based fine art photographer who is exploring amalgams. In my artwork, I like to push past reality, into another realm, so that the outcome is symbolic. My artwork on Rose Kennedy Greenway is the piece that launched my series of surrealistic landscapes. I create oil paintings and merge them with photographic elements to create new places. The paint texture and color sets the mood for each dream world while the sharpness of photography jolts us back to reality. Imagine yourself walking through these landscapes. How do they make you feel? Do they remind you of any experiences in your life? While these places do not exist in the physical world, they tell us something about the world we live in, such as the role nature plays in human lives.

Another of my amalgam series, Glass Portraits, is a study on the convolution of personality. It combines liquid sand and heat (glass) and body and mind. These photographs were made with glass placed in front of my lens. The bubbles and imperfections in the glass distort the portraits. This represents gaps or changes in character. The glass is a literal barrier, representing disconnectedness. Personality has layers — just like these portraits — and is malleable, like glass.

Overall, my photography is a reflection on how people think, interact with their environments, and navigate them using signs and symbols. I use color, juxtaposition, and texture to communicate the universal connectivity of humanity.

www.amalgamphotography.com

Dreamscape

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