PAINTINGS
The use of still-video images was a technical solution that partially freed me from the camera. I always thought that it would be wonderful if you could just put film in one ear, blink, and the exposed film would come out the other ear. The video camera was the answer for me. I could replay selected moments one frame at a time, and choose from an infinite number of stills.
After making hundreds of video-still photographs, I wanted to see how they translate into paintings. I changed them into something more abstract in a larger size, with surface texture, and a gritty feeling.
The process was simple but time-consuming. I painted a picture on a very coarse canvas and kept the horizontal lines to mimic the video-still photographs. I sanded the surface revealing specks of color in hidden layers of paint, and in some cases sprayed dots of white paint to simulate electronic interference.
Every canvas was an opportunity to try something different: still-lifes, portraits, street scenes, and to experiment with ways to change the images. What is particularly fascinating about painting is that the closer you get to the canvas, more texture is revealed, and the image becomes even more abstract.
Donald Lokuta