I make photo abstracts. I intuitively look for bold, sometimes harsh, often sensual, shapes in everyday environs that speak to my sense of expression. A digital photo is taken of those “found images” and then edited or cropped using a computer. The vocabulary of my work has grown out of my interest in abstract expressionism, music and Zen meditation. As with many forms of artistic improvisation, I strive to create a visual experience that finds a common thread between complete freedom and structured design (or, another way of stating it, between raw emotion and native reason).

CONTACT INFORMATION

phone: 607-200-4046
e-mail: James@levelgreen.com
website: www.levelgreen.com/art

ADDRESS 538 Ellis Hollow Creek Road, Ithaca, NY 14850

STUDIO DIRECTIONS

From Ellis Hollow Creek Road runs between Turkey Hill Road in Ellis Hollow and Ellis Hollow Road. My house is closest to the intersection of Ellis Hollow Road and Ellis Hollow Creek Road. After turning off Ellis Hollow Road, my studio is .3 mi. on the left. If coming from Turkey Hill Road, I am 2.7 mi., and on the right.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Photo abstracts. “Spitznagel’s photo abstracts free the viewer from the tyranny of representation,” states novelist J. Robert Lennon, “They make the ordinary seem alien, and alienation seem ordinary.” Spitznagel adds, “I often see colors and shapes in everyday objects that speak to my emotions in ways not originally intended by nature or human design.”

Spitznagel looks for bold, sometimes harsh, shapes in everyday environs to express his thoughts and feelings. The juxtaposition of these images and the beautiful, natural surroundings of his Ellis Hollow studio/gallery may seem at odds but Spitznagel maintains that, “Beauty and brutality are both at home on a busy city sidewalk or the trunk of a majestic tree.”

The path to viewing the world this way began when Spitznagel started taking photographs to create original images for his own CD covers. “Have you ever seen a landscape or object and thought, ‘Wow, that would make a great album cover’?” asks Spitznagel. “I used to think in those terms all the time. Now it’s become an integral part of my senses to see and feel artistic expression everywhere.” As a musician working primarily with electronics and computers, Spitznagel sees no difference between the shape of visuals and the shape of sounds. “My work process as a musician and as a visual artists is exactly the same,” says Spitznagel, “It all begins with rhythm and grows from the there. The rhythm and shape of sound, shapes, light or color is all the same to me.”

"The Missing Item,” archival ink jet print, 15”x20,” 2007, $60

“The Big One,” archival ink jet print, 20”x15,” 2008, $60

“The March,” archival ink jet print, 20”x13,” 2007, $60

“Their Love,” archival ink jet print, 20”x14,” 2008, $60