Keith Gerling's art is both alluring and invigorating.

His natural curiosity led him to art as much as the process he uses to express his interests. Gerling's background is philosophy, though his education seems to have little to do with his subject matter. Philosophy affirms his analytical nature. It alludes to the depth of thought he lends to each work of art. He is not satisfied until every direction of the subject has been explored. His studio is stacked with discarded attempts, either that or images waiting for his muse to filter them back into practice.
His subject is commonplace by some standards, landscapes, still lifes, nudes, and portraits, but as he would tell it, "The subject is immaterial compared to what the process can do to improve an ordinary photograph." His subject is incidentally part of his art. The imagery is less nostalgic and sympathetic than it appears. But it is enchanting. There is mystery in all of it. He manipulates much of the characteristics familiar to photography. His handling of the media calls into question the certainty of the image. Is it painting or photography? The halo of darkness surrounding each image is less frame-like than it is an ethereal image in a cavern of memory. So in lies the mood and tone of the work.

Artist's Statement

As a photographer, I've done what many photographers are fortunate to do: visit enchanting places in order to capture sublime moments. But as my art has developed, I've come to the gradual realization that my greatest inspiration has come from, the commonplace objects that occupy the natural and domestic space around me. Success comes when I am able to imbue these everyday subjects and spaces with a sense of wonder. Whereas photography has a tradition of serving to record images, I see me work as objects inhabiting space. I am a two-dimensional sculptor - adding and subtracting as necessary. Just as a piece of music may need a musical interpretation, I see my compositions as scores that can be rendered differently at different times for different effect. The gum process, being organic and unwieldy, is the ideal medium for achieving my end result. I depend upon the serendipitous and temperamental nature of the gum process, and often, rather that being the "artist in control", I feel as if I am merely a shepherd whose job it to nudge a work into its own self-determined direction.

About the Process

The gum bichromate process dates from the late nineteenth century, when it was popular with fine art photographers. The original camera negative or digital image is converted to a printing negative that is as large as the final print. A substrate (paper, cloth, metal, etc.) is coated with a sensitized emulsion of gum Arabic, a natural resin mixed with pigment. The negative and sensitized substrate are exposed together under sunlight or other bright light-source. The image is then "developed" in water which washes away the areas that were not struck by light. Multiple layers of emulsion/pigment are added as needed for artistic effect. Resulting prints are highly individual and can be flexibly controlled by the artist during the process.

Keith Gerling
Keith@GumPhoto.com