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E BEE BANTUG A.K.A. LightExpressionist: Since 2013, using only my camera as one would a painter’s brush, I literally paint abstract conceptual images aiming to penetrate beyonD surface realities; somehow unveiling cosmic energies at play.
I am fascinated by the presence of light and its unpredictable movement in the aether. Aether –that 'mysterious substance once thought to suffuse the universe' as a dictionary puts it– is magnificently alive and pregnant. Indeed, Aether (which contrary to Dictionary still suffuses the universe) along with Light, are both the bountiful medium and matrix that animate and drive my conceptual/experimental abstract, crossover, camera-based art.
Aesthetically and conceptually, I cast out realism totally from my thought and creative process; intuitively allowing my inner vision and consciousness to interact with movements of natural light in time-space at the given moment. Technically, I deliberately use only my camera as ‘paintbrush’; consciously aiming not to capture objects and places; instead, to explore, tease out and create one-of-a-kind/unrepeatable ephemeral images that break through surface physical reality. Racing after movements of light, I literally ’paint’ expressionist imagery, unexpected vantage points and perspectives, bridging the edges between photography and painting, both in character and impression. And, later even more deliberately, I do not digitally manipulate nor add strokes nor filters to my images, post-creation.
Practicing this art form is an unending joyful meditative journey of discovery for me; the rewards of which often reveal astounding thought-provoking breakthroughs behind the proverbial veil. Each imagery is a visual presence; a communion with the abundantly rich energetic reality and vital essence rarely accessible, often hidden, vaguely perceptible, yet that which at each moment infinitely surround our busy fast-paced lives. I’d like to challenge viewers to look at my images with inner eyes peeled, to catch glimpses of inter- and multi-dimensional forces at play in the common everyday objects and the natural world around us that somehow play in my imagery –each a tribute and testimony to omnipresence and co-creation. The elusive is-ness made evident . . . ever naturally, entirely unmanipulated, un-Photoshopped.