Kristin Doner

Finding Nothing at the Intersection of Art and Technology

Gesture is the medium for this body of work; essentially hand movements captured on a scanner (video: http://youtu.be/gtvzG3CJ2Rw). I have always been intrigued with the idea of making something from nothing. I think of it as magic. Dirt made permanent by fire (ceramics), which starts with nothing of value, was my medium of choice for over a decade. Photography, another life-long investigation, captures a moment or an impression. The scanner, another form of photography, is usually used to capture documents and objects, not movement, so why did I scan gestures?

My first instinct is to work with my hands, allowing me to stop thinking and simply respond to ideas. I had been making gestures in sand then photographing them, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with the result. The act of gesture was intuitive and expressive, but manipulating the resulting image was static and mechanical. Then one rainy day I substituted the scanner for sand. Mutated almost-human forms with fingerprints stretched over the surface presented themselves for more exploration. There were sensual lines formed by fingers pressing together, and patches of color and shape that were unfamiliar yet personal. Fascinated by the rhythm of repeating and reflecting images, I manipulated organic lines and shapes until I discovered nothing in the narrow space between my fingers, which eventually became a dandelion motif.

Kristin Doner's art on the Web

Kristin Doner's AutoGallery exhibit