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Michael
P. Berman
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| "If I could do anything, I'd spend my days in the wilderness. Once I figured out that there were these vast tracks of public lands in the West - Forest Service, National Monuments, BLM, National Parks, State Trust - I wanted to see it all., I got a degree in biology, did some field work, and soon decided science left too much out. I started to photograph. I love maps. I travel with a box of them. They speak of potential landscapes, and reveal a surface demarcated with contour lines, watersheds, and roads. They describe the ownership and names of places, but tell us nothing of an experience of the land. All places are defined by the trails. I prefer a landscape that is not delineated by blazed lines dedicated to destinations, but rather subtle passages which fade and reemerge, in a continuum of choices. Sometimes when I photograph I stumble into a sanctuary, a place that I can only describe as a garden. What is strange about these places is I am often overtaken by a premonition that I should not photograph. That to do so would  violate
something sacred. Three years ago I returned to a canyon at the headwaters
of the Gila. And rather than the premonition of taboo I had had before,
I felt I should photograph. I was unsure and only made a few images. A year
later the livings things in the canyon were trampled to fragments and sand
when it was used to trap cattle for shipping.I have seen the sacred places destroyed almost as quickly as I have found them. I have come to see this as a time to photograph these vestige lands. I returned and made images. It is rare to live in a time when our collective actions are of such great consequences. " -Michael Berman, 1998 Michael Berman is a diverse artist. He works with several mediums; straight black & white prints, paintings that incorporate fragments of black & white prints, conte crayon, acrylic and pencil. The paintings are then hand rubbed so that the surface is translucent surface lending itself to the incorporation of fragmented images. His work has been reviewed in Art in America and included in prestigious museums collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Berman works in series, producing a group of paintings. With the identical photographic images incorporated in the paintings, he creates a separate but connected group of straight photographic images. All deal with the landscape. The paintings are abstract, the photographs clear and sharp. All have an underlying, subtle feeling of power while maintaining a quiet, meditative state. His drawings and photographs contain a great sense of mystery and a deep respect for nature's processes, strength and intricate beauty. His work mimics those aspects of nature through repetition of form and patterns. Depending on the series, his palette falls on either side of the color scale ranging from variations of white to grays, blacks and dark, and somber colors. Each painting and drawing is unique. The gelatin silver prints are made in small, unnumbered editions. Berman also creates on-site installations with photographic images, text, aluminum and acrylic, blending natural elements such as rocks and minerals. |
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