About me
BIOGRAPHY
John was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois and at an early age moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Wellesley Senior High School. Upon graduation, John first attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and then transferred to The University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1985 John completed the Bachelor of Arts in Theater and headed to The Ohio State University to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree, which he completed in 1988. While at OSU, John did additional coursework at the Advanced Center for Computer Art and Design and was inspired by teacher and artist Charles Csuri, one of the pioneers in Computer Graphic Art. After graduation, John worked as a freelance theater artist in North Carolina and Louisville, KY. In 1991 John was hired as the first Director of Student Computing at Indiana University Southeast. Additionally, John was an adjunct faculty in Theater at IUS from , and in was the Associate Director of the Apprentice Company at Actor's Theater of Louisville. In 1997 John joined the faculty at Purdue University in the Computer Graphics Technology Department and became the Director of the CGT program at the South Bend, Indiana location. John returned to the New Albany area in 2005.
Today, John is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology for Purdue Polytechnic in New Albany, Indiana. His current teaching interests are in design and visual communications, computer illustration, digital photography, and digital lighting and rendering. John continues to be an active practicing theater artist in the area, working with IU Southeast Theater and The Bunbury Repertory Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the President and Creative Director for WhoDunnit Murder Mystery Theater in Louisville, Kentucky.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
John is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM SIGGRAPH). John was the SIGGRAPH 2006 Conference Chair and served the conference and executive committee of ACM SIGGRAPH from in various capacities.
John has shown his work nationally and internationally, including Seoul, South Korea and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Although the final output is digital, I approach each piece as I would a traditional piece. I use traditional methods to capture source imagery and then use the digital tools to paint or collage in the computer. Once output, either on artist's canvas or art paper, I work with traditional based media (watercolor, pastel, acrylics, glues, varnishes, etc. ) to enhance the imagery, creating one of a kind mono-images.
As to the subjects of my pieces, I have an idea of what I want and where I want to go and then I begin. I am open to fortuitous accidents and serendipity, so the work evolves. I still have to master the digital tools in order to exert any control over the process and it still takes time and perspiration, experimentation and failure in order to produce the work.
I sometimes refer to these pieces as digital chromatographic prints, because the creative process for me is most like printmaking, but some of the pieces are actually "painted" using the digital equivalents of canvas and brush. I use the computer as a tool, just like a pencil, a paintbrush, or a printing plate. The envisioning process, the creative thinking process is the same. My background includes the theater (acting, directing, and design) where concept, allusion, metaphor, and illusion are very powerful tools used to communicate with the audience. I want the pieces I create to echo and resonate with the viewer. The audience is a key participant in the work. I am a storyteller and I like the work to tell a complete story. It is a different story for each audience member, but each is a very interesting story.
The pieces also tend to have references to other literary, artistic, and scientific ideas and philosophies. Specifically, I am fascinated by the work of the surrealists Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali, the idea of trompe l'oeil painting, the ideas of time, space, relativity, chaos theory, and of course the classical theater of the Greeks. Architecture also inspires me to capture it in unique ways whenever and wherever possible. Where this all will take me, I am not sure but I look forward to the journey.
I find the most exciting thing about the creation of art is putting it on display. I suppose that is the actor and director in me. I am curious and fascinated by the audience's reaction to the work-whether positive or negative- as it helps me to learn and grow as an artist and informs the work to come.