HENRY CASEROTTI

(Digication.com) - New York City - Fairfield Count

Paul David Redfern is a digital artist who was born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1958 who currently resides and works in Gorizia, Italy. He states the he "discovered digital and computer art in 1990... and in 1994 created the first Photomorfosis"© which Redfern defines as "a series of digital 'photomanipulations'". Since that time he has played and active role in the arts by organizing showings and workshops using his own art as well as working closely with the Graphiti Association which is a group based in Gorizia dedicated to bringing the digital arts to wider audiences. Redfern's work contains a depth to it not commonly found and is certainly worthy of perusal by a wider audience.
Working with only three tools, an IMac, a digital camera and Adobe Photoshop, Redfern artist creates some very interesting pieces. What makes them interesting comes from two aspects of his art that is more commonly seen in traditional visual media. The first is that Redfern incorporates a tangible sense of texture into many of his pieces. This illusion of surface texture makes it appear that the image has been created on an actual surface, such as wood or stone. Someone viewing the piece can easily imagine that what's being seen is an actual object rather than a digital creation. This can completely change the viewers perception of the art. After all, an image that is actually a series of 1's and 0's is still very much in the realm of idea whereas an image that appears to be a tangible, physical object also gives the allusion of existing in reality.
Secondly, Redfern makes the viewer work to really see what's happening in his images. It is not always immediately obvious what one is seeing when first looking at his work. Often there are human figures hidden in the compositions that reveal themselves only with a period of observation. In other words, the viewer must dedicate some time to unravel the image. This time spent is incredibly important because it forces the viewer to live, for a while within the world created by the artist, to explore it more fully and possibly feel or understand better what the artist is attempting to express.
What I find most enjoyable about Redfern's work is the complexity he achieves using digital media. It is the type of work that may only unravel some of it's deepest secrets over an extended period of time. This is very different from much of the digital art seen today which relies heavily on surrealism or visual puns to relate relatively concrete ideas. Redfern says that he is trying to share his dream world through his art and dreams are not generally straight forward experiences to relate. His works complexity is what put's Redfern's art into the category of fine art.