Chuck Hartell

The Work

My current work is made up of four subject matters:

• Earth    Wind    Sun    Water

• Buildings

• Self-portraits

• Composite and minimalist images

I hold myself as a maker of pictures, ranging from single images to composites of multiple images — a picture of pictures. 

A quotation by American painter, printmaker, and photographer Arthur Wesley Dow captures my work well: “The subject is in you, Nature gives the suggestion.”

I use a variety of formats to explore these subjects. Currently, the visual presentations are:

• Single photo images in two sizes (7” x 10.5” and 12” x 18”). An interesting discovery is that the larger image does not always present itself better; smaller can be more intimate. 

• Diptychs, triptychs, and multiple images matted in the same frame. These works have similar subject matter, while ranging in size.

• Shadow-box duets comprised of an image that is reversed and connected, with no interior mat, creating a single image. Nature images often work well in this format.

• Larger composites ranging from 4’ x 4’ to 3’ x 6’. These works can contain five or twenty-five photo images. They can be pictures of pictures, with the background being a vital part of the work. The composite may take months of study and then, in a moment it is complete.

• Scrolls made of a canvas material with high-quality photo images. The scrolls, hung with vines and baler twine, are more ‘organic’ in presentation. There is no mat, gloss, or framing per se, and yet the white space surrounding the images is a pivotal part of the work. The scrolls move with the passage of air. The outside edges curl slightly according to temperature and relative humidity.

The energy coming from the Unconscious is vital to whatever format is being explored. The context of the presentation is instrumental in sharing the discovery of the work. To quote writer Alan Watts, “A frame outlines a universe.” I am blessed to work with master framers and image printers, all of whom honor the art.