Original ArtofNature Montage Image by Paul Murray ©
Off the Top of my Head
By Paul Murray
This photograph really started something.
It was taken on the Heaphy Track in the Kahurangi National Park at the top of the South Island of New Zealand in 2005.
Paul Murray
I’ve always been interested in the concept of photography as art and try to incorporate a metaphor in my abstract nature images to increase their artistic merit and suggest something other than what is.
In this image, I see an exponential staircase that represents a person’s passage through life. There are some triumphs, trials and tribulations, some challenges and pitfalls, but overall, progress is made.
The photograph is a mix of straight lines that creates a curve, much like a natural Spirograph and it occurred to me that the image could present a completely different feel when rotated and viewed from another perspective. From this, I also saw potential for a new image to be created by rotating, inverting, mirroring and flipping the image and rejoining it to create a kaleidoscopic montage.
I lacked the requisite graphic design skills necessary to realise my idea, so I asked my Belgian artist friend Arnaud “PsoMan” Vanderkerken, who is also a computer graphic specialist, for help.
Arnaud was staying with us in Karamea, New Zealand as a resident artist at the LivingInPeace Project and was painting and developing his artistic style. I asked him if he was able to take my photo and combine it different ways to create a series of new images. He took the project on and we collaborated on the “Exhibition of One Photograph” whereby we used a single abstract nature photo to create a series of entirely new artworks.
Technological advances in software and app development have enabled me to create my own images and I have developed an idea of a new body of work called “ArtofNature Montages.” I am now able to take my abstract nature images and create simple montages and plan to exhibit these in Tokyo.
Since our collaboration in 2006, PsoMan has been travelling the world brightening walls, buildings, public spaces with his incredible murals. He has been prolific and established himself as an internationally renowned artist. His style is easily recognisable, unique, original and brilliant.
I would like to again collaborate with Psoman for a Tokyo exhibition to recognise his contribution to my artistic evolution and to showcase his talent as a muralist and graphic designer. We’d like to share my ArtofNature Montages and Psoman’s Murals with the people of Japan. In order to achieve this, we need your help and financial support. Please join our crowd-funding campaign to raise the necessary money to host the show. We promise a mind-blowing display of artistic excellence, see you there!
The Rongolian Star 