Artist Statement
Pixelism
The portmanteau “pixelism,” may be the best word to describe my body of work. It is a mix of two words: pixel and pointillism. In a way, all digital prints are pointillist, because the surface of the paper is colored with billions of dots of color (pixels) to produce the image. I have taken this reality a step further by enlarging each pixel, and transforming it into the major element in each piece. The process I use is the driving engine in these works. I start with a digital image, used as mere ingredient. I take this image and breathe life into the still image with different levels of excessive color saturation, compression artifacts, and over-the-top sharpening. The result is an abstract image that has taken on a new feel most unlike the original subject. It has become something far more beautiful while basically maintaining the original compositional layout. The images now have been subjected to every bad idea in digital photography but have yielded a very dynamic, wonderful piece. In this way I try to infuse a new life into these images, much a a whole.
-Chris Thompson
