REACTANT
Necessity may be the
mother of invention, but it is necessity’s child that interests me most. All
too often the cycle of life and art reach an apex only to become predictable
and stagnant. But out of boredom something grows.
Recently, with idle hands and a head
filled with doubt, I took up a project that was partially triggered by a
challenge but mostly on a whim. I needed to add a bit of the random to what I’d
been doing in my photography and fell headlong into the chemigrams you see here.
In simplest terms,
without the use of camera or lens, the chemigram process marries everyday
household ingredients with light, traditional silver gelatin photo paper and
common darkroom chemistry. But perhaps more importantly, a large dose of trial
and error, with the latter being most necessary in giving birth to
REACTANT (2018-2019).
- Patrick J. Cicalo
Patrick J. Cicalo
(b.1957, New York, United
States)
Bio
A photographer in the contemplative
surrealistic style and more recently chemigrams, an alternative camera-less
& lens-less photographic process.
A founding partner of Red Circle
PhotoArts Collective and an exhibiting member of Soho Photo Gallery in NYC.
Current president of Ground Glass, a fine art photography group established in
1975 and based in the Metro NY/Westchester/Fairfield County area.
Website: www.patrickcicalo.com
Instagram: @patrickcicalo
