This series features photographic images printed over a textured surface of paint and collage fragments made from photo-silk screened puff ink on cloth.

Aside from the formal concerns I have with paint and photography,  I am also interested in the concept of “pareidolia,” a phenomenon in which one perceives meaning in abstract stimuli – for example seeing the face of Jesus in a piece of burnt toast or images in cloud-filled sky.

This series was inspired by a video I came across by researchers at the Gallant Lab at UC Berkeley. They are trying to reconstruct – through brain scans and computer compilations – images watched by a viewer. The work is very relevant to ideas I have about photography, art and how we perceive and infer meaning.

John Sousa