My image display at this year's Artomatic will be very similar to last year's AOM in medium, technique and presentation. However, I have lately been working to include people in my photos, as opposed to the people-less photos of my earlier work. I still make the city-scape type images that you may have seen last year, but am choosing to show the newer images of portraits and models for this year's display.

As before, I am creating my images using 100% film, and no digital manipulation whatsoever.

You can see my personal Holga artwork by visiting www.eantognoli.com.

You can see my Holga artwork made at commissioned events by visiting www.erinantognoli.com.

Thanks for looking!

Paper, Canvas, Paint, Ink, Gels, Foam, and more.
Texture, Contrast, Color, Dimension.
Sculpted, Different, Playful, Touchable.
Curious, Unexpected, Cool.
Inspired Fun.

Beauty is an ever changing standard and can be a deciding factor in determining whether we are esteemed or outcast within a culture.

From a woman suffering with ritually bound feet in Sung dynasty China to a modern American trying to squeeze into her “skinny jeans,” or a man who spends hours every week pumping exercise machines in pursuit of six-pack abs, we feel the pressure to conform to standards of idealized beauty — standards we feel compelled to measure ourselves against. Many allow this measurement to powerfully influence their sense of self-worth.

A woman’s spirit, her sense of confidence and self-worth, may be broken by repetitive messages that tell her she isn’t good enough the way she is — poisonous messages with no higher purpose than to generate demand for self-improvement products. In this age of technology the exposure to these critical messages is nearly constant from e-mail spam, radio, television, film, and print media. Men and women have to put on mental armor every day to deflect the pointed barbs and subtle hints that we should wax away hair, lose twenty pounds, and have bigger breasts or a larger penis.

Body Politics is a major collaborative series by artists Tammy Vitale and Heather Bartlett that addresses the concepts of self-image, self-worth, and submission to standard ideals of beauty, and how these affect our perceptions of our own bodies. The series features a number of interactive pieces inviting viewer participation, and though its primary focus is women’s body images, it includes works about male body image as well.

Mosaics

I work primarily with glass. My work often also contains a variety of other objects--marbles, nails, washers, screws, pearls, glass crystals, shells, even small spoons. You'll also often find remnants of circa 16th century pottery in my mosaics. These ceramic shards are salvaged from my parents' back garden in England--long buried broken crockery uncovered as they dig a flower bed or plant vegetables. Other items are found and reclaimed, from the streets of DC, from junk stores and flea markets, or from discarded belongings, and then given a new life in my art.

While I find the vertical format lends itself best to my style of work, most of my pieces are representative of landscapes of one kind or another.

I was born in Washington DC and have lived here since 1999, spending the intervening years in Buckinghamshire, England. I currently live in Bloomingdale, a few blocks north of Artomatic.

J. Boodman Photography

“I’ve always enjoyed photography. There’s a peace that comes from waiting for that one moment, that instant when the image you've anticipated snaps into focus. And when it arrives, you have to react immediately or it’s gone.

While I don’t limit myself to a single type of subject matter, there is a unifying theme that runs throughout my work: To capture an image of something people look at every day, and present it to them in a way that makes them really see it, as if for the first time.”
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Jeff’s work has appeared across the Washington region and his photographs have been featured in The New York Times.

In the world of art, nothing is sacred--not even the art itself. I believe that, at its best, art is a public experience. I see real value in a piece being made available to the general public, not only to look at, but also to interact with when possible. Instead of feeling obliged to "appreciate" art, I would like for people to think of it as part of their daily lives.

This is part of the reason I paint with acrylics. With their bright colors and synthetic texture, they can serve to demystify the world of art, perhaps because their qualities are reminiscent of plastic objects that people use every day. This is important to me, because having art available does not accomplish that much if it does not feel accessible.

The durability of acrylics is also important for my work. Some of my works are made to be touched and moved instead of being kept safely out of reach. The fact that the viewer can physically manipulate the works embodies my belief that the viewer is just as important as the artist in giving meaning to a piece of art.

KT Cappellini made the photos comprising his Artomatic exhibit, "Ain't that America" in July of 2005. As usual, he brought a camera along while on a writing assignment at the Little Sturgis Biker Rally in eastern Kentucky. The result was a collection of bold images that capture the America of John Mellencamp songs with its pants down, an orgy of sex-and-speed-crazed consumption that only a group of 28,000 Americans from the Heartland could pull off.

KT spent two years in Berlin, Germany, where he worked as an associate editor/staff writer for EXBERLINER magazine, Berlin’s only English-language city paper. As the Berlin correspondent for THE FACE, one of the UK’s foremost fashion and lifestyle magazines, he tangled with Berlin's edgy street-couture set.

KT has also lived and worked in Italy, the Balkans, and traveled extensively throughout the U.S. His ongoing journalistic interests include political protest, the biker image, and the end of civilization as we know it.

KT currently resides in Washington, DC, where he's a producer for ARD German Television, the largest broadcaster in Europe. Prior to that, he produced for Fox Television on the show America's Most Wanted. In September and October 2005, he spent a very long two months in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas covering Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The photographs I am exhibiting at Artomatic 2008 are unretouched digital photos I took between 2004 and 2008. They are printed with archival paper and chemicals, and are mounted on acid-free mattes. The 8 x 10s and 8 x 12s are behind UV glass; the 16 x 20s are behind plexiglass. For further details please contact me at djchoupin@mac.com

Although I started drawing portraits and other things from life when I was in grade school, painting and public art is a more recent shift in my life. I particularly love doing portraits, because people are fascinating. I do portraits by commission as well.

I like to work in several media, and plan to continue to learn new materials and ways to express myself. I would be pleased and appreciate hearing any comments you may have about my art. Thanks very much.

Barbara Dixon

PUMPKIN JONES , SOAPY A. , & H.BAPTISTE
present
RECIPE FOR DRUG CREAM
ft.
DRUG CREAM
DRUG ICE
CREAM OF DRUG
CREAM OF ICE

My art explores the inspirational spaces between the heavens and the earth. The images reflect sacred spaces where mind, body and spirit meet the elements of earth, air, fire and water.

What you see is what you get.

Tiffany Glass Ferreria is best known for founding the Real Small Art League, an ongoing public art project to inspire random acts of artistic kindness and creative awareness.

Tiffany studied art, education and philosophy at Radford University, earning a degree in Art Education in 2000. For nearly 10 years she’s taught art classes to all ages, including Greystone Elementary School in Birmingham Alabama, American University in Bushey England, Studio Classes at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia and private lessons in Limmasol, Cyprus.

Tiffany's work will be displayed on Artomatic's 9th floor, between the men's restroom and elevators. An exhibition catalog and price list is available online: www.iknowtiffany.com

Kendrick Hang purchased his first camera in 2006 to pursue photography as a creative outlet from his work in software engineering. Two years and several thousand photos later, Kendrick noticed several themes emerging in his collection of images: examinations of light and color in the outdoors, experiences at night, and being in transit. This exhibit is Kendrick's first effort to share prints of his photographs with the community.