Jonathan Pazer: “Seven Dimensions of the Unseen, and Other Works” Exhibit

Artist and abstract photographer Jonathan Pazer’s series of abstract constructed lightscapes, “Seven Dimensions of the Unseen,” forms the core of this exhibition, which also includes earlier and images born of digital collage and also more conventional means, plus newer pin-hole camera abstracts.

The series, “Seven Dimensions of the Unseen,” takes its inspiration from modern physics and string theory, whose invisible dimensions are said to give the universe its form and properties.

Of the eleven dimensions proposed by modern string theory, we can only perceive the usual three dimensions, plus time, so that we can only experience the objects of our universe’s eleven dimensions as four-dimensional projections.

This series features photographs taken of the light reflected from and transmitted by impromptu sculptures consisting of projecting and reflecting objects. Photographing only the light emanating from these sculptural arrangements, Pazer captures the existence of these arrangements, but leaves the nature of the actual objects themselves a mystery. By analogy, these sculptural constructions represent the universe’s true eleven dimensions, including the seven we can’t see, while the photographs of their projections represent our visible reality. These evocative images are each accompanied by a poem that in some way reflects Pazer’s understanding of each image.

This theme of photographing abstraction is also carried forward in Pazer’s newest images. Using a large pinhole camera, and long exposure times, he has sought to photograph some of the familiar locations in the Mendocino area, and provide a novel view of them. These pin-hole images are cast onto various paper surfaces which serve as a screen. The resulting digital image is a combination of the prepared paper surface and the pin-hole projected image. The surface and the cast light from outside the pin-hole camera are captured together with a digital camera. The digital camera sits inside the body of the pin-hole camera, and stands in for the light sensitive photo paper or film that was traditionally used in pin-hole camera photography. This unconventional process is unlike the super-sharp, HDR enhanced, photography which is so popular among modern photographers. Pazer’s mixture of prepared paper surface, pin-hole camera depth of field and the softness of long-exposure digital capture, yields a union of old and new technologies that sets these pin-hole landscape images apart.

As an artist I have been drawn to details, patterns and textures all of my life and all the while having a curious sense that the world as I observe it differs from what other people see. I don’t believe that these are two different worlds, only that what excites me are things easily overlooked. My chosen medium has evolved into abstract photography from an amalgamation of my interests in origami, calligraphy, drawing, photography and computers. Before practicing art, I practiced law in New York City. I currently make my home and studio in Mendocino, CA.

I have come to understand that what differentiates art from the rest of our everyday experience is that art asks that we pay attention to it. It is the act of ‘paying attention,’ the active search for meaning and understanding, and the space that art can open in our minds, that fuels my enthusiasm as an artist.

I am a founding artist member on the Board of Directors of Roost Studios, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit community art space, gallery and gift shop in the heart of New Paltz at 69 Main Street. Roost Studios is bringing the art scene back to the village. Roost Gallery presents contemporary work of Hudson Valley artists, as well as providing space for: poetry, Tai Chi, Tango, kids programs and much more; now in our second year, and I am excited to be working with them. I gave up my position in the Fall of 2018 to move to California.