Guardians of Arcadia: Jim Bremer

Come along on a journey to a pastoral paradise called Arcadia. A world where all who inhabit it live in harmony with nature. To keep the balance and insure tranquility, a sisterhood of overseers was formed to rule and protect it. These are the Guardians of Arcadia.

In this series,  the art features courageous and strong women in settings accentuated by dramatic light and shadow. Birds and other little creatures that they are intended to protect frequently accompany them. The figure is present in several layered regions of pattern, tone, and texture from nature.

I am a visual artist. My primary skills are composition and craftsmanship, driven by imagination. I am best known for creating portraits from repurposed photographs that I modify and merge together to create something completely new. Photomontage is the term for this process.

I employ all available means to draw in and hold the attention of the audience. Tim Gunn, the renowned fashion critic and educator, refers to this as “the WOW factor.” That’s what I want to accomplish on two fronts. First, I want to create something that hasn’t been seen before, a bigger than life image that tells a story and stimulates the imagination. Second, I want the viewer to wonder, “How did he do that?” I create art because the process is challenging and satisfying, I make no attempt to change the world or bring attention to the controversial issues of the day. My mission is to give the viewer a few minutes of escape from all of that. For me, a connection to nature is uplifting and stimulating. That’s what I want the audience to feel when they view my work.

While I have a degree in art, the tools and technology I use on a daily basis were not created until two decades after I graduated. The work I do comes with no set of instructions. The ideas and the technical skills that drive it emerge through discovery. Experience from the past and trial and error are the sources of solutions. It requires not just creativity and skills but also a certain level of persistence. I don’t do scetches or any detailed planning when I create something. I tend to start with a couple of photographs that seem to fit together and work my way through the maze to the finish line. The path is full of curves and rough spots, working through all that however, brings me genuine delight and fulfillment.

In my opinion, light is the photographic medium, and black and white represents light in its most basic form. Three essential characteristics are gradation, focus and realism. Even though a picture can be significantly altered by digital tools, I still hold onto the qualities that distinguish it as a photograph.