Edgar Varela Fine Arts is proud to present:

A solo exhibition for John Klukas ( http://www.45houses.com/ )

“The Phantom Queen”

Opening reception is April 28th from 7-10pm

Exhibition runs to May 15th.

EVFA

727 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90014

Pages 24-42 of Fabrik

http://issuu.com/fabrik/docs/fabrik16

Artist Statement: ( http://www.45houses.com/ )

I like creating something that doesn’t really exist – a physical representation of a fantasy or dream. I begin an image usually with a vision or a sketch from a dream. From there I pull together my team, cast a model and build the environment in which the image is to take place. I often invent lighting schemes and camera techniques to support the realization of my images. These settings do not exist and so I cannot use traditional means to document them. I must go outside the normal boundaries of how a camera is used and instead use it’s unique characteristics to distort and blur reality in order to create my images.

I do my work because it is the only way I can communicate these beautiful visions. They are my representations of the beauty which I see in the world. When I create, I am reminded that the vision inside of me is larger than the sum of the individual parts that are invested in its creation. I view being able to create these images as a remarkable gift and the amount of trust and cooperation that it takes to create my images is reflected in the intimacy present within them.

Currently, I’m trying to refine the language I use to communicate my dreams. I want to increase the impact and potency of my images. I am exploring how far I can bring the camera into my dreams and how well I can document things that don’t exist and have never happened. I am exploring people’s reactions to these things and using their perceptions of the camera as an archival truth-teller to confuse and disorient the viewer into believing that these ephemeral apparitions exist in the material realm. When people see my work I would like them to use it to reflect upon their own attitudes about beauty and to see that these visions are an intimate part of me, which I am sharing with the world.