What is DIB Digital?
Artist Statement
My work as a digital artist has offered me the chance to express myself in a way I was never able to before. This has been achieved through a variety of Mac machines; numerous digital cameras; and a multitude of awe-inspiring software. Thus I have been able to combine my love of sound and vision, with my imagination to create a wide range of digital art – from satirically motivated and avant-garde inspired digital illustrations and video to pedagogical interface design for effective eLearning. The latter allowed me to take my knowledge and experience of the classroom into a digital learning environment where users/learners could interact and express themselves freely as part of their constructive learning process.
Although it has taken me many years to reach this point in my life the previous paths that I followed always involved some aspect of art and creativity – all of which have helped to shape the person and artist that I am today. Growing up in Scotland at a time when music was changing the whole fabric of society was a major influence in my early years. Buying my first SLR camera along with a variety of lenses and filters opened up a new world which enabled me to capture different cultures and lifestyles on my travels in a more interesting and experimental way. Living in Indonesia for 5 years had a major influence in shaping my philosophy and was a particularly creative period in my life – teaching; playing music; hosting radio shows; organizing major events; learning Bahasa; establishing my own style of photography; and interacting with many creative people from all over the world.
The digital skills I acquired in the USA provided me with a structure and platform where I have been able to use all of the above influences to express myself in particular ways. Lack of ideas is never a problem. I like to be off-beat if possible and incorporate an element of humour in whatever I do; or include elements that will shake people out of their apathy. Dramatic angles similar to Russian constructivism, and contrasts in colour play an important role in my digital imaging work. Storyboarding is an essential part of the pre-production stage and is particularly important when designing a website and interface. Instinct and intuition rather than planning usually determine the choice of colours. It is better to create feelings of anger than no feelings at all. A piece of work is successful if it can visually represent the objectives of the original concept in a clear cohesive and entertaining way.