Women in Art 278 Magazine October 2014 | Page 16

american artist Dolores Kiriacon photography Dolores Kiriacon’s fine art photographs are of nature and their natural forms from images of trees and landscapes to still life’s of flowers and leaves. “When I began photographing, I photographed everything one does when discovering the world through the lens of a camera. Then I concentrated on flowers and leaves in their various stages of growth and natural decline.” Lilies – Blooming, Wilting and Wilted This series of Lilies records the phases of a plant’s life from it’s beginning bloom to its final state of being wilted. These portraits celebrate the life cycle of this beautiful flower allowing the viewer to appreciate flowers in a new way. I began taking photos of lilies while walking around Lake Victoria in Palm Beach Gardens each morning with my dog. These lilies grow to about two feet tall between pointed leaves and are planted in mulch along a brick path. I took hundreds of photos of the lilies in all their stages of growth during a period of months. They bloom each day, wilt fairly quickly then become wilted. Editing and selecting the lilies I begin by isolating the lily and eliminating all unnecessary elements. T his leaves a beautiful flower with all its details isolated in a black background. While editing the wilted images they became more of a piece of sculpture as I sculpted the forms creating negative and positive space, and a new shape developed in its final stages of life. In each cycle of life the lilies were transformed into a new life of movement, energy and a new beauty. Dried Leaves Sea Grape Leaves fall to the ground during the entire year becoming dry and changing different colors from their deep green color. The variety of the colors of the dried leaves depends on the month and where they were collected from. Leaves collected from beach plantings have a unique pattern on the leaves very different from the leaves that were collected inland. The dryness of the leaves takes on a new shape much different than their original rounded shape. The different shapes of the dried leaves are what draws my attention to them as I walk each morning. The leaves are collected during a period of months and are photographed in doors using natural light on a reflective surface. I create still life compositions often recomposing them many times to find an arrangement that pleases my eye and the lighting is just right. Editing the photos the colors, shapes and textures become more vibrant bringing another life to them. Like the Lilies, these portraits celebrate the life cycle of these beautiful leaves allowing the viewer to appreciate them in a new way. My work is about seeing – seeing things like they haven’t been seen before. It’s about creating a feeling inside the viewer, when he or she views the final image.