Artist Spotlight: Tom Wheeler - Painted Light in Western Landscapes

Tom Wheeler, Sticks #1, Archival pigment print on cotton fiber, 21.3 x 30"

Tom Wheeler’s newest work builds on his years of long-exposure light-painting experimentation, producing striking photographic imagery situated in vast western landscapes.

Tom Wheeler, Vortex Trio, Archival pigment print on cotton fiber, 21.3 x 30"

Wheeler’s work is crafted to marry his personal sense of aesthetic beauty with elements of abstract expressionism and minimalism while exploring man’s correlation to nature. In this photographic survey, Wheeler does not advocate or condemn any particular relationship human kind has to nature, but acts as an observer showing his appreciation for the synergistic dichotomy between the two.

Tom Wheeler, Boulder, Joshua Tree, Archival pigment print on cotton fiber, 21.3 x 30"

Painted Light in Western Landscapes was created and conceived at the time of exposure, with no image being digitally altered or processed in digital post-production software. Each photograph is a hand-painted, long-exposure image using light-tools such as flashlights and other objects that illuminate his subjects and landscapes, the two often blurring into one entity.

Tom Wheeler, Empty Chair, Archival pigment print on cotton fiber, 21.3 x 30"

Wheeler has implemented light-painting techniques since 1989, venturing on a journey to seek new levels of experimentation with light tools to keep his ideas and portfolio of work innovative. Subsequently, a recurring theme in Wheeler’s work is vast, open landscapes with minimalist components. Wheeler shows the powerful majesty of the natural world and man’s attempt to thrive in its grasp.

Tuesday, May 15 - Saturday, June 9 

Artist Talk: Saturday, June 2, 3pm