Peter Chamberlain

Statement
My initial experiments with analog and digital imaging explored the possibilities of using unlikely combines of capture and modulation devices. I considered any prints that evolved as little more than documentation of the processes employed. It wasn’t until I tried to prove to a friend and colleague who was a traditional printmaker that digital prints could also have the rich textural quality of intaglio or litho that I began to take the “print” seriously.

On the other hand, the piece shown here is admittedly plain old fun. I have a younger girlfriend and a friend with a younger wife told me I should shave my ear hairs because “younger woman don’t like that”. My reaction was to let the hairs grow and photograph and scan my ears in ways way that accentuated the hairs as well as the grey hairs on my head. Currently I am doing a series on my bald spot. Aging…fashion…taboos…and satire.

Bio
Peter Chamberlain received an MFA in metals from SUNY New Paltz, an MA in sound-sculpture from SUNY Albany, and a Post Graduate Certificate in installation and performance from the Vancouver College of Art (now ECIAD) in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He has been teaching some form of electronic arts full time since 1977. He taught sculpture, electronic arts, and contemporary art history/criticism at Elmira College in NY for 15 years. In 1991 he moved to Oahu to design and implement Electronic Arts courses at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he continues that quest.

He has exhibited or performed intermedia work throughout the continental US, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in Mexico City, in Essen and Munich, W.Germany, Melbourne, AUS, and in Hawai'i. He has lectured on this work in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, continental US, and Hawai'i.

Since 2001, while continuing his sculptural experiments, he has shifted his focus to working with Mokaki, a group of “rapidly aging activist poets, artists, and musicians” who record weekly and perform at special interest activist venues on Oahu. He maintains multiple roles as keyboardist, technical director for performances, recording engineer and keeper of the studio, and also designs and constructs sculptural instruments and amplification devices that serve as functional stage props for performances.

Recently he has also been exploring various modes of digital image manipulation and printing and participating in online exhibitions.

Site: peterchamberlain.net