EDWARD A. BATCHELLER creates photographic images and photograms on glass. Photograms are made without a camera; they consist of shadow images formed by casting light on an object placed in line with the photographic plate. All of the images come from a wide array of thoughts and feelings  (constructs) gathered with little preconception. Once obtained, they are treated as found objects, selected and organized according to his focus as it narrows and becomes more specific.  The artist layers and arranges the glass photo-plates in various frames and structures to articulate these relationships. One goal is that the image becomes part of the structure, inseparable from the piece as a whole. 

 

Batcheller's interest is in the chance nature of the creation of images; the glass plates are placed in nature at night - in trees, under water, in grasses, at the beach, etc; He never knows exactly what he will get; he simply sets the process in motion. The resulting images become found objects; materials that are then use to create artworks.  He adds, subtracts, layers, and creates configurations which are then held and suspended in place with various structural devices. The structures emulate the apparatus-quasi scientific devices-of the early days of photography when all manner of inventions were being patented.

His approach is to remain open to experience and gather images (whether created by the chance process of the photogram or by the more deliberate use of the camera) and see where they take him.  By letting the image determine the essence of the work, he is able to free himself of the task of creation to become an agent of the process that reveals discovery instead: Batcheller admires scientists who work for years on experiments that may reveal nothing, or something - but must stay the course of the process none-the-less. The artist chooses to reside in that serene place of the flow and contemplation of process as a way of being in the world. 

 

Edward Batcheller’s works have been highlighted in the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Hampton Chronicle and many other publications. He resides in New York and completed his formal training at SUNY University. He has received the Mark 10 NYFA Artists Initiative as well as the Artists Space grant.