Fusion

• Prize
• Photographer
  Eric L Hansen, United States
• Studio
  Eric L Hansen

This project, Fusion, is an outgrowth of globalization. National cultures are now engaged
in an accelerating process of fusing one with another. For example in restaurants we see
Fondue Chinoise or Asia de Cuba. Increasingly we hear ‘truck’ in the UK. Latte is now
permanent Americana. In France we wish each other bon week-ends!

This project is informed by globalization. Here, I meld oriental with occidental
aesthetics using lens-based art overlaid on painting. So it’s a fusion of cultures
supported with a fusion of media. We’ve all seen over-painted photographs… Gerhardt
Richter et al. But these are over-photographed paintings. I paint the backgrounds, and
then I overlay lens-based material on top of the painting. Please don’t ask me how I do
that. But nothing is appropriated; I create all of the materials. In the end, I print the
finished pieces in editions of 11.

Eric L Hansen's color images are deeply personal storyboards of his own connections to post-modern culture. Reviewers have found his work "…distinctive; a new voice, highly conceptual" (Rock Hushka, Tacoma Art Museum), "… compelling, a kind of first-person social anthropology" (Alan Rapp, Chronicle Books), and "… at once fascinating and horrifying… I experience a jumble of emotions" (Jeanne Friscia, San Francisco Cameraworks).

In the last ten years, his work has appeared in more than thirty group shows and solo exhibitions, where he has won numerous awards. Dollhouse was featured in the 2007 spring issue of Eyemazing, the international fine art journal. His private collectors include the actress Drew Barrymore; and film and radio producer Margaret Koval. He is represented by the George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles.

Museum directors who have curated his work include: Curator of Photography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Malcolm Daniel, Director of the Museum of Photographic Art Carol McCusker, Director Emeritus of the Museum of Photographic Art Arthur Ollman, Director of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art Robert Fitzpatrick, Director of the San Francisco Museum of Art Artist’s Gallery Marian Parmenter, Director of the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art Jeanne Solaff, Director of Contemporary Art at the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts Laura Addison, Director of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art Joann Moser, Director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Marc Pachter, and Associate Director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Alma Ruiz.

Eric lives with the poet, Stellasue Lee, and their two cats, Tennyson and Caylee, in East Nashville, Tennessee.

Awards http://ericlhansen.net/archives/802