ERIC SLAYTON

ERIC SLAYTON /// ARTIST STATEMENT

Everyday, I watch the world around me moving faster and faster. In its chaotic wake, there are places, things and ideas that are inevitably left behind, forgotten. For me it is these very subjects, the flotsam of the changing tides, that merit special attention. I seek out that which has been left behind, and there I find my inspiration.

The items that I concentrate on have slipped out of mainstream culture. I discover them in pockets and on back roads, sometimes only finding the evidence of their passing. I focus on the essence of these materials, the ways in which they describe political or cultural ideas - ideas that cannot be touched, seen or smelled. The objects that I single out in my photographs express, by form or by context, these very intangibles.

All of my visual explorations have the same fundamental components: content, composition, and lighting. The combination of technical and creative layers set the stage for my work's underlying premise: the importance of recognizing the essential beauty found in the mystery of life and the very important role it plays for a healthy and balanced existence. In art as in nature, technical and aesthetic considerations are of equal value, inextricably intertwined.

My perspective has been shaped by my life's path. Beginning with my formal education in the natural sciences and continuing through my work with wild animals and plants, the natural world nurtured me with an ever-flowing stream of inspiration. Scientific study deals with reality on a very analytical level. My concentration on ecology and environmental studies has given me a keen appreciation of the systems that support life.

Just as significant has been a move to rural Vermont. This alone has provided me the inspirational space to explore my creative pursuits and continue to refine my personal vision.

EDUCATION
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (2000)
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1983 - 1987)
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY (1983 - 1987)
Parsons School of Design, NY and Paris (1984 - 1986)



☁ ERIC SLAYTON
☁ ERIC SLAYTON @ METER