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Lisa Marie Patzer

Visual Artist and Creative Business Owner

Lisa Marie Patzer is a seasoned visual artist with over 15 years of experience in managing and executing digital contemporary design projects. Based in Philadelphia, she operates her small business, specializing in crafting custom illuminated art panels for exclusive clientele. Lisa Marie holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film and Media Arts from Temple University and a Master's degree from John F. Kennedy University. Her professional journey includes diverse roles such as Associate Web Producer at National Constitution Center, Visual Artist, Communication & Web Director at the SNF Paideia Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and Video Residency in 2018 at IceBox Project Space. Moreover, she has excelled as an Adjunct Instructor at Rowan University, Director of Web Communications at Wharton Public Policy Initiative, Assistant Director of Website Development and Social Media Communications, Instructor of Art at Eastern New Mexico University, and various instructional positions at Temple University and Digital Media Academy.

Highlights

Aug 25 · linkedin

Part 3: The story behind "Chromatographic Landscapes"

Now that the images were digitized, I could use different computer imaging techniques to organize and reconfigure the images. Recognizing the unique color composition of 35mm slide film, I ran the images through color detection algorithms, analyzing the 1,000 slides by variances of color values and reorganizing them according to these values. The results were interesting but because most slides had a bit of every color in the test range, the sort wasn’t very specific. I had to reduce the area of the image with which I ran the test. Going back to the original data set, I sliced the source images into segments and then ran the sliced segments through the color detection algorithms. The results were much more articulated.

I started to see the actual quantity of colors available in the full data set by segmenting the images into smaller pieces. Just as scientists use different chromatographic processes to separate the compositions of chemicals into test strips evidenced by color values, I had used digital algorithms to detect the quantity of certain color values contained within the slide images.

I then used additional automated processes to align the colorized strips into long landscapes, representing compositionally the color ranges in graphical format. While doing this I started to study the individual slices and realized these small detailed images extracted from the original scenes provided a completely different experience of the canonical images. I started playing with various arrangements of the chromatographs, organizing them into vignettes that evoked a possible scene. Leaning heavily into nostalgia and free association, I wanted these vignettes to evoke a certain emotional quality.

"Chromatographic Landscapes" will be on display at the Delaware Contemporary Art Museum, Hatch Gallery, September 6 - 29 (opening reception September 6, 5pm - 9pm) and at Cherry Street Pier, October 4 - 31 (opening reception October 4, 4pm - 8pm). Drawing from a collection of 35mm slides from the mid-1950’s by photographer Ben Kabakow, I have utilized various chromatographic technical processes to sort, separate out, and reconfigure the source material into new compositions. Exhibit will feature “Sample Portrait”, video installation courtesy of Deb Rudman, Kabakow’s granddaughter, reflecting on his life, relationships, and photo archive.

Aug 25 · linkedin

Part 2: The story behind “Chromatographic Landscapes”

Over the next year, I studied, storted, labeled, and culled the boxes of slides by Ben Kabakow. Taking inspiration from Ben’s labelling schematic, I first sorted them by location and then by subject matter. I was highly attuned to my own personal bias and artistic influence as I performed this selection and categorization process. At the time, I had also been thinking about domestic archives as a unique category of archival material that, when viewed through a socio/political lens, conveyed larger implications of what collective memories are institutionally preserved versus what memories are discarded or allowed to decay. I had also been conceptually interested in and working with pre-digital domestic archives as “data sets”, large collections of images previously unexposed to computer vision technologies by the very nature of their analog format. The very act of removing one slide from the overall collection into a smaller segmented pile based on what I was seeing and how I was interpreting the image had a level of significance that weighed on me. In the end, I had scanned approximately 1,000 slides. 

"Chromatographic Landscapes" will be on display at the Delaware Contemporary Art Museum, Hatch Gallery, September 6 - 29 (opening reception September 6, 5pm - 9pm) and at Cherry Street Pier, October 4 - 31 (opening reception October 4, 4pm - 8pm). Drawing from a collection of 35mm slides from the mid-1950’s by photographer Ben Kabakow, I have utilized various chromatographic technical processes to sort, separate out, and reconfigure the source material into new compositions. Exhibit will feature “Sample Portrait”, video installation courtesy of Deb Rudman, Kabakow’s granddaughter, reflecting on his life, relationships, and photo archive.

Lisa Marie Patzer
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Location

Greater Philadelphia