"The Light Drawings" by Echo Lew After several hours of preparation, I use just a single shot to complete each image. During an exposure time of approximately one minute, I manipulate lights in front of the camera to create "Light Drawings." Sometimes I invert the positive image to a negative one on a computer but otherwise the "Light Drawings" are not manipulated. Sometimes I put the same positive and negative images side-by-side in the finished piece. I have been drawing with traditional mediums for twenty-eight years. I used oil painting to explore the effects of light in a 2006 solo exhibition, "See the Light," at the Little Tokyo Cultural Center, partnered with Helen Keller International. I became curious about the effects of lights in motion. Could this become the basis of a new kind of drawing? I experimented with cameras and lights until I was able to spontaneously tap into decades of drawing experience while the camera's shutter was open, bringing life to a series of "Light Drawings." The technique originated in 1914 when scientists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used small lights and an open shutter to track the motions of factory workers. My light drawings are inspired by Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly whose paintings are composed with spontaneous actions, performances traced in time. In my Zen Buddhist meditation practice, the lights bend like a reed in the breeze, or soar freely as a bird above a cliff, thousands of lights dancing in my mind. The inner world is clean, clear and full of fresh air. Thousands of lights move as a wave. The secrets of the universe are revealed. Music, especially classical symphony, also shapes these visions. I draw the feelings the music brings forth, the expansive sense of flying over mountains, rivers, and oceans. I have been an abstract painter for many years, concerned with line, shape, composition and concept. Digital photography allows me to expand creatively while using an ultra-contemporary medium with limitless potential. Art for me is an experimental adventure, a profound form of play.
About the Author: Select EXHIBITIONS (Solo) 2014, Exhibition at SCA Gallery (Southern California Art Project Gallery), Pomona, California. 2013, Exhibition at ArtCore Gallery (Brewery Annex), Los Angeles, California. 2012, Exhibition at Museum X of Contemporary Art, California. 2011, Exhibition at TECO (Taiwan Economical and Cultural Office) gallery in LA, California. 2010, Exhibition at Taiwan Center, in Los Angeles, California. 2008, Exhibition at Sun-Tien Museum in Irvine, California. 2006, "See the Light" Solo Art Exhibition in Japanese Cultural Center, Partner with Helen Keller International Los Angeles. Select EXHIBITIONS (Group) 2014 * "Ink & Clay 40", Kellogg University Art Gallery at Cal- Poly University in Pomona, California. * "The Art of Stem Cells" at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in collaboration with the scientists of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at Univerity of California, Irvine * Museum of Fine Art, at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida * "LATITUDE 34-40" Curated by Cynthia Penna at Villa Di Donato in Napoli, Italy. * The Masur Museum (Monroe, Louisiana) 51st Art's Annual showcases contemporary artists, *"SQUARED" at The Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adams State University, Colorado, Curated by Mr. Eric Berkemeyer, Curator at Denver Art Museum. 2013 * at Photo L A with Gallery 825 in Los Angeles, California. * "LAAA Open" Curated by Jenny Gheith, Asst. Curator at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. * "In Motion 2013" at South Bay Lexus Service Center, Torrance, California. Curated by Max Presneill, director of Torrance Art Museum, California). * "Made in California" at Brea City Gallery, California. Curated by Meg Linton (curator / the director at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles). *"Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show 2013" at Grunwald Gallery of Art (Indiana University), Curated by Nan Brewer, Lucienne M. Glaubinger (Curator at the Indiana University Art Museum). *"11th annual ArtFutura" at Northwestern University Lurie Center, Chicago, Illinois. Curated by James Rondeau, (Curator of Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago). *"How Simple Can You Get" at Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Connecticut. Curated by Robert Storr, Dean of Yale university School of Art. *"The Search", Collaborative Exhibition at OCCCA(Orange County Center for Contemporary Art) inspired by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).