Robert Buelteman
Field Mustard, 2011
Print 12/25
Dye-sublimation on Aluminum
34”W x 17”H x 1.25”D
Artist Statement
Robert Buelteman is a celebrated fine art photographer whose works connect audience to subject in an emotionally transcendent manner, in the tradition of eastern wisdom and western revelation. Whether examining the spirit of the landscape or inquiring into the design of nature, his work is a powerful extraction of beauty and substance revealing unrecognized dimensions in the commonplace.
In 1999, Buelteman left photographic tradition behind in creating Through the Green Fuse, a portfolio of energetic photograms made without cameras, lenses, or computers. Working directly with large sheets of photographic film, living plants are used as a filter through which high-voltage electricity and fiber-optically-delivered light is passed. The resulting images open a window on life’s mysteries, and were compared by the Los Angeles Times with photographs of our universe made by the Hubble Telescope.
Buelteman writes, “The actual process of imaging begins with the introduction of high frequency, high voltage electricity into the exposure matrix to create and illuminate the blue aura that emanates from the subject. Then, I use one of a variety of light sources including xenon-strobe, tungsten, and fiber-optic light to illuminate the subject by hand so the light is scattered through the diffusion screens, through the subject, and onto the film where the exposure is recorded. In essence, I regard these as paintings made with the energy of visible light and electricity, using the living plant as both source and filter.”