Gary Fisher
About
Gary Fisher is an artist, engineer and applied scientist. He has a broad multidisciplinary background in the arts and sciences and holds a Ph.D. in Engineering with department distinction from UCLA. While a postdoc, he researched holography and focused on holographic display technology which became the basis for his body of artistic and technical work in the field.
While at UCLA in addition to studying engineering, he studied art history and practiced painting, drawing and photography on a regular basis. He also studied drawing with multi-media artist Jan Stussy and painting with abstract expressionist Nathan Oliveira on non-credit bases.
His instruction in photography including composition, large and medium format photography, and darkroom technique was provided by his father, Randolph Fisher, ARPS, a master photographer with a studio and commercial practice in Bevery Hills, California.
While this site focuses on Fisher's multidiciplinary art practice, on the technical side he holds a number of U.S. patents in holography, electrical and mechanical engineering, and fountain technology, and has been a technical consultant in these areas.
While at UCLA in addition to studying engineering, he studied art history and practiced painting, drawing and photography on a regular basis. He also studied drawing with multi-media artist Jan Stussy and painting with abstract expressionist Nathan Oliveira on non-credit bases.
His instruction in photography including composition, large and medium format photography, and darkroom technique was provided by his father, Randolph Fisher, ARPS, a master photographer with a studio and commercial practice in Bevery Hills, California.
While this site focuses on Fisher's multidiciplinary art practice, on the technical side he holds a number of U.S. patents in holography, electrical and mechanical engineering, and fountain technology, and has been a technical consultant in these areas.
Holography
In the 1980s and 1990s Fisher exhibited his art holography in museums in Los Angeles and Arizona. In 1984, he and Roberta Booth co-produced Interactions In Laser Light, the first holography exhibit at L.A.'s Museum of Science and Industry. He also showed several of his holograms in that exhibit. This exhibit was also shown at the museum during the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. In 1988-1990, he exhibited his art holography in Images in Time and Space, an international holography exhibition at its Los Angeles and Santa Monica venues. In May, 2026 one of his integral holograms was purchased by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as part of their permanent collection.
In addition to his art holography, he has consulted in holography for over forty years. He has completed holographic works for clients including Pratt-Whitney Aircraft and has built computer-controlled holographic machines and processing units for clients including Hughes Power Products and Northrup Aircraft.
In the 1980s and 1990s Fisher exhibited his art holography in museums in Los Angeles and Arizona. In 1984, he and Roberta Booth co-produced Interactions In Laser Light, the first holography exhibit at L.A.'s Museum of Science and Industry. He also showed several of his holograms in that exhibit. This exhibit was also shown at the museum during the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. In 1988-1990, he exhibited his art holography in Images in Time and Space, an international holography exhibition at its Los Angeles and Santa Monica venues. In May, 2026 one of his integral holograms was purchased by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as part of their permanent collection.
In addition to his art holography, he has consulted in holography for over forty years. He has completed holographic works for clients including Pratt-Whitney Aircraft and has built computer-controlled holographic machines and processing units for clients including Hughes Power Products and Northrup Aircraft.
Photography
Fisher has practiced fine art photography since 1968. His practice has centered on minalist landscapes, stereo aerial landscapes, temporal studies of clouds and other natural phenomena, scale independent studies of nature, studies of the perception of reality and time, and investigations of liminality.
Over the years he has used a wide variety of analog cameras and formats in his practice and worked predominately in black and white up to 2012. He has maintained a darkroom in his studio where he has printed his black and white photographic work. The majority of his work since 2012 has been digital.
In addition to a large number of singular works dating from 1968, selected series include Barriers 1984 - present, The Journey is the Destination 1980 - present, Temporal Shift Studies 2019 - present, Personal Viewpoints 2018 - present, Reflected Reality 2020 - present, Frozen in Time 2025 - 2026, and Liminal Studies 2026 - present
Mixed-Media
Fisher's early mixed media work from the 1970s comprised photographs of clouds mounted on walnut columns and matrices, on pyramidal walnut blocks, and on machined aluminum sculptural elements.
Beginning in the 1980s his mixed media work evolved into studies of optical phenomena including both static and dynamic birefringence and slowly evolving optical field phenomena.
Since 2013 Fisher has completed minimalist kinetic color works, fountains embodying audio trompe l'oeil, multimedia displays of poetry, minimalist interactive sound sculptures, and works integrating electronic displays with painting and photography.
His most recent work has been primarily conceptual in nature. Some of this work is purposely contradictory; many of the pieces deal in one way or the other with the nature of reality and the perception of time.
In addition to his singular mixed media works, his mixed media series include Topological Landscapes, 2006 - present, Suiseki Series 2006 - present, Tubular Water Sculptures 2006 - 2025, Optical Field Studies 2015 - 2019, Semantics 2016 -2019, Conceptual Music Instruments 2022 - 2024, Line Sculptures 2023 - present, Scale Studies 2026, and On the Edge of Visibility, 2026.
Fountain Art
Fisher has designed water fountains since 1993. His fountains and fountains of his design have been shown and sold in art galleries and commercial venues in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Several of his fountains incorporate microcontrollers to create dynamic wave patterns on water surfaces. He has also developed fountains incorporating audio and visual effects as aids to meditation and to reduce the percepton of tinnitus. .His latest water bell sculpture and tubular fountains were completed in 2025 and 2026.
Painting
Fisher returned to painting in 2017 and since then has painted a number of abstract skyscapes in acrylic and aerosol media on canvas, curved aluminum sheets and curved acryllic sheets.
Fisher has practiced fine art photography since 1968. His practice has centered on minalist landscapes, stereo aerial landscapes, temporal studies of clouds and other natural phenomena, scale independent studies of nature, studies of the perception of reality and time, and investigations of liminality.
Over the years he has used a wide variety of analog cameras and formats in his practice and worked predominately in black and white up to 2012. He has maintained a darkroom in his studio where he has printed his black and white photographic work. The majority of his work since 2012 has been digital.
In addition to a large number of singular works dating from 1968, selected series include Barriers 1984 - present, The Journey is the Destination 1980 - present, Temporal Shift Studies 2019 - present, Personal Viewpoints 2018 - present, Reflected Reality 2020 - present, Frozen in Time 2025 - 2026, and Liminal Studies 2026 - present
Mixed-Media
Fisher's early mixed media work from the 1970s comprised photographs of clouds mounted on walnut columns and matrices, on pyramidal walnut blocks, and on machined aluminum sculptural elements.
Beginning in the 1980s his mixed media work evolved into studies of optical phenomena including both static and dynamic birefringence and slowly evolving optical field phenomena.
Since 2013 Fisher has completed minimalist kinetic color works, fountains embodying audio trompe l'oeil, multimedia displays of poetry, minimalist interactive sound sculptures, and works integrating electronic displays with painting and photography.
His most recent work has been primarily conceptual in nature. Some of this work is purposely contradictory; many of the pieces deal in one way or the other with the nature of reality and the perception of time.
In addition to his singular mixed media works, his mixed media series include Topological Landscapes, 2006 - present, Suiseki Series 2006 - present, Tubular Water Sculptures 2006 - 2025, Optical Field Studies 2015 - 2019, Semantics 2016 -2019, Conceptual Music Instruments 2022 - 2024, Line Sculptures 2023 - present, Scale Studies 2026, and On the Edge of Visibility, 2026.
Fountain Art
Fisher has designed water fountains since 1993. His fountains and fountains of his design have been shown and sold in art galleries and commercial venues in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Several of his fountains incorporate microcontrollers to create dynamic wave patterns on water surfaces. He has also developed fountains incorporating audio and visual effects as aids to meditation and to reduce the percepton of tinnitus. .His latest water bell sculpture and tubular fountains were completed in 2025 and 2026.
Painting
Fisher returned to painting in 2017 and since then has painted a number of abstract skyscapes in acrylic and aerosol media on canvas, curved aluminum sheets and curved acryllic sheets.
© 2017- 2026 Gary Fisher
Art Practice
"Landscape with Cloud", 50"x42", oil on canvas, 1967
photo credit
© Patricia Fennell, 2020
photo credit
© Patricia Fennell, 2020
