Gary Fisher
Selected Mixed Media/Sculpture
© 2015-2025 Gary Fisher
My mixed-media work is primarily conceptual in nature. Some of the work is purposely contraditory and many of the pieces deal in one way or another with the nature of reality and the perception of time.
Homage to Magritte with Fleeting Clouds, 2019, 12" x 12"
Copyright 2019 Gary Fisher
aerosol enamel on canvas, dye diffusion photograph
aerosol enamel on canvas, dye diffusion photograph
Homage to John Conway, 2020, 10 x10"x2.25"
Copyright 2020 Gary Fisher
aerosol alkyd resin based ename on canvas, LED matrix display, microcontroller, custom software
aerosol alkyd resin based ename on canvas, LED matrix display, microcontroller, custom software
The mathematician John Conway died in 2020. In the 1970's he came up with "The Game of Life" which incorporated a set of six algorithms to govern the birth, life, and death of a population of cells. This game became a part of the early work in the field of cellular automata. Since Conway is now symbolically "in the clouds" I felt it appropriate to combine a painting of the sky with a rear LED matrix display that plays the game of life until an initial population either dies out or reaches a stable population. The LED cells dimly shine through the clouds in the painting until a stable end is reached. A new simulation is begun each time a person walks in front of the painting. I finished three of these works in 2020.
Line Sculpture, Untitled, 2023, 5" x5" x 17"
Copyright 2023 Gary Fisher
heat-formed acrylic, milled walnut base, imbedded LED matrix and brightness controller.
heat-formed acrylic, milled walnut base, imbedded LED matrix and brightness controller.
Atonal Sound Study 3 with Randomness, 2022, 17" x 8" x5"
Copyright 2022 Gary Fisher
Ultrasonic distance sensors, switch, RGB LED, potentiometers, speakers, microcontroller, midi controller, acrylic, mdf wood, custom software.
Ultrasonic distance sensors, switch, RGB LED, potentiometers, speakers, microcontroller, midi controller, acrylic, mdf wood, custom software.
This series is an ongoing investigation of shape and form using the transmission of light to express the duality. In the series, acrylic sheets are formed into three-dimensional sculptures. Each sculpture is coupled with a light source within a milled hardwood or acrylic base. The intensity of this light source is adjusted so that only the perimeter (the shape) is visible, thus realizing a two-dimensional line in space along the perimeter of the sculpure. As of early 2025, fifteen of the sculptures have been completed each having varying form complexity.
In 2022 I designed three unique sound devices each having atonal scales with notes that sometimes change by a given number of steps depending on the last note activated. Each of these devices has unique characteristics both in terms of the method of activation, programming, number of channels, and instrument synthesized. The first is activated by interrupting a given channel's laser beam. The second and third use ultrasonic distance sensors to choose notes on a given channel depending on the distance from the device. One of these, Atonal Sound Study #3, includes randomness to determine when a note will change (up or down) and by how much. The series is ongoing.
These are not musical instruments in the traditional sense and question preconceptions of what musical instruments are or should be.
These are not musical instruments in the traditional sense and question preconceptions of what musical instruments are or should be.
Extinction of Memory, 2020, 9" x 9" x2"
Copyright 2020 Gary Fisher
vintage exposed Kodachrome film, film canister, end cap
vintage exposed Kodachrome film, film canister, end cap
I exposed this roll of Kodachrome in the 1990s and somehow it was misfiled and never developed. Since Kodak stopped making Kodachrome in 2009 and no one still develops it using Kodak's proprietary process, I was left with thirty-six unrecoverable photographic images - memories in film forever inaccessable. So having nothing to lose, I exposed the film to light, destroying the latent images on the film, and made "Extinction of Memory".
Duality, 2015, 15"x5"x2.25"
RGB leds, acrylic light pipe, translucent acrylic diffusers, custom dual electronic light control, custom software, acrylic enclosure
Selected from the Series "Sound Sculptures" - 2022 - 2024)
Selected from the Series "Line Sculptures" - 2023 - Present
Selected from The Series "Optical Field Studies - 2015 - 2019
Loop,, 2016, 6" x 17" x 4"
pressurized krypton tube, neon beading transformer, milled solid mahogany, acrylic
Some Non-Series Work
Nothing is Static, 2016, 16.5"x8.5"x2" (Cloud Series)
Copyright 2016 Gary Fisher
photography, pressurized krypton tube, "beading" transformer, acrylic
photography, pressurized krypton tube, "beading" transformer, acrylic
In this work a static cloud image is combined with a krypton plasma tube where the movement of plasma "beads" across the image acts as a conceptual metaphor for the dynamic nature of cloud phenomena.
Linear Line combines a narrow linear light embedded in a block of oak. Light is incongruously "captured" within the block giving it aesthetic appeal rather than functional utility.In this work
The color of a central linear light pipe morphs in opposition to the diffuse color generated on the translucent surface of the acrylic enclosure. There are five color modes that can be addressed to change the part of the visible spectrum treated. The viewer experiences ever-changing subtle color contrasts between the light pipe and the background which slowly morph over time and never repeat.
This work uses neon in a sculptural rather that commonly seen descriptive context. The mixing of wood and neon enhances this conceptual departure. (Note that the krypton beads continuously move around the loop).
Linear Line, 2016, 15"x15x3.75" (Cloud Series)
Copyright 2016 Gary Fisher
milled oak, 3mm white neon tube, neon transformer with variable output
milled oak, 3mm white neon tube, neon transformer with variable output