Artist Statement

I am drawn to ephemeral moments that evoke the timeless qualities of my nature subjects.  I cherish the instant when the lightscape contains clues to transcendental, as well as physical, reality.

My artworks are meant as embodiments of the sensory and subconscious experience in which I was immersed at the time of the original photographic exposure; Suggestions of the existence of a non-verbal, metaphorical mode of communication between ourselves and the non-human.

I guide the viewer’s perception of my conceived reality through the use of contemporary tools and techniques, as well as various media chosen for the specific properties I find useful to the realization of my vision.

Thoughts on the making and appreciation of art

The making of an artwork entails the artist’s struggle with his own limitations and those of his tools, in the creation of a symbol representing a confluence of spiritual and emotional states-of-being and life experience.  As the resulting symbol is of such a personal nature, I feel that a total awareness of its implications is available only to the artist. 

Viewers of an artwork bring their own frame-of-reference to its interpretation, based on their own life experience and state-of-being.  As such, a viewer appreciates, or does not appreciate, an artwork for reasons uniquely their own.
 

"A person's life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art, or love, or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened." - Albert Camus

Biography

John Radigan was born and resides in Wickliffe, Ohio. He is an artist, lecturer and workshop instructor respected for his penetrating photographs and captivating print interpretations of nature’s wonders. His artworks draw on sensibilities developed through years of creative experience in music, writing, and photography in revealing the inner song, the cry of our true nature that awakens in the presence of wildness.

He leads workshops throughout the year for various organizations including the Adirondack Photography Institute and Cleveland Botanical Garden, enthusiastically sharing a wealth of practical experience while guiding participants in the process of uncovering, nurturing and expressing their own unique vision of the world. His informative and entertaining lectures explore the richness of the human/nature relationship through compelling imagery and thoughtful discourse.

John’s work has received many awards and been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in venues such as Cleveland Botanical Garden (Cleveland, Ohio); Lake Placid Center for the Arts (Lake Placid, New York); Lake Metroparks (Kirtland, Ohio); Arts Center/Old Forge (Old Forge, New York); and the Fine Arts Association (Willoughby, Ohio). His images and writings will also appear in the upcoming Beat of an Adirondack Heart.

His work is seen on the walls and in the collections of many corporations including Floraline Display Products, InfoRad, International Paper, KeyCorp, Life Cycle Strategies, Mountainman Outdoor Supply, Peak Performance Sports Medicine, Prudential Insurance, Thrivent Financial and Xerox.