The pixel in painting

Cambio Self Retrato, 48x36in, oil on canvas by Daniel Ochoa

Recently, I began incorporating pixel emulation in my work. This came about because I read The Post Modern Turn by Best and Kellner. The reading prompted me to question the formal qualities in my work. The realistic depiction of objects and abstract techniques are both identified with modern artists. I saw the pixel as a sign of the postmodern because it did not exist before the 1960's, which as the authors suggest is when the post modern turn began to take place.

When I was in high school in 1998, I took a photography class using 'real film' and learned how to develop the film with a chemical process. I used traditional cameras for about five more years and saw the transition to digital cameras. Now in 2010, almost all imagery in television, computer, and cameras use pixel technology to produce images. I use digital cameras exclusively and rely on digital software to view, edit and print the images I prepare for paintings. By incorporating the suggestion of pixels in my work, I am appropriating a product of technology that permeates our environment. In my work, I explore how to pluralize perspectives and the destruction of the hi-res or 'real looking' image to the pixel re-identifies the perception of the imagery.

The pixelated photo above is a reference I used for the painting "Cambio Self Retrato".