“commission pieces from the local artist� - Christopher Shoup The Riverside Hospital Portfolio
“By trade I am a visual artist, not a fine arts photographer. I use the camera to capture visual material for later use. I do not use Photoshop or any other means of digital manipulation. I tile what comes from the field.�
“Thank you for the opportunity to fulfill the Riverside commission. I have four goals for this work. I want it to inspire questions from the viewer. I want it to encourage discussion. I want it to highlight the native plants of Illinois. And I want it to serve the hospital’s core goal of healing people.” Christopher Shoup Bradley, Illinois www.chrisshoup.com
“black-eyed susans, in and out of local the garden� This piece features local and regionally native black-eyed susans. It is a comfortable image that highlights a local wildflower garden and details a native prairie flower found living there within.
“study of black-eyed susans� This piece features native black-eyed susans. It achieves the remarkable. We are able to see underneath the flowers, we are able to see the flowers, and when we step back, we can see the subtly bold colors and patterns of the work.
“illinois prairie eyelashes� This piece features native purple coneflowers. The telephoto lens used to compose the image drew the flowers into sharp focus and created an impressionistic background of the field grasses. This is the sole piece in this portfolio shot with my Canon AE1 35mm camera, which directly links this work to my earlier work.
“black-eyed susans against August bluestem” This piece features native black-eyed susans against native bluestem grasses. Its four complimentary circles match the four complimentary circles made with the purple coneflowers, thus making each “Above Bench” piece comfortable and non-competitive. I hope the highlighting of two native flowers encourages the viewer’s further interest in each.
View of L5 and L6.
View of L3 and L4.
“additional pieces” As is always the case, the construction of this portfolio resulted in additional pieces. These additional works are included here because I found each having strong merits, and thought each was worthy of being shown.
“black-eyed susans, softly”
“black-eyed susans with Russian sage border”
“study of orange and yellow”
“beginning a bluestem basket� This piece features native bluestem grasses set against a pure blue sky. It is a minimalistic yet comfortable image that hints at the fiber arts, as the simple gathering of grasses seem to be spinning into baskets.
“native bluestem blanket� This piece features local and regionally native big bluestem grasses. Its solid edges frame a view of a pale sky and help the image evoke the pattern and dimension of a native rug.