This collection represents a study of form, featuring a range of diverse shapes and textures. As an artist, I enjoy creating collections that feature mundane objects, such as potatoes. This approach allows me to examine them in an abstract manner, free from the constraints of the object’s inherent importance or uniqueness. The diversity of potatoes, created by nature rather than human intervention, particularly intrigued me. In this series, I have chosen to create potato portraits rather than still-life representations. I have given each potato a unique name to highlight its individuality, as names individualize while numbers standardize. By using a large-format camera and printing the images in a magnified format, I can capture all the small, meaningful details that make each potato unique. Shooting in black and white eliminates the distraction of color, enabling me to focus on shape, texture, and light. The title VIP may be interpreted in various ways, including “Very Interesting Potatoes.”

The series showcases 36 black and white photographs, captured on 4×5 film using a Sinar view camera.

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So far these photographs have been exhibited in three solo shows in Canada, ( The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery  St. John’s, NL, Temiskaming Art Gallery, Temiskaming, ON, Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, Estevan, SK ) and in the three group shows in the US. Two of these group shows were curated by the great “potatoist”  Jeffrey Allen Price: “Potato Revolution” in Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn, NY and “Occupy Potato” in Islip Museum of Art, in Islip, NY. The third one was “Seen/Unseen” exhibition in the Wiseman Gallery, Grant Pass, OR. Some prints from this series are in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The study of form focuses on lines, shapes, textures, and how light interacts with them. Potatoes are perfect objects for this study, as they exhibit incredible diversity in shape, size, texture, and skin color. Despite being commonplace and seemingly insignificant, they can be perceived as abstract forms in visual arts, particularly in photography. Mundane objects and places often offer a more profound and trustworthy subject matter than exotic or scandalous ones. By showcasing humble objects in a new light, artists can re-create them and give them new life. Potatoes are often purchased in bags by weight, not individually, and are typically perceived as a set rather than singular objects. Despite their lack of attention, they are an essential part of many people’s daily diet. In my photography, I’ve given potatoes human names to emphasize their uniqueness and dignity, not to suggest that they resemble people. Printed larger than their natural size, these portraits showcase the remarkable details that make each potato individually worth attention.