Robert Buelteman

SLATE contemporary is pleased to present a solo exhibition featuring both color and black and white  energetic photograms by Robert Buelteman. Buelteman does not use cameras, lenses or computers but rather works directly with large sheets of photographic film, and uses living plants as a filter through which high-voltage electricity and fiber-optically-delivered light is passed. The resulting images open a window on life’s mysteries, and were compared by the Los Angeles Times with photographs of our universe made by the Hubble Telescope.

Buelteman writes, “The actual process of imaging begins with the introduction of high frequency, high voltage electricity into the exposure matrix to create and illuminate the blue aura that emanates from the subject.  Then, I use one of a variety of light sources including xenon-strobe, tungsten, and fiber-optic light to illuminate the subject by hand so the light is scattered through the diffusion screens, through the subject, and onto the film where the exposure is recorded.  In essence, I regard these as paintings made with the energy of visible light and electricity, using the living plant as both source and filter.”