Artist Statement:

 

The idea of home is a concept that shapes the lives of most people in modern society. It is often the largest investment that people make in their lives for themselves or their families. Outside of the monetary significance, home can also be a symbol of peace and stability in a turbulent world. Home life can have a drastic effect on a person’s attitudes, outlooks, and mental health. 

 

It is more than simple shelter. It is a place that can restore energy and serve as a base from which to launch one’s activities and aspirations. For some, home is a structure. For others, it can be an expanded region that includes the land and the people that live there. Because of its powerful significance, home is often the subject of memories and dreams. In many cases, it is also the subject of visual art, poetry, and music.        

  

My photographic pursuits of the past several years have been linked to the visual representation of the mental impression of the idea of home. I have been engaged in creating and reinventing images of locations, structures, and objects to achieve my goal of communicating this concept. I use different cameras and techniques and present my finished images as objects utilizing materials such as wood, paint, and beeswax. I hope that my images communicate the complexities of my subject matter and that the uniqueness of the individual can be discovered through the unity of the general. Every person has his/her own idea of home. The overlaps in those definitions are the areas of common ground and understanding.

 

 

Biography:

 

William Ratcliffe took his first photography class in 1993 and has formed a long and passionate relationship with the camera. He went on to earn a BFA and MFA with a fine art photo concentration and has since worked as a freelance photographer, exhibiting artist, and college photography instructor. He has exhibited in numerous solo, group, and juried shows in Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio, had photos published in magazines in the United States and the Philippines, and won several awards for his fine art photography. One of his pieces was recently chosen for the international Juried exhibition Uncanny: Surreal Photography at the Photoplace Gallery in Vermont and his latest solo exibition Turnover had its opening reception at the Green Heron Art Center in Radford, Virginia on New Year's Eve.