JANIS CRYSTAL LIPZIN / ARTIST
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photo work


Improbable Hybrids

Drawing from my dual background as a Master Gardener and a photo artist, I enjoy taking advantage of digital tools to visualize improbable plant hybrids.  This series grew out of my Botanical Exposures project (below) during the pandemic of 2020.

Norway House from the Starflex Series by Janis Crystal Lipzin
Norway House. archival pigment print in limited edition. 8in x 8in

The Starflex Series


alludes to but doesn't exactly describe color in the natural world -- rather it supplies visible evidence of a surreptitious conspiracy between the artist, materials, and photo-chemical occurrences. 
Kodak Brownie Starflex film camera
Kodak Brownie Starflex film camera

The Starflex Series was named for the Kodak Brownie Starflex camera which I acquired in 1976 for 25¢.  Although initially, my attraction to this camera was based largely on its similarity to one which my father had given to me when I was a child, the Starflex has revealed itself to be a most willing light gathering and recording accomplice.  The Starflex Series questions the mimetic use of color which was historically introduced into photographic technology to more accurately render objective , physical reality.
Pigions in the Grass, Alas! (G.S.) by Janis Crystal Lipzin
Pigeons in the Grass, Alas! (G.S.) chromogenic color print in limited edition from the Starflex Series 7.125 in x 22.625 in


Fragments of familiar objects, glimpses into uncertain spaces, color which floats free of form and asserts itself, become, instead, sensual revelations of the material basis of these light molds.  Sometimes I baked the film in the sun and exposed it in reverse fashion by allowing light to enter through the filtered window on the back of the camera.  Thus light passed through the film's fibrous paper backing before striking the film itself.  Either procedure creates light leakages that encroach upon the subject as golden effulgences and groping fiery "fingers." 
The Temporal Vision prints and Starflex Scrolls take advantage of freely-advanced film and sequentially overlapping exposures during both the shooting and the printing to produce image-time continua which further relate to my concurrent work in filmmaking. 

Temporal Vision: Pennsylvania Diner by Janis Crystal Lipzin
Temporal Vision: Pennsylvania Diner. 6in x 33in archival pigment print in limited edition

Temporal Vision: Houston to N'Orleans by Janis Crystal Lipzin
Temporal Vision: Houston to N'Orleans. 5in x 48in archival pigment print in limited edition
view more Starflex Series

Botanical Exposures   are archival pigment prints in limited edition on  paper that explore concealed natural worlds inspired by the flora in my garden in western Sonoma County, California, and by my travels to Bali and coastal Maine.  My close observations create a partnership between art and  botany much like dance partners where one alternately leads and the other alternately follows revealing  unexpected synchronicities.

© JANIS CRYSTAL LIPZIN     all rights of reproduction reserved

  • Home
  • what I make
    • artist books
    • film & video sculpture
    • films & videos
    • installations
    • live film & video performances
    • photo work >
      • more photo work in the Starflex Series
    • printmaking
  • About
  • Contact