Michael Conway is a photographer and photo mixed media artist based in St. Petersburg, FL. His work has been shown locally, nationally and internationally, recently exhibiting work in the 2017 Songzhuang International Photo Biennale in Beijing, China. He has been producing fine art photography since the early 70’s discovering new works and processes while working at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL.
Michael explores how photography merges and integrates with other mediums. He believes that the “decisive moment” has blurred through photo manipulation either digitally, with layered negatives or by using photographs combined with other mediums. He is drawn to texture, torn paper, industrial products, fire, spray paint, encaustic and other materials. His images use scanned negatives taken long before the digital revolution or from his archive of digital photographs taken over the past twenty years.
His current blend of new and old subject matter is part of what makes Michael’s work so compelling. Figures, symbols, and contexts have shown up repeatedly over the years, but in his contemporary work, have achieved new identities and meanings in their compositional arrangement and form. Michael merges these materials into visually complex and engaging photo mixed media paintings.
