RiCK LiGAS | artist statement

I photograph, then I tickle the image
until it laughs. —RL

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Rick Ligas, self-portrait

I began taking pictures when I was a teenager. At first the process fascinated me: taking the picture, developing the film and printing the image. Then the image itself fascinated me: I wanted to make beautiful pictures, then I wanted to photograph Beauty, then I wanted to See. Now I simply live in the moment and use the camera to record, with intense, silent fascination, the world that always presents itself to me.
In 1991 I began to edit photographs on computer and to this day I still am fascinated by what can be created with digital tools: I photograph, then I tickle the image until it laughs. —RL

About
"LiFE ALiVE collection"

I took these images traveling in Italy and the United States and they represent my fascination with the simple perception of the world. If I close my eyes, take a few breaths to relax, then open my eyes I see the world as completely new, just for an instant before thinking takes over from pure, simple perception.
I love this moment of pure perception and seek to extend it.
These photographs are my attempts to capture and share that continually returning, beautiful moment. I work on the images digitally until they embody some of the emotional experience as well as the visual experience. —RL, Austin, April, 2003

Résumé

- Studied photography, art and music at Akron University and Kent State University in the late '70s

- Began digital photo editing in 1989

- Awarded 2nd Place in the Sixth Annual International Photo Competition (5 images accepted into the gallery's permanent collection) at Gallery Tina Modotti, Acerra (Napoli, Italia)
March 2001

- Collective exhibit at Austin Spirit Gallery, Austin (Texas, USA)
April-December 2003

- Solo exhibit sponsored by FNAC-Galeries Photo, Paris (France)
March 2004

- Solo exhibit at Russell's coffee shop, Austin (Texas, USA)
May 2004

- "Primavera" and "The canoe Endeavor" in the Lobby of the Surgical Center at the St. David Hospital, Austin (Texas, USA)
since March 2005