Artist's Statement - Retouch

I like to spend time perfecting imperfection.
This series is approached in a time-consuming photorealistic style, but the source photos are flawed. Lights streak in exposures that are too long; colors are distorted because the film was processed in the wrong chemicals. A cheap plastic camera produces blurry focus and alternately overexposes and underexposes photographs.
By putting in the time to stay faithful to a flawed photograph in its translation to paint, a new importance is given to the image. The imperfections of the original image are desired to create an interesting painting.