Today we’d like to introduce you to L. Dolphin Brown.
Hi Dolphin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a video artist. My journey with video creation began in the 8th grade purely by accident, when I took tv news as an elective. I soon discovered that I was intimidated being in front of the camera, but I loved working behind the scenes. After being accepted into the Media program at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX, I went on to complete my BFA in Video Arts at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While there, I had the opportunity to liaise with renowned video artist Dara Birnbaum. That opportunity set me on the path to creating the first multi-channel video installation at the college and began a new phase of my artistic development.
I began creating non-narrative shorts that were more about feeling than a clear storyline. I experimented with video as texture, color, and mood rather than clear images. The more I experimented, the more I wanted to take video art in new and unthought-of directions. Eventually, I had ideas to create works that just couldn’t be done with the existing technology and certainly not outside a professional video studio and editing suite.
After college, I worked for advertising companies and then in corporate America as a web developer until my world was rocked by a diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2017. Major surgery and six months of chemo put me into remission but left me with crippling panic attacks. The fear of recurrence was so strong that I could barely cope with day-to-day life. I knew that one of the best ways to get a handle on that panic was to create art, so I went back to creating on a full-time basis.
I started creating traditional video art like I had in college but soon found it just did not heal my panic nor feed my soul.
Eventually, I found my voice by creating meditative, textural abstacts which opened my mind to new ways of seeing and thinking; a moment where I could breathe deeply and experience magic. My art is a call to transcend beyond the moment and dive below the surface; to immerse ourselves in new worlds of possibilities.
Art should, in my opinion, always push the boundaries of its “technology”. I have always believed that video art can and should defy conventional “television” restrictions. I love building unique multi-screen layouts, collaging together moving images into deeply layered visuals, and intermingling distinct audio streams into mesmerizing soundtracks. I turn everyday video into abstract works of art that envelop you in a world of sounds and visuals; art that goes beyond the canvas and brings you fully into a different reality that only a multi-sensory experience can.
Most recently, I have begun creating video paintings – abstract or other-worldly videos and sounds that hang on your wall like any painting. You don’t need wi-fi or an internet connection. The volume and brightness can be controlled by remote, so it can be hung in any room or business. My art is available in screens from 7″ up to 120″. And if you are in Texas, I will custom hang the work in your home or business. All you have to provide is the wall space and the power.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
You know what they say, nothing worth doing is ever easy. There have been some challenging times, especially through the pandemic when I couldn’t show my art at in-person shows. That is because the biggest challenge for me is to explain my art to people. No one else is creating the kind of work I am. Unless you can experience it, most people cannot quite understand what it is. But I know I am doing what I am supposed to in this life, and that keeps me focused and motivated to keep creating and sharing my art.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I sell completed works on my website, but I also take commissions for custom works. I love collaborating with clients to create something uniquely them.
Like so many over the past two years, my family experienced a sudden and unexpected death this past summer and it hit my whole family quite hard. My aunts had been together for 47 years when they were finally able to get married and another seven years after they were married. That’s 54 years in total. My Aunt was the person who, when she find out her waitress was going to drop out of school because she couldn’t afford her books, would give her enough cash to get them so she could stay in school. So, when her wife asked me to do a memorial piece for her I knew it had to be something really special.
I had an idea for a “soul print” video series for quite a while, but I hadn’t quite found the right way to create any yet. I knew this memorial was the perfect opportunity to commemorate the impact souls leave on this world. I tried to capture the essence and feeling of what her legacy was in an abstract form. Fortunately, my Aunt was overjoyed with the resulting video, which is in a 32″ video screen that hangs on her wall and runs 24 / 7. I was honored to memorialize someone so special in this way.
I have done several more commissioned Soul Prints since, and I enjoy the process of getting to know the person I am memorializing and then translating all of that into a work of art that captures the impact they had on the world around them.
What makes you happy?
Quiet, still moments where I can step away from the “busyness” of modern life. Taking a few very deep breaths and just listening to the sounds of nature or beautiful music and maybe even my inner voice. That’s why I make the art that I do. Our world seems to worship the fast-paced, always doing something mindset. I worked and lived in that world for over 20 years and in that time, I forgot who I really am and what my purpose in this world was. So, I try to take a few quiet moments every day to reconnect with myself.
Contact Info:
- Email: dolphin@DelphinusInspirations.com
- Website: https://delphinusinspirations.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delphinus__inspirations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DelphinusInspirations
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DelphinusInspir
- Other: https://linktr.ee/DolphinLBL
