James and Victoria Twomey find niche in N'port

Couple opens home gallery next month

BY ELISE PEARLMAN

Twelve years ago, as part of a meditation exercise focusing on long-range goals, Northport artist and resident Victoria Twomey wished for three things: to be happily married, to own a home, and to have an art studio/gallery.

There's a belief that if you put the things that you want to have in life 'out into the universe,' it will come back to you," she said.

Within two years, Victoria's dreams had been set in motion. She met her future husband, James Twomey III, through mutual friends, and it couldn't have been a better fit. James, a clerk at the Northport Post Office, was exploring an interest in photography that dated back to his childhood.

Movers

& Shakers

The couple began experimenting and advancing their knowledge of the photographic medium in an effort to affirm themselves as professional artists. As James focused on nature, landscapes and "unusual views of the everyday world," Victoria immersed herself in computer graphics, developing a photographic style that she calls "alternative imaging."

"While our work shares a sense of poetry, and a love of nature, our perspective is different," Victoria said, explaining that while her husband photographs subjects from a distance in order to capture a mood or an emotion, Victoria zeroes in on the intricacies of flowers and fruit. "I like to disassemble natural objects like flowers and reassemble them to create a new composition," Victoria said. As a result, she elevates the commonplace to the abstract. "I take objects and put them on a flat bed scanner," she said, dubbing herself a "digital artist." She then uses "the computer as a paintbrush" to add highlights, shadows and tints to enhance her images. Examining natural objects at close range has provided Victoria with unexpected insights. I have come to realize that irises, peppers, roses all   have unique personalities, just like people, that can be intensely strange, perfect, imperfect, and beautiful."

Her work has been exhibited at Huntington's Main Street Petite Gallery, Stony Brook's Long Island History Museum, and most recently at the "Color Theories" Show at Huntington Arts Council's Art-trium in Melville.

James has won many awards since he started showing his work at various art shows ten years ago. In addition to being featured on Nikon's website, his work appears in Nikon's 2005/2006 Full Line Product Guide. He won first place in Gallery North's 40th annual Outdoor Art Show and was interviewed by Popular Photography and Imaging.

For James, the process of "getting the perfect image" is as important as the finished product. Even his landscape photographs are laced with meaning, he said. In Jordan's Thought, an ancient tree pro­tectively shades a solitary chair. James, while acknowledging that the photo evokes different feelings depending on the viewer, said that to him, the photo sym­bolizes his transition from bachelor to married man.

John Ellsworth, a photographer and professor of communication at Nassau Community College, discussed contrasts that the couple's work provides.

"James is a pre-visualist," Ellsworth said, meaning that James prints what he saw through the lens without changing it.

"He's a traditionalist and he still uses film. His photos of bucolic landscapes in Vermont and other locations are well-balanced and evoke a certain serenity," Ellsworth said.

Ellsworth called Victoria a "post-visualist" based on her predilection for altering images after the fact. "These alternative images are stunning," Ellsworth said.

"You can see the poetry in her images and they carry a great deal of symbolism."

As Victoria explores her parameters as a visual artist, she has also been developing a gift for "painting with words." Northport poet and visual artist Kate Kelly, who featured Victoria's work in a series of readings called Poets-in-Port, described Victoria's writing as "extremely insightful."

"Her poetry, which she uses to examine her deepest feelings, is beautifully crafted," Kelly said. Noting that Victoria has four books of poetry to her credit, Kelly said, " She's developed very rapidly into a powerful poet."

Victoria has been a featured poet at venues throughout Long Island. Her work has appeared in numerous poetry anthologies, and in 2005, she won first place in Performance Poets Association's ninth annual Poetry Contest. 

Photo by Alan Pearlman

Visual artists Victoria and James Twomey III
in their Huntington Gallery

The Twomeys, who have participated in events sponsored by the Huntington Arts Council, the Northport Arts Coalition and the Art League of Long Island, credit their growth as artists to local support. "There's a tremendous sharing of experience and knowledge of the arts, " Victoria said.

Next month, the Twomeys will witness the final fruition of their dream as they open a home-based gallery in late April. "It's taken a tremendous amount of time, money and effort," Victoria said. "But it's our life. Art is our spiritual base. It keeps us centered. Art is who we are, and we would do it whether we made money or not."

The Twomeys visualize their gallery not only as a place to showcase their work but as a venue for poetry events.