I was born and trained as an architect and artist in Moscow, and have been living in San Francisco since 1987. I often hear from viewers that my photographs have a strong resemblance to painted media. This may be because from an architectural standpoint, I am concerned with the apparent contradiction between a photograph as a “window” into a three-dimensional world while it also has its own material presence. Therefore, as an artist, I try to emphasize textures and geometry of the plane and deemphasize three-dimensionality of the form to bring the viewer’s attention to the physical surface of the photograph, its pictorial aspects and composition. I like to explore the abstract in the material world and am intrigued by spatial ambiguities caused by reflective surfaces, resulting in slightly surreal images. I prefer subtle and muted colors and print on matte textured archival papers to help further break a picture's “sharpness.” As to my objects, I look for grace, poetry and mystique in the most common of things around. In that respect I feel strong affinity with the Japanese philosophy and aesthetics of wabi-sabi, with its focus on the transient nature of things and reverence of the beauty and dignity in old things, with all imperfections that occur with age. You can see more of my works at http://art.soniamelnikova.com. If you have any questions, please send me an e-mail to soniamelnikova (at) aol.com. Hope to see you in my studio October 17 & 18!