Melissa Faithful for Art-Sheep
New York-based artist Coke Wisdom O’Neal is a fan of close-up photography; or should we say, closed-up? Cramping his ordinary models into small glass boxes, the artist explores the existence of space, freedom and intimacy, in a series of “non-traditional forms of portraiture,” as he describes.
“Over the last 15 years, I have learned my trade and developed my vision without traditional training. Photography has been both passion and paycheck. I learned the technical arts of film, chemistry, and printing through the good fortune of working among photographers, artists, and intellectuals. My travels, both domestic and abroad, have given me knowledge of the world and the passion to document it. Recently, my work has expanded to include not only the final photograph, but the interactions with my subjects,” he writes in his artist statement.
