Michael Costanza

STATEMENT
I create worlds where the visual clatter produced by people flows in unison with nature. The creative process is a way for me to find a balance and harmony in an imbalanced world filled with multiple layers of noise. Noise not only implies discordant sound to me, but also a buzz of visual and mental commotion produced by people and the everyday experience.
I translate the daily events I witness around me into layers; there are layers for interactions, conversations, movements, objects, colors, textures, emotions, thoughts and ideas. The layers constantly rearrange themselves as one person impacts another, or one mood shifts into another. The arrangement of these layers on a pictorial surface creates a non-linear narrative scene in which multiple layers may be experienced simultaneously in piles.
My photography serves as a documentation of the world as it is, untouched and investigates the beauty found in the mundane and the simple act of daily living. Just as collage informs the compositional elements in my photography, photos are used as source material informing the direction of my mixed media work.

BIOGRAPHY
b.1982, Kankakee, Illinois Michael Costanza has worked as an educator at the high school and middle school level. In addition, he has developed art education programs with Urban Gateways in Chicago and is currently an adjunct professor teaching drawing at Kankakee Community College. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Art Degrees from Governors State University, University Park, Illinois.
With his personal artwork, Michael strives to call attention to the often overlooked beauty of daily life in traditionally marginalized, urban cultures.