Y. Hope Osborn
Little Rock, AR
Expressing imagination and reality that captivates, inspires, and/or informs while enriching lives
Message
Y. Hope Osborn is an author, photographer, digital artist, editor, and web designer residing in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Her published writing includes ecological experiences that educate and entertain and personal traumas that encourage survivors and expose victimization. She photographs the jewels of color landscapes, mindful of unique, momentary beauty. She composes black and white abstract and documentary photographic studies of historic and timeworn architecture in rich tonality, vivid texture, and creative perspective alongside texts of history and her story, weaving art with how she/we think, feel, believe, connect, and care.
Hope has an MA in Professional and Technical Writing and is published as author and artist with Woods Reader, Plants and Poetry Journal, Whitefish Review, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Writers’ Network, Awakenings, and The Sunlight Press, including blogs, Fusion Arts and Red Cross. Her works are exhibited and awarded, including Monovisions Awards, Neutral Density, Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Award, International Photography Awards, Architecture Masterprize, and See|Me, internationally, online, and off in Portland, Oregon; New York City; Santa Paula, California, Arkansas—USA and Barcelona, Spain. She was awarded the Not Real Art Artist Award and Mud-America Arts Alliance Catalyze grants,
Hope believes being a great author and artist is to be entrusted to express reality and imagination that captivates, inspires, or informs while enriching lives.
Statement
Through all my writing and photography, I speak my truth inviting all to share their truth, making the unknown known. I witness these truths to understand yours and my history, weaving art with how we think feel, believe, connect, and care.
The art of my photography and framing text is inspired by a freedom to express unknown to me in a childhood stifled by abuse. Beyond the desolate darkness of seeing within is a ever fresh curiosity into the wonders of the world from ground to sky and near and far of art and literature and biology and geography. Architectural lines may seem as unforgiving as the bars of a prison on mind, body, and soul. However, contextualizing photography and writing in trauma survival, I bear witness that whatever the circumstance the human spirit, by God’s grace, may ever arise in inspiration, creativity, and life.
One of the unknowns of the art of photography is it is not often a mere click of a button. I research subjects online and in person and drive and walk many miles. I discover interesting angles, stabilizing for precision and capturing multiple minute focal points away from me to stack for depth of detail. Then, I "paint," adjusting contrast, shadow, light, etc. to suit the subject to meet the meaning I find in the images.
Another truth is art is two-sided—the perspective of creator and the perspective of viewer. Many people are afraid to voice their ideas and feelings about trauma for shame of feeling they did wrong and about art for fear of getting it wrong. In both art and trauma, no voice should be bound. Both creator and viewer may be witness to past, present, and inspiration of future.