William D. Cannon Art Gallery

The San Diego Union-Tribune, North County Times

Artist Victor Raphael is fascinated by the cosmos and how it inspires man to contemplate his place in the universe. Like other kids who grew up in the 1950s, Raphael wanted to become an astronaut so he could travel in space. These days he can't see much of the Milky Way from his home in Los Angeles, but he can still scan the heavens with his telescope.

Whenever possible, Raphael travels to the desert to look at the night sky. "I think that it's sad that we as a society are not more attuned to (the heavens)," he said. Raphael has spent 25 years developing his artistic vision of the cosmos, resulting in a series of multimedia works titled "Space Fields."

Raphael will exhibit 70 pieces in a variety of paint, print and digital media from this series at the William D. Cannon Art Gallery beginning Sunday. Each piece began as a Polaroid snapshot taken from a televised NASA program. Raphael works with Polaroid film because it is something that everybody understands. "Most people have shot a Polaroid or held one in their hands," said Raphael, who also likes the film's intimate and one-of-a-kind quality.

Raphael alters each Polaroid by painting the surface with gold leaf, metal leaf, or acrylic paint in order to obscure or accentuate certain aspects of the photograph. "I'm really interested in transforming the photo, not trying to make it a scientific work, but taking it into the realm of art and transforming it into something that is visually arresting and captivating, something that engages the viewer from a visual point of view," he said.

Raphael graduated from UCLA in 1973, then worked as a printmaker for Triad Graphics and Cirrus Editions. Next he tried his hand at acting, which eventually led to producing and directing independent documentaries and videos. The experience proved useful in his art, as did his six-year stint as curator of the Platt Gallery at the University of Judaism.

Raphael uses low-tech and high-tech applications to create his artwork. He uses various mediums and mixes them in different ways to allow new imagery to emerge, he said. Raphael is interested in computers and digital technology but uses painting so there is still a human hand in the work. "It's not just a digital work that's removed from us, but there's a physical quality that you can relate to,' he said.

However, technology does have its benefits. It gave Raphael the ability to extend the experience of his space work via an interactive CD-ROM he created, which allows the viewer "to interact with the image as if they're floating in space," he said. Raphael is a big believer in learning through his mistakes. "I think that's what is very engaging and compelling about the creative process, this idea that we learn as much if not more from our failures," he said. Each new piece has a life of its own, Raphael said. "Sometimes I never know where the piece is going to end even though I have a general idea about where I'm going and what I want to do,' he said. "I want to be open to any surprises that happen in the process that may reveal a new direction that I had never even imagined. That's the exciting part about being an artist."