Cheri Lomonte paints pictures with her camera; utilizing digital processes, she summons the best from her subjects, presenting them in ways that lift the everyday to sublime, leaving her viewers astounded by sheer loveliness and hungering for more.
“Oh my gosh!” “Ethereally beautiful!” and “A New Georgia O’Keefe” are reactions frequently expressed by Cheri’s viewers. And due to the unique perspective and skillful compositions she brings to her work, these responses are easily appreciated. Her evocative imagery challenges viewers to re-examine what we take for granted visually. At the same time, it reintroduces awe to our experience. Viewing the tranquil beauty of a lotus flower, or the electric energy of a cactus, we are once again astonished by the sheer beauty of creation and left wondering just how much we miss in the travels of daily life.
Cheri’s work is reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe.
Cheri instinctively draws her subjects in compelling ways, inviting us to pause in the sacredness of the moment and to reexamine our assumptions about what is beautiful. Not all of her images provide an idealistic view of her subjects. Cheri uses light and context to lift her subjects to the idealized realm and this makes rhizomes, trees, and leaves as compellingly lovely as the blossoms gracing the tops of her botanicals.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
~ Anonymous
Time and memory play key roles in Cheri’s work, and this is obvious in the religious images she photographs. Relying on her background in art history and appreciation, she investigates the dynamics of what is sacred and how it factors in contemporary life. Her photos of religious art—especially art created by the best of the Renaissance masters—are deeply inscribed in the context of art history and establish for us a link between the original artist and what was imagined and conceived at the time the work was originally executed; and yet, in re-presenting them to us, Cheri asks us to examine what is sacred and how spirituality plays a role in our lives today.
A picture is a poem without words.
~ Confucius
Cheri’s art vibrates with emotional and spiritual energy. It is reverent and joyful and conveys a sense of wellbeing that is rare and deeply appreciated in today’s world. Her photographs invite us to discover poetic meaning in our own lives.
