The way we encounter artwork shapes our experience of it.

A sculpture viewed in a gallery is experienced differently from the same sculpture shown in a photograph. A photograph printed and framed is encountered differently from an image viewed on a phone screen. Even the amount of time we spend on a work can change what we notice and remember.

As more of our lives move online, artwork is increasingly experienced in fragments. Images appear briefly between advertisements, headlines, and notifications before being replaced by the next piece of content competing for attention. While digital platforms have made artwork more accessible than ever before, they have also changed the context in which much of it is seen.

This is one reason I continue to value publications like ArtSeen Magazine.

Why ArtSeen Stood Out

I first met Gita Joshi in 2022 through an online program she co-hosted with artist Ekaterina Popova called Your Own Art Show. What stood out to me was Gita's thoughtful and methodical approach to supporting artists. Her attention to detail and commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for creative professionals left a lasting impression. After the program ended, I continued following her work and waited for an opportunity to participate in one of her future projects. 

That opportunity arrived with ArtSeen. 

What appealed to me was not simply the possibility of being featured. It was the publication itself. ArtSeen is not limited to any particular geographic region, allowing artists from diverse backgrounds and locations to share space in the same issue. More importantly, it creates room for artwork, ideas, and processes to coexist. Rather than presenting artists as a series of isolated images, the magazine encourages deeper engagement through interviews, editorial features, studio insights, and personal reflections.

The distinction may seem small, but context matters.

Light Across Disciplines

My feature in the magazine focused on the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional work within my practice. While sculpture, photography, drawing, and relief work are often viewed as separate disciplines, I have become increasingly interested in the role light plays across all of them.

Whether light moves across the surface of a sculpture, revealing texture within a relief, or shapes the composition of a photograph, it becomes an active participant in how the work is experienced. The material may change, but the conversation remains remarkably similar.

This idea extends beyond the artwork itself. Context influences perception. The environment in which we encounter something often changes our understanding of it.

One of the things I enjoyed most about participating in this issue was the opportunity to contribute beyond the primary feature. ArtSeen includes several editorial sections that explore studio practice, creative mindset, and the personal experiences that shape artistic work. These contributions offered a chance to engage with readers more informally while sharing aspects of the creative process that are not always visible in finished artwork alone.

When Art Leaves the Feed

The experience also reinforced something I have been thinking about more often as I move toward a simpler and more intentional relationship with technology.

Not everyone encounters art through social media.

When the issue was published, I sent a copy to my grandmother. Another remained at home, where my children spent time reading through the articles in one of their favorite places to sit and read. None of them regularly engages with my work online. For them, the magazine became a tangible way to experience not only the artwork itself, but also the ideas, conversations, and stories surrounding it.

The publication reached people who may never have encountered my work through a social media platform. It reminded me that audiences exist beyond the algorithm and that meaningful engagement often happens in places we cannot measure through analytics or performance metrics.

That realization felt especially important because the intended audience had not changed. The publication simply reached them through a different path.

A Different Kind of Attention

Print publications ask something different of us. They encourage slower engagement. They invite readers to spend time with images, ideas, and artists without the constant pressure to move on to the next thing. In doing so, they create space for a deeper kind of attention.

In an increasingly digital world, publications like ArtSeen continue to offer something distinct. They preserve opportunities for thoughtful looking, meaningful conversation, and genuine connection between artists and audiences. Similar questions about context and experience recur throughout the built environment, particularly in the ways artwork is encountered within interior spaces.

I am grateful to Gita Joshi and the ArtSeen team for creating that space and for including my work within it. More importantly, I am grateful for the reminder that how we experience artwork is often just as important as the artwork itself.