John Rohrer

Prone to finding metaphysical treasures in the subtle details of the mundane, John Rohrer became an artist to share his vision. It is one which allows John to “transcend the pragmatism of the everyday, providing ethereal clarity.” In his works, he aims to afford relative sensory experiences which alter the spectator’s mode of perception. “Ideally, I want people to feel the underpinnings of life that give me strength and joy. My goal is to use my vision to elevate consciousness to elevate peoples’ lives,” says the artist. Working in Photography and Digital Media, his work creates uniquely phenomenological sensory experiences in liminal space. Like many artists of the New York area, he currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, and speaks to creative challenges revolving around financial viability and space. Right now, he has three series in process titled Fibers of Light, Latticial Interference, and Post-Rave. Fibers of Light is about creating an embodied experience of light. The artwork, actualized as lightboxes, actively illuminate the texture and color of the refraction conveyed in the UV print transparency. “This experience of light overwhelms all of the viewer’s senses; grounding the radiance within the body while simultaneously elevating the viewer towards a state of physical transcendence.” Meanwhile, Rohrer’s Latticial Interference bends the light and shadow of lattice forms found in the urban landscape to create optical interference patterns. “The detail in tandem with the bold color and stark tone of the photograph attempts to both excite and exhaust the spectator’s senses. Therefore, these photographs no longer serve as artifacts of the past captured but as apparatuses that actively create maximal optical sensory experience,” explains John. His third project in process is called Post-Rave, and is a portrait series focused on Brooklyn’s queer techno music community, capturing the most raw and intimate moments a lá “after hours” vibes. This series, with its behind-the-scenes photos in which ravers literally “let down their hair,” suspends societal norms and champions freedom of expression. “My intent is to capture the raw, beautiful essence of my friends in the techno community after the night’s cathartic release,” remarks John, a regular fixture of one of Brooklyn’s prized queer subcultures. Moving forward, he intends to use photography to demonstrate changes in the physical body and electromagnetic field of his subject. “I am influenced highly by electronic music’s use of resonate frequencies and visceral beat structures to heal and elevate people,” says John, who aims to keep probing the medium of photography in an exploration of energy transmutation, elevated states of consciousness and the otherworldly.