Using state-of-the-art digital equipment, Hofmann employs a variety of techniques to achieve the special effects which are fast becoming her trademark. Placing objects such as rocks, leaves, flowers or photographs upon a scanner, Hofmann goes to work to create her art work. Programs such as PhotoShop™ enable her to manipulate the images once they are scanned. An ordinary eucalyptus leaf is transformed into a fluorescent frond of glowing blue-purple. A rock takes on an otherworldly transparent appearance.

Says Hofmann, “My new work is from the realm of imagination rather than from the realm of reality. Although there are elements of reality in my pictures, such as the images of leaves or flowers, the final images that I create from them are not images that you would find in reality.” By inverting or intensifying colors, applying various filters, or layering objects, Hofmann is able to achieve a final product which suggests little-to-no evidence of what the original object might have been. Each piece has a mystique all its own, at once drawing the observer in, while also leaving the viewer to question what it is exactly that they are looking at.

This outcome delights Hofmann who firmly believes that art is about the joy of discovery. She loves for her viewers to explore each of her images with the same kind of wonder that a young child might feel upon discovering their first flower or insect. One piece might suggest the movement of wind, another possibly suggests a road, perhaps representing the journey of life. Ultimately, each vibrant image is open to the interpretation of the viewer.

It excites Hofmann to explore the unknown and to interact with the unpredictable in her creative process. For example, while scanning rocks, Hofmann discovered that the top of the scanner couldn’t be closed. The partially open scanner created a stunning rainbow in the final picture. “I love starting something, then being surprised by it, then taking that surprise even further and developing something new. Sometimes incredibly beautiful colors, textures, ridges and edges result. It’s often an unknown.”

“The quality of the Durst Lambda photographic prints are stunning,” says Hofmann. Although she has the capability to produce countless numbers of her digitalized images, Hofmann prefers to keep press runs small, limiting each piece to ten high contrast prints.

Hofmann has also developed a unique series of pieces which she reproduces on high quality printing paper as well as on fabric by using a special heat press. The final outcome closely resembles a cross-stitched pattern or piece of embroidery. To create this special effect digitally, Hofmann takes an image such as a flower, then drastically lowers the image’s resolution, until the image is abstracted. From this pixilated image, she’ll create screens for the four-color separations which isolate the cyan, magenta, yellow and black colors. By screen printing each of these colors, one on top of the other, numerous secondary colors are formed.

Hofmann creates numerous pieces by interchanging the four screens. The screen that was used for cyan in one piece, might be used for magenta the next time. The screen that was used for yellow might next be used for cyan. The result is a smorgasbord of color possibilities and final outcomes.

Hofmann’s work ranges from images on glossy paper to massive works in fabric which run floor-to-ceiling. No matter what the size, each piece has its own striking presence, demanding the viewer’s attention. The large fabric pieces, which look somewhat quilt-like, are designed in Photoshop™ then screen printed with dyes and textile inks.

The work that Hofmann produces is purely about the joy of creation and the process of playful imagination. This wasn’t always the case. At age nineteen, the artist was raped at gunpoint while studying weaving in Mexico. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. Hofmann forgot about art. But after fifteen years, art eventually became a way for Hofmann to put the pieces of her life back together.

The name, "Moonfire", was inspired by Emily, the artist's daughter, when she was 6 years old (in 1997). One day Emily, who had attended some Native American gatherings, declared to her mother, "You've got to have a Medicine name. How about Moonfire?" At the time, Hofmann had just located the space to set up her high-tech art studio. Moonfire Digital Art and Textiles was born.

Bay Area editor Randy Peyser specializes in writing articles about people who are pursuing their dreams.

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DIGITAL DREAMSCAPES
Fine Art, From the Scanner to Your Wall
SF Chronicle, Home and Garden Section - Hot Stuff
Wednesday March 8, 2000

by Tara Duggan

Kensington-based Melanie Hofmann is a digital artist who trained in textiles at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Though these art forms may seem quite disparate, these days much textile design is done by computer. And Hofmann's digital art has a very organic feel.

"People don't really understand what digital art is,'' Hofmann says. "When they think of (it) they think of graphic art, not fine art.''

Though many digital artists don't come from a fine arts background, Hofmann follows the artist's process. Taking rocks, feathers, leaves, flowers and pieces of fabric to her scanner, Hofmann uses Photoshop to alter the resolution, color and shape of her chosen subjects, creating unique abstract pieces that she prints and frames.

"Storm'' (right, 20 by 20 inches, $1,200 framed) brings the viewer into a turbulent sky full of surreal shapes that convey the fear and energy of a lightning storm.

A series called "Ascension'' plays with rising winged forms in a range of emotional colors and compositions.

Hofmann still works occasionally in fabrics, though it's extremely time-consuming, especially since she does all of the screen printing in her studio. You might be able to nab a pillow made with her fabric ($50 each) or commission her to create a panel of hand-printed fabric for your wall.

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