Dakota Rogers | SUNY Oswego

Dakota Rogers
Syracuse, NY
[email protected]

BFA Fine Arts, Photography

Biography

Dakota Rogers was born in Syracuse, New York, in the spring of 1992. He attended Syracuse city schools and eventually graduated from Westhill High School. After graduating, Dakota attended Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, and studied business. Over the next few years, Dakota worked a number of construction and restaurant jobs before returning to Onondaga Community College to study art. During his time there, Dakota began to develop a deeper passion for art and began working in a number of mediums. After receiving an associate degree from OCC, he then transferred to SUNY Oswego to earn a BFA in photography and studio art. Dakota works with both film and digital photography, as well as mixed media such as acrylic paint and collage. After graduating from Oswego, Dakota plans to find a job in photography to gain some experience, and eventually start his own business working in commercial photography.

Artist Statement

For me, art and photography have always been a way to express my feelings or thoughts on a topic in a way other than words. My work is generally inspired by my everyday environment, current events, social/political topics, and people I have encountered throughout my life. I work with a number of mediums in my pieces, including both traditional and digital photography. I use elements of collage to combine the two while using dark bold outlines around figures and objects and a highly saturated color scheme. I also like to incorporate text such as newspaper or singular words into a lot of my work. For example, my current series titled "Masks" embodies all of these qualities. The physical process of actually creating a piece is indeed an important step in my process due to the fact that much of my work is organic and not strategically planned out. My intention is to shed light and awareness on certain social/political topics, have my work inspire people, and promote positivity.

“Self Portrait” is a mixed media piece on canvas constructed using acrylic paint, ink, graphite, and collaged pieces of newspaper and Newport boxes. The focal point of this piece is the portrait of myself that consists of blue paint with small random ink lines and splatters along with some shading with graphite. The piece has an overall street art appeal to it and the small messages written throughout the piece were thoughts that came to my head while I was working.

“Self Portrait”
Mixed Medium, Acrylic, ink, graphite, collage
24”x35”
Spring 2019
Advanced Painting
“Self Portrait” is a mixed media piece on canvas constructed using acrylic paint, ink, graphite, and collaged pieces of newspaper and Newport boxes. The focal point of this piece is the portrait of myself that consists of blue paint with small random ink lines and splatters along with some shading with graphite. The piece has an overall street art appeal to it and the small messages written throughout the piece were thoughts that came to my head while I was working.

“Flip the Block” is a mixed media piece created on a 36”x48” canvas originally covered with bunched up stencil paper, and later painted over with a mix of acrylic paint, water acrylic, charcoal, and newspaper. The buildings in the piece are from a photograph I took of the Barclay Damon Building in downtown Syracuse. The building is flipped upside down and reversed to give the feeling of an underwater reflection.

“Flip the Block”
Acrylic, water acrylic, charcoal, stencil paper, Newspaper,
36”x48”
Spring 2019
Advanced Painting
“Flip the Block” is a mixed media piece created on a 36”x48” canvas originally covered with bunched up stencil paper, and later painted over with a mix of acrylic paint, water acrylic, charcoal, and newspaper. The buildings in the piece are from a photograph I took of the Barclay Damon Building in downtown Syracuse. The building is flipped upside down and reversed to give the feeling of an underwater reflection.

“Blue” is the first piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of blue with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic paint.

“Blue”
Collage, Digital Photograph, Newspaper, Acrylic Paint, Charcoal
24”x20”
Spring 2020
ART 433
“Blue” is the first piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of blue with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic paint.

“Pink” is the second piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of pink with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic paint.

“Pink”
Collage, Digital Photograph, Newspaper, Acrylic Paint, Charcoal
24”x18”
Spring 2020
ART 433
“Pink” is the second piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of pink with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic paint.

“Yellow” is the final piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of yellow/orange with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic pai

“Yellow”
Collage, Digital Photograph, Newspaper, Acrylic Paint, Charcoal
24”x20”
Spring 2020
ART 333
“Yellow” is the final piece of a small collage series titles “Masks”. This piece, along with the series as a whole is very vibrant using bright contrasting colors between the figure and the background. The face of the figure is made using newspaper to create the shape of the face collaged with cut out eyes, mouth, contour lines, and hair from a digital photograph. The background is primarily two shades of yellow/orange with light charcoal shading, and random sporadic splatters of different color acrylic paint.

“Broke Up” is part of a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The black and white image consists of a broken wine glass with the broken pieces in and around the glass. There is a line of plants and flowers appearing to come out of the broken glass, while a lit cigarette and burning candle can be seen at the bottom of the frame. Heavy contrast and dark blacks are used throughout the photo, giving it a dramatic feel.

“Broke Up”
Digital Photography
17”x22”
Fall 202
ART 333
“Broke Up” is part of a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The black and white image consists of a broken wine glass with the broken pieces in and around the glass. There is a line of plants and flowers appearing to come out of the broken glass, while a lit cigarette and burning candle can be seen at the bottom of the frame. Heavy contrast and dark blacks are used throughout the photo, giving it a dramatic feel.

“Stationary” is also a part of a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The heavy contrast black and white photo shows what appears to be a small bouquet of flowers and vines floating or hanging above a box wrapped in newspaper from the time the photo was taken. Around the photo are droplets of water which appear to be in motion falling from above. This causes the plants to look very stationary, hence the name of the piece.

“Stationary”
Digital Photography
17”x22”
Fall 2020
ART 433
“Stationary” is also a part of a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The heavy contrast black and white photo shows what appears to be a small bouquet of flowers and vines floating or hanging above a box wrapped in newspaper from the time the photo was taken. Around the photo are droplets of water which appear to be in motion falling from above. This causes the plants to look very stationary, hence the name of the piece.

“Alone” is another piece in a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary subject of the photo is a small succulent plat being with loose whimsical likes wrapping in and around the plant. The dark black background makes the plant and the swirls pop and really gives the feeling of being alone.

“Alone”
Digital Photography
17”x22”
Fall 2020
ART 333
“Alone” is another piece in a digital photograph series titled “The Quarantine Studies”, that was created in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary subject of the photo is a small succulent plat being with loose whimsical likes wrapping in and around the plant. The dark black background makes the plant and the swirls pop and really gives the feeling of being alone.

“Christian” is a piece as well as an individual used in a series titled “Faces Around Town”. This series was created to document some of the homeless community in downtown Syracuse, New York. This photo shows Christian in one of his regular working locations. His expression and pose in the photo are a great representation of Christians happy, positive attitude. The photo uses natural lighting and is taken in an urban environment to help show the area where Christian prefers to work.

“Christian”
Digital Photography
8”x11”
Fall 2020
ART 433
“Christian” is a piece as well as an individual used in a series titled “Faces Around Town”. This series was created to document some of the homeless community in downtown Syracuse, New York. This photo shows Christian in one of his regular working locations. His expression and pose in the photo are a great representation of Christians happy, positive attitude. The photo uses natural lighting and is taken in an urban environment to help show the area where Christian prefers to work.

“Carter” is also a piece as well as an individual used in a series titled “Faces Around Town”. Similar to many of the other photos in the series, Carter is photographed at his preferred intersection to work at. The photo was taken using natural light and contains very vibrant colors throughout. During the time of the shoot, Carter was dancing as he usually does while he works, and this photo expresses his happy, go-lucky personality.

“Carter”
Digital Photography
8”x11”
Fall 2020
ART 433
“Carter” is also a piece as well as an individual used in a series titled “Faces Around Town”. Similar to many of the other photos in the series, Carter is photographed at his preferred intersection to work at. The photo was taken using natural light and contains very vibrant colors throughout. During the time of the shoot, Carter was dancing as he usually does while he works, and this photo expresses his happy, go-lucky personality.

“Cyrus”
Large Format Photography
11”x17”
Fall 2019
Experimental Photography
“Cyrus” is a black and white large format portrait photograph. The overall gentle feel of this photo goes along with Cyrus as a person. The heavy contrast throughout the figure and his clothing, along with the bright highlights helps define the subject from the all black background. The dark shadows on the figure also help bring out the figure profile without being overpowering. The soft upward gaze from the model helps give a narrative to the piece which is open for interpretation.

“It’s What’s For Dinner” is a piece created in regard to addiction and substance abuse. The scene as a whole is designed to look like a meal on a dinner plate, but instead of a plate there is a piece of a broken mirror, and instead of food there are multiple different drugs. This concept is that addiction for drugs is just as powerful as the need for food, or possibly even more.

“It’s What’s for Dinner”
Digital Photography
11”x17”
Spring 2020
ART 333
“It’s What’s For Dinner” is a piece created in regard to addiction and substance abuse. The scene as a whole is designed to look like a meal on a dinner plate, but instead of a plate there is a piece of a broken mirror, and instead of food there are multiple different drugs. This concept is that addiction for drugs is just as powerful as the need for food, or possibly even more.