I am very pleased to be represented by the innovative Mirrorball Gallery, located in the cool arty town of Tryon, North Carolina. Tryon is located south of Asheville, just off Interstate-26, near the border with South Carolina. Visit: https://mirrorballgallery.com

I am very pleased to be represented by The Haen Gallery, a great fine art gallery in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. See some of my mixed media artworks (available for sale) online or in person at the Asheville NC location: https://thehaengallery.com



Hello, and welcome to Underwood Artworks.


I have constructed this web site as a set of portfolios that can introduce viewers (like you) to my work. I've been an artist for 30+ years, and I continue to evolve and make new work. Please click on the Portfolio links at the top of this page to have a look at some of my varied series of artworks. I make mixed-media artworks, composite photographs, drawings, and collages/assemblages. A lot of my work involves incorporating my own original photographs into mixed-media artworks or montage/composite photographs, with the intent of expanding the use of "the still photograph" as an instigator of meaning and as a facilitator of aesthetic and contextual possibilities. All component photographs in all artworks are always my own originals. Thanks for having a look at some of my work.

Pictured here in this home page is a recent mixed-media work in my ongoing series of "image/text," mixed-media artworks that each include some of my own original photography, along with drawing, painting, text, and/or collage materials. More works in this series can be seen in the "IMAGE/TEXT all squares" and "IMAGE/TEXT various sizes" portfolios on this website. For this particular artwork, the text appears on the left and right edges of the 2.5" thick wood artwork.

During the Spring 2020 coronavirus pandemic, I self-published a softcover book titled, SHIFT IN THINKING, through the printer Blurb. The book includes reproductions of 61 selected mixed-media/photographic/image-text artworks that I made between 2012 and 2020. The book is available directly from the printer if you are interested. I am making a total of $1 (yep, just one buck) off each book ordered, and I am donating 100% of any profits I make to The Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, to help alleviate hunger in the region. The book can be previewed and purchased directly at this link: https://www.blurb.com/b/10126573-shift-in-thinking  

I am the editor (and publisher) of an anthology photography book which was released from Sapling Grove Press in June, 2015. Take a look at the diverse, innovative, and progressive work in our book, RICH COMMUNITY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF APPALACHIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS, which includes previously unpublished work from 82 contemporary Appalachian photographers. You may be surprised by the diversity and complexity of the work included in this important book. Available from Blurb: https://www.blurb.com/b/6242440-rich-community

 

 

IMAGE/TEXT all squares
This portfolio includes mixed-media, image/text artworks all made in a square format. Another portfolio on this website includes mixed-media, image/text artworks made in other various rectangles and shapes.
IMAGE/TEXT various sizes
This is a portfolio of mixed-media, image/text artworks made in various sizes. Another portfolio on this website includes mixed-media, image/text artworks all made in a square format.
IMAGE/TEXT on paper
This is a series of 20" x 20" image/text, mixed-media artworks on paper. Each artwork includes one or some of my own original photographs, a title which appears as text in the artwork itself, and other mixed-media materials. The title/text of each work may or may not be a direct description of the included photographic imagery, and may abstractly direct the viewer to his or her own individual interpretation or meaning.
Cyanotypes & Silver Gelatin, 1993-2016.

This portolio includes composite silver gelatin photographs and cyanotypes made with composite negatives. Some of these works have been produced in short editions of 2 to 10 identical (or nearly identical, as is the case with cyanotypes) copies, and the silver gelatin photographs are archivally dry-mounted on museum board in a traditional manner. Other artworks are one-of-a-kind originals, with silver gelatin photographs mounted onto a variety of backing materials. The silver gelatin photographs were printed in a traditional, analog darkroom. The cyanotypes were printed outdoors in UV sunlight, with contact negatives.

Stapled Photo Squares, 2005-2012.
This portfolio contains examples from the series of one-of-a-kind square composite photographs which each incorporate both color and black & white component original prints. For most of these artworks, the component photographs were shot at different times, in different locations. These 30" x 30" composite photographs include stainless steel construction staples as part of the imagery, and get framed to image edge with no mat. This mode of working allows for a wide variety of aesthetic and content variations, and illustrates just one of the ways in which I am seeking to expand the language of photography beyond the limitations of traditional single-frame imagery.
Mixed-Media Figure Studies, 2019-2020.
This portfolio includes artworks which are assemblages of my original analog and/or digital color and/or B&W photographs of people, mannequins, and/or statues. These works also usually include some of my own drawing, painting, and/or collage materials.
In Museum Collections.
This portfolio includes just a few samples of some of my artwork that is included in museum collections around the USA. I am grateful that 16 museums have chosen to include my work in their permanent collections and be caretakers of my work. Some of these museums own just one of my pieces, and others own up to four or five of my pieces. Thank you, curators and patrons!