Growing up and living much of my life in Montana, I have always been drawn to the landscape for inspiration. I am continually struck by the surrounding beauty. The relationship between humans and nature is focal to most of my work, though ironically, humans are rarely present. An analogy is made between the strength of a tree and the will of an individual. A tree's limbs sway in the breeze and grow continually upward in the same manner that the character of an individual is determined by external forces, but more importantly by desire and perseverance.

Though I am trained as a sculptor and painter, I have pursued drawing and more recently photography as a mean to explore the world around me. The process of photography allows me a spontaneity sculpting does not afford. My approach is driven by synchronistic events--I rarely set out to capture a specific subject at a particular time of day. Light is always a chief concern in the photographs, however, the harsh light of mid-day is as equally interesting to me as the long shadows and amber light of daybreak and sunset. Sometimes, I do return to the same location to record the differences time has played on a subject.

The diptychs, triptychs, grids and "reflections" are my method of building a visual narrative beyond the attention drawn to the recorded subject or scene in an individual photo. These structured compositions further impose personal idiosyncrasies upon the objectiveness of nature.--Bob Durden, 2006

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Photo Courtesy of Anna Messmer

Bob Durden earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Painting and Communication Arts in 1984 from Eastern Montana College (presently, Montana State University, Billings). After pursuing graduate studies at the University of Oregon, Eugene and Wichita State University, Kansas, he earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Art from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1990.

Bob has worked professionally in the arts and theater for 16 years having spent much of that time at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana, where he was Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. Bob has operated his own museum consulting business; directed the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY; exhibited his work in the Western United States; taught Art and Theater courses at Montana State University, Bozeman and Billings and Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Montana; worked as a scene designer, and worked as a scenic carpenter and sculptor for Hollywood feature films.

Bob Durden currently resides in Great Falls, Montana where he recently began working as Curator of Art at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art.