Roger Bean

Roger B. Bean is an award-winning artist and photographer working primarily with alternative photography processes, painting and printmaking. He holds an MFA in Art from ISU. He is a retired professor from Illinois Central College having taught photography, filmmaking and video special effects. He was also an adjunct faculty member at Bradley University. Before moving to the academic world, he was a Multimedia Production Coordinator and Corporate Photographer for Caterpillar Inc.

His artwork has been shown in exhibitions and competitions in the United States and Internationally. His work also appears in collections including Illinois State University, Western Illinois University, GROWMARK Corporation and numerous private collections. He has also had hundreds of photographs published in numerous national publications.

Artist Statement

My work is influenced by the idea of Arte Povera – using impoverished or despised materials. The assemblages are based on the idea of recycling old, well-used and discarded items into visually interesting sculptures? The idea is to rework an abandoned object and giving it purpose and new value. The images that are added to the boxes are printed on archival printers using rag paper. The images are then distressed and aged using natural dyes i.e. coffee, tea, organic dyes made of fruits, vegetables and other liquids. Sometimes the photos are physically distressed by tearing, sanding and folding. This produces the aged and distressed images that I am looking for.