Over 100 years ago, Santiago Ramon y Cajal, a Spanish neuroanatomist published landmark studies about the neuronal fine structure of the human cerebral cortex. He discovered the neuronal nature of the brain, and defined it. For these accomplishments he was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine.
Columbus learned to sail and navigate in the Portuguese fleets. He walked these Rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean. My own artistic explorations are likewise steps into new territories. Sagres, Portugal, 1994.
A view of what the Sphinx is continuously looking at and contemplating. Cairo, Egypt, May, 1997.
A most important religious sanctuary. Almost all peace pipes were made from the rock at Pipestone, Minnesota. 1979.
My first apartment, a basement room, in 1971. View of the window I looked out of. Drexel Home for the Aged. 1994.
The remains of a WWII internment camp for Japanese Americans. Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona, 1996.
A polar bear in its natural habitat, steps away from myself. Beechy Island, Canadian artic, 1980.
One of the fossil hunting sites, for my children and myself. Braidwood, Illinois. 1999.
After WWII, my father received passage to Canada in exchange for 1 year of gold excavating near Dryden. This piece is homage to my father, Vaclovas Plioplys. Gold mine in Dryden, Ontario. 1982.
In homage to the sun, I walked a 30 feet wide circle into the rocky surface of Cornwallis Island, in the Canadian high arctic. Outdoor installation. 1980.
Current site of the Women's Building constructred for the 1893 Columbian World's Fair. First time women's activities were recognized at the World's fair. Jackson Park, Chicago, 1979.
At noon, June 21, 1980, at the peak of the solstice, I placed 7 stones on Ellesmere Island, the most northerly island in the Canadian arctic. Each stone was placed at the end of the shadow of the previous one, thus making a solstice time-line. Outdoor installation. 1980.
I transported a stone from Ellesmere Island, Canada's most northerly island, and threw it into Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories. The ripples were photographed. 1980.
On the bleak terrain of the Cornwallis Island, in the Canadian high arctic, I used the available stone to build a shelter, in which 2 people could huddle. Outdoor installation photograph. Cornwallis Island, Canada. 1980.
After a rain storm, I placed stones in a pattern similar to ancient burial sites in Lithuania. The piece wa 50 feet in diameter. Outdoor installation photograph. Quarry Hill Park, Rochester, MN. 1981.
At the outskirts of Vilnius, Lithuania, three boulders mark the geographic center of Europe. Vilnius, Lithuania, 1997.
I transported stones from Ellesmere Island to Victoria Island, in the Canadian high arctic, photographed them and left them there. Outdoor installation photograph. 1980.
In these series of works, the underlying images are all previous photographic pieces that I have shown in exhibits across the United States, and internationally. Cajal’s drawings were modified, transformed and then superimposed and subtracted from the surrounding color, revealing deeper layers of underlying photographs. The neuronal arborizations divulge artistic memories, artistic processes and creative thoughts.
The serieses of works consists of large format digital prints on canvas (44 by 60 inches and 44 by 120 inches) and smaller works on paper (13 by 18 inches and 13 by 36 inches). The large format works were printed with an Epson 10,000 printer. For the smaller prints, an Epson Stylus Photo 2000P was used with Epson premium luster photo paper. All of the materials used, including inks, canvas, paper, and all mounting materials, were of the highest archival quality.
In 2004 the series Thoughts From Under a Rock was reissued using a Hewlett Packard 5500 plotter. Archival quality inks and canvas were used. The sizes of the pieces were increased to 54 X 72 inches, and 54 X 144 inches. This series is identifiable by the Roman numeral II following the title of each piece.