Self-taught “applied photographer” Yuri Tuma is bending the medium into kaleidoscopic works. He uses symmetry and repetition to create bright images including architecture, tropical flora and fauna and color blocks. The Avant/Garde Diaries visited Butter Gallery and his informal beach studio in Miami to discuss the resonance of his works as well as some exciting projects on Tuma’s horizon.

Repetition and symmetry are major elements of your art. Why are you drawn to these compositional tools?Symmetry provides a true sense of beauty and comfort to the subconscious. I believe it causes a sensation of relaxation and full unification to our immediate surroundings. We are all built under natural non-mathematical formulas that generate an infinite symmetrical construction in every microscopic particle that makes up the whole. In my experience, exploring and utilizing symmetry as a companion has made me feel connected to what I believe my reality to be. It has become a practice of transcendental mediation in which awareness can flourish in a very organic manner within my conscious daily activity. I have been able to reach a certain amount of peace within me I never imagined possible. We all have our stories and a past, and when I think back on mine, a story of obsessive disorders, anxiety and existential confusion, I feel symmetry has worked as medicine. You can really get to know yourself when your brain stops asking questions, and I believe symmetry provides that platform of quietness, distress and solitude.
How does architecture influence your choice of shape and pattern when creating work?To look at a monumental piece of Modern architecture feels like looking at the beautiful horizon. These monstrous pieces of glass, concrete and metal are mind defying. We may understand how a building is built, but at first eyesight the brain feels perplexed and paralyzed by its size, shape and reflective qualities. That moment of feeling perplexed and curious makes me positively overwhelmed, just as when I see a math problem being solved or the sun being set. It makes me feel small, but also makes me feel connected to all that is around. I get a sense that everything is and will be all right. This feeling helps me breathe, sleep and smile. Anything that surrounds us can be simplified and looked at as a shape. When I photograph a building I see giant shapes and lines that are symmetrically perfect. I use these images as a paintbrush wet of “perfection paint” in order to create abstract art on a canvas I call my computer and/or phone screen.
Tell us about your relationship to the sky.The best way I can answer this question is by quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson when he says: ”The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” The sky enhances every possible emotion. It will make you feel happy, or sad, or nostalgic, or melancholic, or excited, or afraid, or love according to how you are feeling in that specific moment you decide to appreciate it. When I look at the sky time stops and when time stops I feel free. In a metropolitan environment the sky is in constant relation to skyscrapers and anything that points upwards. It is a private interaction that happens above us as if it were a masterfully composed classical symphony or a contemporary dance piece. It is nature and technology making art together. Next time you look up in the city, observe how the clouds dance with these structures and if there are no clouds, observe how its clarity enhances the contours and colors of the building.
When did you discover photography and how did this change your process?My photographical aptitude dates back to 9 years ago when I started shooting with my Samsung slider cellphone. It was with that phone that I began exploring composition, light and subjects. It was love at first snap. In between falling in love with photography and applying it as a lifestyle, I purchased my first professional camera. I first started shooting commercially and encountered friends along the way that would become mentors. Some taught me in the field of photography, others in graphic design and technology, but also in the arts, philosophy and spirituality. It was a couple of years after when I fell in love once again, this time with architecture. It was when I first shot a structure interacting with the bluest of skies that I felt a true divine intervention. Symmetrical visions came rushing down on me and that was when I knew what I had to do and have been on this pursuit since. From that moment on, I applied all that I have learned and practiced every day. The mélange of photography and symmetry became not only a field of study, but an abstract teacher of philosophy and existentialism.
What projects are you working on now and what’s on the horizon?Art, fashion, travel, education, the Sun and the Moon are rising on the horizon. The Creative Director of Kruzin Footwear, Alessandra Gold, has invited me to collaborate on a line of apparel and sneakers to be released internationally this coming Fall. Before that, I will be preparing for a trip to Amsterdam, courtesy of Heineken, for wining their “Light Your Night Challenge” during December’s Miami Art Basel Week, where I experimented with light, mirrors and curtains to create a reflective pattern installation. I plan to expand on this concept once inspired by the “Mokummer” art and architecture. This past year, I also found myself involved and inspired by one of our generational art movements: “Mobile Art”. After presenting this highly controversial topic during an “Artist Talk” series produced by Product 81 as part of their Fordistas program, I felt compelled to present discussions and workshops that deal with editing artistries and the social and behavioral effects of mobile photography.

Learn more about Yuri Tuma HERE, Butter Gallery HERE, & follow him on Instagram HERE.
Portraits & interview by Sarah MK Moody / Work courtesy of Yuri Tuma