Bethany Altschwager
Bethany Altschwager is an artist, licensed creative arts therapist, and educator born in Connecticut, working in New York, and living in New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College, a Master of Professional Studies from the School of Visual Arts, and a Doctorate of Art Therapy from Mount Mary University. While art has always been an important part of her life, it was her early experiences with darkroom photography that inspired her career in the arts. She fell in love with the magic of light and chemistry to create images of new worlds through close up macros, extreme contrast, and double exposure. She uses the creative process to support adults experiencing mental health challenges to express themselves, cope with stress and stigma, and develop a greater understanding of thoughts, feelings, and layers of identity. Her work utilizes digital techniques that bridge the disciplines of art, technology, and psychotherapy.
Images in my Street Layers series are digital collages of photographs of graffiti and textures I find traveling across New York City and the tristate area. I pull images from different neighborhoods and even times, experimenting with how they meld together. On the surface, the titles appear to be plausible cross streets in New York neighborhoods. In reality, the titles represent new, liminal spaces that do not exist in physical reality. For me, these images represent the confluence of time and space. Preserving images of that which, by its nature, will be washed away, painted over, reconstructed, repaired, or torn down highlights the tension between holding on and letting go. Images in these layers break apart so they can come back together in new configurations. My work encapsulates the tension between preservation and the ephemeral.
4th Avenue and Dupont Street
Street Layers #764
2025
Digital collage on canvas, 30”x40”
4th Avenue and Dupon Street is part of the Street Layers series. It combines photographs of graffiti, stickers, and textures from a traffic cone from the East Village of Manhattan and the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
West 176th and Ash Street
Street Layers #763
2025
Digital collage on canvas, 30”x40”
West 176th and Ash Street is part of the Street Layers series. It combines photographs of graffiti and sidewalk textures from the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
East 75th and Clay
Street Layers #766
2025
Digital collage on canvas, 30”x30”
East 75th and Clay is part of the Street Layers series. It combines photographs of graffiti and stickers from the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan and the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Delancey Street and Jackson Avenue
Street Layers #767
2025
Digital collage on canvas, 30”x30”
Delancey Street and Jackson Avenue is part of the Street Layers series. It combines photographs of graffiti, stickers, and digital artifacts from the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, Long Island City, and the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.
50th Avenue and 11th Street
Street Layers #768
2025
Digital collage on canvas, 30”x30”
50th Avenue and 11th Street is part of the Street Layers series. It combines photographs of graffiti, maps, and asphalt from the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.