Artist Perspective
“I create visual anchors for transformation. Each piece is a reflection of what’s possible when we let go of the stories we project onto the world and give ourselves moments to see with fresh eyes. In these moments, there’s an opportunity to feel more alive, if we can notice.”
Jason Toth, Cleveland Based Photographic Artist
T. York - Collector, Private Commission
Jason's ability to blend different images seamlessly into a cohesive composition is truly remarkable. Each element of the artwork tells a story, evoking emotions and memories that are deeply meaningful to us. Jason's talent and dedication shine through in his work, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with him.
A Life Rebuilt Through Color
The surreal color photography started pouring out of me in a prolific way.
I create photographic art using architecture and public spaces as raw material. I alter color, form, and framing until the image reflects more emotion or memory than realistic documentation.
The Art That Came Through Me
I was trying to find something solid when my world felt uncertain. This turned into a way of thinking, a way of working, observing, reshaping, repeating. Sometimes I’m escaping. Sometimes I’m trying to see more clearly. I don’t always know which.
What I Hope You See in My Work
My work isn’t about nostalgia or realism. It’s about the tension between what’s there and what I need to see. It doesn’t ask for attention. But if it keeps yours, that’s enough.
Visit the Studio, Experience the Color in Person
I work out of my studio in 78th Street Studios. Most images start on foot, some from a moving vehicle at speed. Everything else is built in layers—slowly, deliberately, and without instruction.
Why I Create
I stopped creating for a long time.
I got small. I lost color. I forgot.
Creating didn’t save me, but it gave me somewhere to go.
It doesn’t always feel good.
But it’s something I trust, sometimes the only thing I trust.
Without it, I can lose track of myself. I become background noise in my own life.
Within it, I come back.
Why I Create What I Create
I start with real places—things I’ve photographed, places I’ve been.
Then I change them until they look like something I could stand to live inside with wonder.
Color is the lever I pull.
I use it to inject life where I don’t always feel it.
Sometimes the final piece looks like a dream. Sometimes it looks like noise.
The catalyst is always real.
Everything I use is mine—my photos, my edits, my choices, my mistakes.
I loop between Lightroom and Photoshop until the piece feels like it’s breathing and evolving on its own.
I never know what it’s going to become. That’s part of the point.
Where This Is Going
I want to keep creating things that don’t need to be explained.
Things you feel before you understand.
Through visuals, sound, space, light—whatever form it takes—I want to keep making work that opens people up a little.
Even if nothing is said out loud.
Especially then.
And Why It Matters
I make it for me.
But when someone else feels it too—really feels it—it’s proof I wasn’t imagining the whole thing.
That kind of connection is rare. A shared Truth.
When it happens,
It feels like freedom.
Full Artist Statement
My work spans a perspective between the abstract and the surreal, using layered color, light, and texture to reimagine space and perception. Every image I create begins with my own photography, sometimes transformed from a single photograph through surreal color palettes and digital techniques, other times evolving as collages of my images combined with abstract shapes and patterns. This blending of methods allows each piece to feel alive, always shifting in response to time, environment, and the viewer’s attention.
I’m deeply interested in how sensory input - color, light, sound - can transform experience at the psychological and neurological levels. From a medical and cultural standpoint, we are living in a time of unprecedented stress, uncertainty, and collective trauma. Our nervous systems are constantly on alert, and the impact on our mental, emotional, and physical health is profound. I believe art has a role to play in creating moments that interrupt this overwhelm, offering calm, mindfulness, and even the possibility of gratitude or new perspectives.
Much of this comes from personal experience. When I faced a life-upending health condition, I found that the simple act of reimagining familiar places in vivid color helped me reconnect to purpose and wonder. That sense of possibility is what I now try to build into every piece.
As part of my creative process, I make a conscious effort to set aside the labels and narratives attached to what I see. Instead of thinking of a place as a landmark or an object, I look for patterns, shapes, and rhythms. Only by dissolving those definitions can I see something in a new light.
My materials are chosen for their capacity to deepen this sensory engagement. Aluminum provides luminous clarity and archival permanence, while acoustically treated panels absorb sound and allow me to build three-dimensional wall sculptures that feel less like static objects and more like living surfaces. These sculptural works blur the boundary between the artwork and the environment, inviting the viewer into an experience rather than simply observation.
In my immersive installation Surrender and Smile, responsive colored lighting, audiophile sound, and projection mapping converge in a controlled environment designed to heighten perception and create space for reflection. A large-scale acoustic panel—printed with an image of a stained glass dome—becomes the main surface for projected animations, so light appears to pass behind and through the dome itself. Comfortable furniture, programmable lighting, and intentional decor complete the experience, which is as much about mindfulness as aesthetics.
I am also exploring ways to make my work dynamic over time, integrating AI-generated animations and augmented reality so a piece can evolve and grow with its collector. My long-term vision includes using NFTs or other emerging technology to deliver updates automatically, allowing artworks to remain in conversation with both creator and viewer long after they leave the studio.
Beyond installations, I host a speaker series that invites historians, authors, and subject-matter experts to engage in dialogue about art, place, and the narratives that shape our communities. These conversations are part of a broader commitment to using art as a catalyst for connection and creative problem-solving.
I maintain an 1,800-square-foot creative studio and salon-lounge space where I create new work, experiment with materials and technology, display evolving installations, and host gatherings. This environment is designed not only for making art but also for fostering dialogue about how we, as a society, can imagine solutions to the challenges we face rather than waiting for someone else to bring them forward.
Looking ahead, I am committed to expanding this work in several ways. My goal is to use my studio space not only as a site for my own installations but also as a platform for other artists, including those with remarkable talent who may lack the resources or confidence to share their work. Because the space is designed to support visual art and live music, it offers a flexible environment for artists to connect with new audiences.
I am also working toward larger-scale immersive installations in locations beyond my studio and visual interventions throughout the Cleveland community. I want to create experiences that invite thoughtful, non-judgmental conversations about modern life in this city, dialogues that rarely happen in public yet are essential to imagining new solutions to the challenges we share.
At the foundation of it all, I am committed to exploring new ways of evolving my photography-based artwork, which remains the fuel and catalyst for this vision. Whether through large-scale installations, intimate gatherings, or public interventions, my purpose is to discover how visual art can inspire moments of mindfulness, awareness, and connection.
And if anything proves the point, it is that none of what I am doing now would be possible without the awareness my own artwork inspired in me.
📍 Studio Location
I'm based out of 78th Street Studios in Cleveland, Ohio — Suite 104A, first door on the left. My studio-gallery is open during Third Fridays or by appointment.
Want to see the work in person?
→ Schedule a Visit or Contact Me
