Four Views
August 21 – September 18, 2008
Reception: August 28th 5 – 7pm
with photographic works by:
Artist Statement: My work insists on the persistence of humanity in a Posthuman world. I create images, installations, and experiences that address not just the mere survival of humans in a radically, technically altered state, but the sublime possibilities that lie in such a future.
For me, the key to retaining the humanity in Posthumanism is in retaining our SKIN. It is via our largest organ that we literally and figuratively touch one another. Our integument is not merely superficial, but integral to and necessary for our personal health and survival. Touch is crucial for recognition, understanding, connection and intimacy. Indeed, this ontological understanding, this knowing through our bodies—through our skin—is what makes us human. Remaining in our skin—whether filled with blood and muscle or silicon and titanium—is crucial.
In my work, macroscopic photographs of human flesh are digitally transformed into Baroque-inspired patterns. These images are printed on not just paper, but also on materials (such as vinyl wallpaper and Lycra) and forms (like cushions and sidewalk tiles) that are meant to cause viewers to re-examine the form, content, and context of their own bodies.
Jenny is a graduate of Maine College of Art with an M.F.A. in Studio Art and Critical Theory, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College in Visual Studies. Jenny resides in the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with her husband and two children.
Artist Statement: My work is a project that examines the hinterland within the state of Washington. The word hinterland (late 19th cent.: from German, from hinter ‘behind’ + Land ‘land.’) means an area surrounding a town and served by it; the remote areas of a region; an area lying beyond what is visible or known.
The landscapes I am drawn to are, by their nature, worn, generally containing abandoned or deteriorating forms. They are the landscapes I drive through on a regular basis, ping-ponging between our farm life and town life. I am interested in these places because in ways, they inform me about my cultural identity, who I am, and where I fit into the world. I'm also interested in them because they are changing. The hinterland of the early 21st century is more of a figurative space than literal, and is rapidly becoming more so.
I make my photographs with film, using medium and large format cameras. I alter my film based images by digitally painting them in Photoshop. The prints are archival pigment prints on Somerset Velvet.
My ideas about landscape were shaped primarily by my upbringing in suburban California. I watched as agricultural land and green spaces in my neighborhood were turned into malls, housing developments, and storage unit complexes. In suburbia, the landscape is an integral part of the consumer cycle, and the effects of excessive consumerism are readily noted. The suburban concept of landscape references a specific purpose; it is a commodity, either a passageway or a place, meant to be consumed. Suburbia finds no room in for open, unused space and is quickly expanding into unsuspecting places.
The remote areas around which I currently live include 5,444,000 acres of wheat and cattle*. It's definitely rural and, at times seems like living in the middle of nowhere. But in reality, my immediate landscape is entirely modular. The canyon surrounding our farm is consistently logged. Hunters frequent the woods near our community to glean the non-native wild turkeys that plague our native ecology. Cell towers are popping up like noxious weeds.
The cycle of consumption that is encroaching upon the ecological systems that support life on this planet, air, forests, open water and wetlands, topsoil, is dire. In the United States, we average 20.2 square feet of retail per person. This contrasts with France ( 2.3 sf), Sweden (3.3 sf) and the U.K. (2.5 sf)*. Photographing these areas help me to more easily digest the realities of being part of the American consumer machine.
As our culture expands farther into the hinterland, I intend to continue my documentation and personalization of what is left of the "areas lying beyond what is visible or known."
* From in the "Cottonwood Inn" Menu, Davenport, Washington, 1995
*James Howard Kunstler , The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophies of the Twenty-first Century
Shelly Murney has an MFA in Studio Art/Photography from the University of Montana, Missoula. She is a full-time instructor, lecturer and Photography Area Head at the Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, and Adjunct Faculty at Darton College Division of Online Learning in Albany, Georgia.
Artist Statement: My work explores decaying urban corners at night through long exposures, lights and colored gels, illuminating scenes like theatrical sets. It is an exploration of urban decay in America and of the elusive stories of hope buried in these intense settings. These are corners rich with evidence of their histories, and I sift through them late at night in an attempt to revive the past and to tell their tale in subtle yet dramatic ways. I dig for stories in the hope of finding riveting tales of human struggle and triumph. In so doing, I transform these forlorn locations into uplifting and powerful scenes. With the city humming in the background, I look for inspiration where there shouldn't be any. It is a gripping quest in often dangerous places - I try to bring friends...
I’ve run from street gangs and I’m often questioned by police, who can’t believe my story. Yet, ironically, in the alleys I find moments of peace in a hectic life.
Nuez received a B.A. in Communication Studies from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where he also studied art. He currently resides in Fremont, California. Noteworthy, 15% of revenues from his gallery sales go to the non-profit, Street Kids International.
Michelle Rogers
Artist Statement:
My recent experiments with the juxtaposition of three images in a single frame have led to new fields and levels of excitement in my photography. I re-photograph the collage of an old postcard, then place it between two original photographs to create a triptych. The photos are printed in black and white, then bleached and/or toned with a mixture of selenium, blue, sepia, and yellow toners. My original images reflect photographs captured over a 20 year period. The juxtaposition between the postcard and my own images brings out new visual relationships between the photographs from different times and places, implying an enigmatic narrative. The triptychs allow me to bridge the gap between past and present and forge a link with the earlier, anonymous photographers of the postcards. A number of the photos feature a man in a bowler hat, always seen from the back. This figure, devoid of identity, gender, age, and social status, brings a human presence to the photo’s surrealistic world.
Rogers completed her Bachelor of Arts and obtained a teaching certificate to teach French in secondary schools. After teaching for six years, she received a teaching assistantship at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she completed a Master’s Degree in French Literature and the required credits toward a doctoral degree. The doctoral dissertation, written in French but never defended, drew upon the parallels between two forms of representation in contemporary art: the novel and the photograph. At this juncture, Rogers reflects, “the fine arts photography took precedent over the written word, yet drew upon the wealth of inspiration from literature.” Rogers resides in Alexandria, Virginia, where she is an active participant in the arts community.
