Secrets the Land Told Me

When Work Gets Returned

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Last year I had an exhibit in the ArtXchange Gallery in Seattle. After the exhibition, they kept my work there in order to sell. What didn't sell was recently returned. The boxed-up  prints are now leaning against the wall in my front hall until I unpack them. It's funny how the return of work after an exhibition comes with a certain feeling of deflation. Getting work back means that the show is over, people aren't getting a chance to see in in person, time to look for the next show opportunity. Not to mention the fact that I have to find space to store it in until it goes out to the next venue. And I never seem to have enough space to store my artwork, no matter how many times I have purged my studio of work that I will no longer exhibit.

It's much more fun to make the work and put it out there in the world than it is to get it back!

Holiday Print Sale

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I was recently invited by Fraction Magazine's editor and publisher David Bram to participate in this year's Holiday Print Sale. (A portfolio of my work appeared in Fraction Issue #16 a couple of years ago.) If you are looking to gift someone with original photographic art for the holidays, there is plenty to choose from in this sale. This is the image that I am selling- one of my favorites from the "Secrets the Land Told Me" series:

 

Exhibition Review- Cincinnati Enquirer

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Nice to see that the media in town is still interested in photography after FotoFocus ended. Click here to read a review of the "Landscapes of the Mind" show that appeared in last Sunday's Cincinnati Enquirer. My work is mentioned towards the end.

Since the writer referred to "Red Inner Bag #1, Fall, Aomori Prefecture" but didn't print it, here it is:

"Landscapes of the Mind" Show Opening

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The final show that I have up during Fotofocus Cincinnati is "Landscapes of the Mind", which opened last Friday at the YWCA Women's Gallery on Walnut Street. Curated by Judi Parks, it is a look at how metaphor and symbolism has expressed itself through the photographs of Nancy Rexroth, Judi, and me. The show is up until January 10, 2013.

Both Nancy and I presented work that was culled from projects that had been thought complete. In her case, she went back into her negative archives that had resulted in her book "Iowa". Printed in the late '70's, "Iowa" became a defining body of work for anyone working with simple lenses or toy cameras. It legitimized them as a serious tool for the photographic artist. For the YWCA show, Nancy took another look at what she had shot back then, and presented a series of images that shed new light on that series.

In my case, I exhibited work that took a completely new look at what I had shot while in Japan a few years ago to photograph the process of apple growing in Aomori Prefecture. Rather than focusing on the process itself (as I had originally done when choosing the pictures of the "Seeking Perfection" series), I this time focused on the impact that the process had on the land and trees themselves. Amazing what you can discover about yourself and your work when you take another look.

FotoFocus Cincinnati

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The first wave of openings for Fotofocus Cincinnati began last night, and what a buzz! The crowds were great and the work was better. All the Cincinnati newspapers and magazines are filled with articles about the 70+ shows that will be up in October. Also yesterday, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran this article about the three shows I have work in for Fotofocus. I delivered the "Secrets the Land Told Me" show to the YWCA Women's Gallery two days ago, so all the work is now in place- let the openings begin!

The Process of Editing

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I was invited by photographer/curator Judi Parks to take part in an exhibition at the YWCA Women's Gallery that will be part of Fotofocus Cincinnati biennial this October. While choosing the images that will go into the show, I have sent Judi various options to show her what I've been thinking along the way. She responds via e-mail, I print them out, and tape her comments onto work prints so I can keep her feedback in mind as I progress in making my decisions. Here are some examples:

 

 

Whether we agree or disagree, it's been extremely helpful to do this. It creates a dialog in my head that helps me to figure out where I want to go with this.

Current Work-in-Progress

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Although the Seeking Perfection project is presented on my website as if it were complete, I am currently in the midst of re-thinking and re-editing it. The first edit, the one that can be seen on the site, revolved around the process of traditional apple-growing in Japan, showing the tools and the steps involved over the course of the growing season. This new edit is focusing on the visible effects that this process has on the land, the trees, and the apples. Some images from the first edit are showing up in the second, while others are now being included that I never would have considered before.

I've never re-thought a project like this before, and am fascinated to be discovering things in the work that just hadn't been apparent to me prior to this. The new edit will be shown in an exhibit that will be part of Fotofocus Cincinnati in October, 2012.