Introducing Exhibitions Intern + Archive Curations

Hello Blue Sky visitors and members! My name is Ruby McShane and I’m Blue Sky’s new intern. I am a Portland native, photographer, and Reed College studio art major going into my senior year.

As a long-time visitor of Blue Sky, something I always appreciated about the gallery is its openness towards “non-traditional” photography compared to other galleries and art museums I’ve visited. I’ve always been intrigued by abstract photography, alternate processes, and creative techniques which blur the definition of photography. After having recently explored process and material in my own photographic project (see here: https://www.rubymcshane.com/journey-of-an-image), I was inspired to curate a selection of images from Blue Sky’s archive which is uniquely textural and experimental. These are images which I find myself wanting to touch, climb into, and explore. Given photography’s close relationship with the material world and the camera’s ability to capture and impart life within its images, I think photography is an especially interesting art form to consider in relation to our other senses. These artists portray photography as a painterly, sculptural, and transformative art form, situating each image’s material and technique front and center, beckoning the viewer to come closer.

You can find my mini exhibition, “Material Touch,” here!