Spotlight: 2013 Pacific NW Photography Viewing Drawers (round 2)
In celebration of Blue Sky’s 38th birthday last weekend (October 5), we began a weekly series spotlighting all of the artists represented in the 2013 Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers! Blue Sky established the Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers program in 2007 to feature a juried, public archive of original prints by contemporary photographers based in the region. Our Drawers program has quickly become a favorite aspect of Blue Sky’s ongoing programming, available to approximately 25,000 visitors annually. For 2012—to coincide with the newly inaugurated Portland Photo Month (every April)—Blue Sky expanded the geographic scope of the Drawers program to include photographers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Alaska.
We’ll be posting here a preview of 10 Drawers artists published every week through Thanksgiving (aka: the beginning of holiday gift shopping season). Yes, all the prints in the Drawers are for sale! Email Amanda Clem at amandaclem@blueskygallery.org or call (503) 225-0210 to inquire about prices and availability. Better yet, come to the gallery and take some time to look at the prints in person.
Have a look at the first 10 artist profiles HERE.
Without further ado, here are this week’s 10…
Kevin Clark, Florence, OR
Artist Statement: I was born in Portland, Oregon and have spent most of my life photographing and editing for newspapers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. While much of my career has been spent photographing people at work and playing sports I have spent the last several years capturing images of street scenes in Seattle, Portland and Eugene.
From $175
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Larry Clark, Portland, OR
Artist Statement: In my youth I pursued photography but focused on my career for the past three decades. In my profession as an antiques dealer I have bought and sold, collected and examined countless vintage photographs that have informed my eye and satisfied my passion for photography. Through the years, however, I have never stopped taking my own photographs.
I clearly remember seeing Nick Ut’s Napalm Girl and Malcolm Browne’s Burning Monk when those photos were published. I wanted to know the story behind a particular image, especially when it was unpleasant or challenging subject matter.
In this series, I was interested in photographing a grisly subject and presenting it in the most beautiful way possible. I hope that the softness, the lack of light, and the atmospheric effect serve to draw the eye in and help others see what I see.
From $225- $275
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Susan de Witt, Portland, OR
"Susan de Witt uses photography, not as many do to record and reproduce what the camera sees, but to produce very personal images from her imagination. Her photographic prints may be built up from more than one view of the same object or by combining different subject matter to produce a final result that is greater than its constituent parts.
The surreal overtones in her images play both to the subconscious and to the imagination, telling us not what to see but inviting us to see in them what we find.
Her choice of the lith printing process to produce her multiple images presents her both with real technical challenges due to the nature of the process and significant aesthetic advantages as the distinctive visual properties of the lith prints produced in this way further removes her imagery from the realism of conventional photographic reproduction.”
—Tim Rudman, Photographer & Author
From $325
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Hal Gage, Anchorage, AK
Artist Statement The images presented here are of the humble frozen water puddle, the final canto from my larger series on ice. These are abstracts that subtly show the soul and the emotional depth I witness in ice. Through this and other bodies within my Ice Series, I have made a visual exploration of ice’s presence, its place in my life, and strive to give it a voice. My work pays tribute to something that is often overlooked: a substance, through its presence (and absence), which affects all life on this planet.
From $600- $2,000
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Clarke Galusha, Portland, OR
Artist Statement: The photographs in this collection were made using the wet-plate collodion process to create tintype portraits. The tintypes are hand made and individually exposed, creating a one of a kind object. The tintype portrait is a reflection of what we see - a mirror image. The materials make the image darker and richer, creating a dense reflection of a moment in time.
I was intrigued by the idea of engaging children in this project. I believed that children would be genuine, not yet self-conscious about their appearance in photographs. Because the tintype process captures so well a still, calm moment in time, I found that the intelligence and complexity of a child seemed to reveal themselves in these portraits. I tried not to pose, suggest, or intervene in their presentation. The children were not asked to smile but were just encouraged to relax and look at the camera. What seems to come through in each portrait is the genuine, adorable, and complex character of each individual child: a true reflection of themselves.
From $200
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Reathel Geary, Eugene, OR
Artist Statement: "Waiting for Griffin" — Autism is a separation of experience, where one is unable to participate fully in our shared reality. My son Griffin is autistic. Most of our experience is fraught with difficulty punctuated by moments of intense emotion. Moments shared in these photographs are what I see as a father of a little boy struggling with autism. They are sometimes beautiful, often difficult and always true. Not only to the moment but also to my hopes and fears for the future.
Each photograph is printed as a photogravure, a process that requires a high degree of physical manipulation. Each time I wipe the plate to remove the excess ink I do so with a father’s hand. As I work the plate my son is revealed to me anew, beautiful and frightening in all his future possibilities. I see him for who he truly could be and I find myself waiting for Griffin.
From $500
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Richard Gehrke, Portland, OR
Artist Statement: These images are photographic tableaus that function as entries in a visual diary. Events range from the mundane to the monumental, personal or universal and use a wide range of symbols and metaphor to relay the occurrences depicted.
From $600
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Nicole Gelinas, Poulsbo, WA
Artist Statement: This series, titled Illuminae, came about as I noticed that a bouquet of flowers had long expired. The pieces of what were once roses had dried and almost fused to the glass vase.
I chose to photograph these remains to bring life back to something that had died. Through my manipulation of light and composition I have revealed a suggestion of subtle movements or vibrations. My images reveal a new and wondrous side of decay and at the same time illuminate the life and beauty that I see within these discarded flowers.
From $345
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Barbara Gilson, Portland, OR
Artist Statement: Herman’s story begins for me with Herman’s honey, “From The Bee To Thee”. He is an extraordinary farmer. His strong hands are sculpted from years of picking apples, Gravensteins, tart and juicy; his fingers curled, shaped like his prized pears, yellow Bartletts, soft and buttery. Interlaken Grapes laden on the vines: crisp, bountiful, and vigorous, reference Herman’s native homeland, Switzerland. Herman tells me that the immigrants came to market for his prune plums, bushel loads of them that rekindled their precious memories: the smell, taste, and flavor of their homelands.
Herman emigrated from Switzerland in the early 1950’s making his home high on a hill in Gaston, Oregon. The land is striped with orchards of apples, pears, plums, rows of grapes, fields of potatoes and collards, and acres of woods filled with trees that Herman planted himself. Now close to 80, Herman no longer farms his land to come to market, but his connection to the land that has been his livelihood is ever present. Goats are a recent addition to the farm, a gift from his children, some of whom understand that Herman still needs to tend to and care for life on the farm. His loyal canine, “Dog”, close by his side, somehow manages to steer clear of Herman’s high tailing down the farm road in his 4 x 4 cart, searching for downed trees to cut for firewood to heat his bungalow. A pride born of living close to the land, Herman grows his own food, he juices his grapes, he sauces his apples, and he packs goat meat into his cavernous freezer. “I won’t starve, I can feed myself well and even my goats eat better than many in town.” Having lived deeply on this rich parcel of earth, Herman Obrist needs to remain there till his final days, for his spirit is inseparably tied to that very place.
From $350
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Joseph Glasgow, Vancouver, WA
Artist Statement: "Maryhill, 2012" — These photos were taken in Maryhill, Washington, population 98, on the banks of the Columbia River. Sam Hill named this place after his daughter, Mary. What he envisioned as a settlement are now just remains, and his mansion a museum. No one ever came to join his community of Quakers. The wind never stops. Whatever he saw in this place I must see too, because I return here again and again. I observe the small changes in the desolate cemetery, and big changes like the wind turbines on the hill.
Peaches grow well in the narrow fertile strip down by the river, but it’s not a lush easy life. The fruit dump is the result of cheap produce from around the globe. Priced out, the growers here have no choice but to waste their crop. And so, windows break, flags shred, machinery continues to grind, and life, work, and death goes on.
From $200
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Tune in again next Saturday for round three!
Until then,
Amanda B. Clem, Membership & Gallery Manager