Happy to be included in Mapping: Borders, Bodies, Memories!
Many thanks to Paula Tognarelli
For more info check out the Filter Photo website:
Juror’s Statement
There is an interesting dynamic between the curator and the imagery. Often time it is the photographs themselves that fashion an exhibition. It is the narratives or repeating elements that tie one piece to another. These echoes and resonances hold all the work together. Each piece no longer stands as an individual element but as an orchestra of artwork that is served up within the whole ensemble. It was exciting to see
Mapping: borders, bodies, memories came to life and finally took its shape after many days of dress rehearsal. It was difficult to let go of work in assembling this exhibit because I truly love the topic. Also, the caliber of work was great and the interpretation of the theme was very innovative; from a birds eye to worms eye view of the world to a state of mind through to body contours and property lines. Many photographers presented representational or literal interpretations of mapping. Others offered up abstracted responses or made use of metaphor to articulate intent. No matter how a photograph was executed, each submission spoke to me, as juror, through the unique lens of its creator. The submissions taught me much about the topic. In the end, my image picks were made strictly because of the final assembled body of work.
How an image echoes another or vibrates because of another image influence what remains. I perceive imagery by finding relationships and sequences that make meaning; call it a stream of consciousness if you will. For example, I considered the image by Nicole White, because I also considered Mark Schoon + Dominic Lippillo’s image as well as the photograph by Goseong Choi. Aside from the photographers’ intent, all three images suggested mounds of land to me. White utilized a cameraless process to manufacture “the place an artist would view a landscape from in order to paint it.” In an effort to form a dialogue “about proximity, locality, and space versus place,” Schoon + Lippillo use the diptych format to express their ideas on domesticity, while being miles away from each other. I saw in their bed linens a mountain mass. It was Choi’s skin bumps, however that completed the visual sentence in the end. The cameraless plateau begot thoughts of the linen mountain that echoed the shapes from pulled hairs on skin.
I hope you enjoy the exhibit. I believe I selected an eclectic mix of work that reflects my personal vision and aesthetic. If you were selected to be included in this show, congratulations! If you were not selected, do not despair or lose enthusiasm for your art. Exhibiting artwork is an undulating process that moves at varying speeds.
My thanks go to all the artists who submitted to Mapping: borders, bodies, memories and to my colleagues at the Filter Photo Festival.