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30 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - David Wolf






David Wolf and I met in Portland at PhotoLucida. We had a lovely conversation, and I enjoyed his body of work, Nurturing Time. His architectural, colorful and textured images were perfect for a rainy spring day in April. He is also one of the lucky invitees to Lishui, and I am looking forward to them brightening up a cold November day.

Here is more about his series - Nurturing Time.

“Nurturing Time, Life in a Backyard Garden” inhabits the place where still life and landscape meet.

The project’s working method bridges the disparate practices of found and staged photography to explore how we regard our natural surroundings as we nurture, shape and control them. The series depicts the human presence in Nature in the form of arrangements made from flowers and plants selected from the photographer’s garden, and places them amidst the cycle of growth, decay and rebirth that unfolds there.

To create the assemblages I isolate the plants individually, and arrange and combine them to make associations or suggest contradictions. A simple cardboard box serves as both neutral container and conceptual envelope to display the arrangements. This working practice is itself a metaphor for how we contain and manipulate Nature.

Beyond typology, “Nurturing Time” offers us the richness of the garden and illuminates our connection to it. The assembled flower boxes resonate with a range of emotion, reflecting our own experience of the cycle of life that embraces vitality and decay, abundance and loss. Memory—Time’s shadow—is present here, too, as events and lives are evoked and memorialized by these images.

29 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Cyrus Karimipour






I have been following Cyrus's work for a couple of years, after first seeing it in Critical Mass, then having the opportunity to meet him at Review Santa Fe. His work is somewhat dark, ominous and hard to read. Which is why I am a fan. My mother the mystery writer says there is trouble lurking around each corner. His figures are shapeshifters, shadows in a landscape. I like work I can come back to over and over and find something new, attach a new story to.
Cyrus received his invitation to showcase his work in Lishui, and I for one am looking forward to seeing it, as well as seeing the reaction to it.

More on Cyrus's series, Invented Memory

This series explores how meaning is assumed and altered through fragmentation

and reassembly.

History informs the present and future; however, new experiences continuously

alter our recollection and interpretation of past events. This body of work mimics

the continuous breakdown and reassembly that occurs as we navigate our daily

experience, in order to illustrate the liquid nature of memory.

Anytime an event or experience is recalled, it is reassembled from fragments

dispersed throughout the brain, and differs slightly from every other time it was

summoned. As our lives progress, not only is our perception of the future

altered, but also that of the past. This seems to cast doubt on the veracity of

what we believe and how we view others and ourselves. If past experience relies

upon, and consequently conforms to what has yet to occur, then there is little that

can be known about who we really are, what we want, and where we are headed.

35mm photographic film and comparably sized inkjet transparencies are

dissected and used to construct small installations. These images are

photographed digitally and printed as archival pigment prints.

The scenes that emerge from this process encourage the seamless and

spontaneous migration between the real and the imaginary, the authentic

and the artificial, the explicit and implicit.


28 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Ernie Buttons






In Portland, I'm walking around during portfolio walk night, and I am stopped in my tracks by Ernie Buttons' work. I laughed out loud. It was creative, clever, colorful and charming in a Lucky Charm, Capt'n Crunch kind of way. I am excited to see how the work is received in Lishui. I'll let you know.

More on his series Cerealism -

Art is shaped by a person's life experiences and I am no different. When I was a youngster, cereal was a luxury item. A brand name cereal was a rarity in our house as they were consistently more expensive. Something like King Vitamin (a popular 70's cereal) or Cap'n Crunch made for pure breakfast heaven as a child. On a recent trip to the grocery store, there sat King Vitamin next to a new version of Cap'n Crunch, Choco Donuts. Looking at the rest of the cereal aisle, it is clear that breakfast cereal has changed from mere nutrition to sheer entertainment. The cereal aisle has become a cornucopia of vibrantly colored marshmallows that resemble people and objects and characters from movies, as if they were calling out to have their portraits taken, to be the center of attention. However, on the other side of the aisle sits the more 'adult' cereals (i.e. fiber, bran). Having lived in Arizona for over 30 years, those cereals upon close inspection resemble some of the shapes and colors and textures of the southwestern desert. I began to construct landscapes that would utilize the natural earth tones of certain cereals. I placed enlarged photographs of actual Arizona skies in the background of the cereal landscapes giving the final image an odd sense of reality. It is apparent that cereal is not just for breakfast anymore. Cereal has evolved into pop culture objects instead of just nutritious corn pops.

27 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - David Ellingsen






David is another fine artist making the trip to Lishui.

Here is more on his series, Future Imperfect.

The expectation of a perfect life as dictated by Western consumer culture has far-reaching implications, particularly as it relates to conservation and environmental responsibility. In the context of an affluent yet unsustainable culture resistant to any perceived deterioration of lifestyle, the series Future Imperfect asks when the tipping point for meaningful widespread social change will occur…and suggests one disturbing possibility.

With little or no trace of Man, the landscapes themselves seem to contain an unseen menace, weighing the human response instinct to a clear and present danger against signs of a more subtle nature. Formations of figures portray community - a crowd, a flock, a pod, a herd - beginning with a human perspective, but more importantly one more all-encompassing, putting mankind back into the natural order from which He has removed himself. The bodies themselves realize the dominant demographic of recent human history, raising ideas of civil justice and systems of power as they relate to social progress.

Bringing together these elements of Man and Environment, Future Imperfect examines the point where our seemingly blunted instinct of self-preservation will overcome the entrenched, destructive cultural norms inherent in the West.

26 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Natalie Young







I love my job.
Going to a portfolio review is like taking me to a candy store. Natalie Young sat at my table for 20 minutes, and it was like giving me a box of dark chocolate truffles. Her luscious, warm, tea stained images show the beauty of her family's farm with a sense of place, a history, and all the stories to tell. An American journey we all can be a part of.
She is part of the Lishui Photo Festival and I couldn't be happier to showcase her images. We were lucky enough to work with Natalie last year as part of our inaugural collectible showcase.

Here is more information about her beautiful series, The Farm.

"My photographs frequently explore the connection of the past to the present, and the relationship of people to their environment. Personal identity and cultural history are often attached to a sense of place, and this can have a strong influence over the texture and stories of our life. I am very interested in the experience of family and cultural history ... the need for a story that ties us to a larger meaning, and the extent to which we either inherit larger stories or attempt to create newer ones.

‘The Farm’ series was photographed in Kansas over the past decade, on the farm of my husband's grandparents. The land has been in the family for many generations and much of his family's roots, identity, and stories are tied to this particular plot of earth. This project is about place and history, about memory and story. It's about the things that tie us together, and the things that bring us back."

30 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - David Wolf






David Wolf and I met in Portland at PhotoLucida. We had a lovely conversation, and I enjoyed his body of work, Nurturing Time. His architectural, colorful and textured images were perfect for a rainy spring day in April. He is also one of the lucky invitees to Lishui, and I am looking forward to them brightening up a cold November day.

Here is more about his series - Nurturing Time.

“Nurturing Time, Life in a Backyard Garden” inhabits the place where still life and landscape meet.

The project’s working method bridges the disparate practices of found and staged photography to explore how we regard our natural surroundings as we nurture, shape and control them. The series depicts the human presence in Nature in the form of arrangements made from flowers and plants selected from the photographer’s garden, and places them amidst the cycle of growth, decay and rebirth that unfolds there.

To create the assemblages I isolate the plants individually, and arrange and combine them to make associations or suggest contradictions. A simple cardboard box serves as both neutral container and conceptual envelope to display the arrangements. This working practice is itself a metaphor for how we contain and manipulate Nature.

Beyond typology, “Nurturing Time” offers us the richness of the garden and illuminates our connection to it. The assembled flower boxes resonate with a range of emotion, reflecting our own experience of the cycle of life that embraces vitality and decay, abundance and loss. Memory—Time’s shadow—is present here, too, as events and lives are evoked and memorialized by these images.

29 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Cyrus Karimipour






I have been following Cyrus's work for a couple of years, after first seeing it in Critical Mass, then having the opportunity to meet him at Review Santa Fe. His work is somewhat dark, ominous and hard to read. Which is why I am a fan. My mother the mystery writer says there is trouble lurking around each corner. His figures are shapeshifters, shadows in a landscape. I like work I can come back to over and over and find something new, attach a new story to.
Cyrus received his invitation to showcase his work in Lishui, and I for one am looking forward to seeing it, as well as seeing the reaction to it.

More on Cyrus's series, Invented Memory

This series explores how meaning is assumed and altered through fragmentation

and reassembly.

History informs the present and future; however, new experiences continuously

alter our recollection and interpretation of past events. This body of work mimics

the continuous breakdown and reassembly that occurs as we navigate our daily

experience, in order to illustrate the liquid nature of memory.

Anytime an event or experience is recalled, it is reassembled from fragments

dispersed throughout the brain, and differs slightly from every other time it was

summoned. As our lives progress, not only is our perception of the future

altered, but also that of the past. This seems to cast doubt on the veracity of

what we believe and how we view others and ourselves. If past experience relies

upon, and consequently conforms to what has yet to occur, then there is little that

can be known about who we really are, what we want, and where we are headed.

35mm photographic film and comparably sized inkjet transparencies are

dissected and used to construct small installations. These images are

photographed digitally and printed as archival pigment prints.

The scenes that emerge from this process encourage the seamless and

spontaneous migration between the real and the imaginary, the authentic

and the artificial, the explicit and implicit.


28 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Ernie Buttons






In Portland, I'm walking around during portfolio walk night, and I am stopped in my tracks by Ernie Buttons' work. I laughed out loud. It was creative, clever, colorful and charming in a Lucky Charm, Capt'n Crunch kind of way. I am excited to see how the work is received in Lishui. I'll let you know.

More on his series Cerealism -

Art is shaped by a person's life experiences and I am no different. When I was a youngster, cereal was a luxury item. A brand name cereal was a rarity in our house as they were consistently more expensive. Something like King Vitamin (a popular 70's cereal) or Cap'n Crunch made for pure breakfast heaven as a child. On a recent trip to the grocery store, there sat King Vitamin next to a new version of Cap'n Crunch, Choco Donuts. Looking at the rest of the cereal aisle, it is clear that breakfast cereal has changed from mere nutrition to sheer entertainment. The cereal aisle has become a cornucopia of vibrantly colored marshmallows that resemble people and objects and characters from movies, as if they were calling out to have their portraits taken, to be the center of attention. However, on the other side of the aisle sits the more 'adult' cereals (i.e. fiber, bran). Having lived in Arizona for over 30 years, those cereals upon close inspection resemble some of the shapes and colors and textures of the southwestern desert. I began to construct landscapes that would utilize the natural earth tones of certain cereals. I placed enlarged photographs of actual Arizona skies in the background of the cereal landscapes giving the final image an odd sense of reality. It is apparent that cereal is not just for breakfast anymore. Cereal has evolved into pop culture objects instead of just nutritious corn pops.

27 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - David Ellingsen






David is another fine artist making the trip to Lishui.

Here is more on his series, Future Imperfect.

The expectation of a perfect life as dictated by Western consumer culture has far-reaching implications, particularly as it relates to conservation and environmental responsibility. In the context of an affluent yet unsustainable culture resistant to any perceived deterioration of lifestyle, the series Future Imperfect asks when the tipping point for meaningful widespread social change will occur…and suggests one disturbing possibility.

With little or no trace of Man, the landscapes themselves seem to contain an unseen menace, weighing the human response instinct to a clear and present danger against signs of a more subtle nature. Formations of figures portray community - a crowd, a flock, a pod, a herd - beginning with a human perspective, but more importantly one more all-encompassing, putting mankind back into the natural order from which He has removed himself. The bodies themselves realize the dominant demographic of recent human history, raising ideas of civil justice and systems of power as they relate to social progress.

Bringing together these elements of Man and Environment, Future Imperfect examines the point where our seemingly blunted instinct of self-preservation will overcome the entrenched, destructive cultural norms inherent in the West.

26 October, 2009

Lishui Photo - Natalie Young







I love my job.
Going to a portfolio review is like taking me to a candy store. Natalie Young sat at my table for 20 minutes, and it was like giving me a box of dark chocolate truffles. Her luscious, warm, tea stained images show the beauty of her family's farm with a sense of place, a history, and all the stories to tell. An American journey we all can be a part of.
She is part of the Lishui Photo Festival and I couldn't be happier to showcase her images. We were lucky enough to work with Natalie last year as part of our inaugural collectible showcase.

Here is more information about her beautiful series, The Farm.

"My photographs frequently explore the connection of the past to the present, and the relationship of people to their environment. Personal identity and cultural history are often attached to a sense of place, and this can have a strong influence over the texture and stories of our life. I am very interested in the experience of family and cultural history ... the need for a story that ties us to a larger meaning, and the extent to which we either inherit larger stories or attempt to create newer ones.

‘The Farm’ series was photographed in Kansas over the past decade, on the farm of my husband's grandparents. The land has been in the family for many generations and much of his family's roots, identity, and stories are tied to this particular plot of earth. This project is about place and history, about memory and story. It's about the things that tie us together, and the things that bring us back."