Formulation of Time — photographing the ephemeral

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In British Columbia, where vegetation is abundant, the symbolic meaning of plants’ life cycles is ceaselessly reflected in artworks. Lipoint Place (4211 Number 3 Road, Richmond),  Formulation of Time is an exhibition that showcases the interpretation of this theme in the experimental photography of Phyllis Schwartz, Edward Peck, Desirée Patterson and Sand Wan.

Phyllis Schwartz and Edward Peck are artists whose practice contemplates the full cycle of natural growth, transitions and regeneration. They use plant-based materials to create photo-based works of art that speak to issues of permanence and impermanence. Their work has the capacity to engage viewers to contemplate ephemerality, change and transition in the ever-changing natural world. Phyllis Schwartz will exhibit plant-based Lumen Prints, and Edward Peck will exhibit high-resolution, plant-based, abstract Scanograms.

Desirée Patterson’s Point De Fusion series depicts natural landscapes and plants that appear to be melting into abstraction. With a high aesthetic value, the series aims to connect viewers by evoking a sense of awe and wonder, with a prophetic underlying current. The title, Point de Fusion, references the melting point of an object at atmospheric pressure; the moment when its physical state changes and it becomes a liquid. As the landscape begins to thaw, the idea of motion is implied in an image that once was still.

Sand Wan’s large-scale, black-and-white Immortality series emphasizes the seemingly tranquil but everchanging forests along the Pacific Northwest coast and Fraser River. With black-and-white photography, which lends timelessness and classic quality to his images, he captures the forests in their prime time and the trees’ last resting place along the coastline where they lie as driftwood.

Saturday April 6, 2019 2-4pm: Public Opening & Book Launch
Exhibition hours: April 6 – 30, 2019 Free admission
– Monday – Friday 10am-5pm, weekends by appointment.
– Also open during Art! Vancouver on the weekend of April 27 – 28, 10am-5pm.
– Closed on Good Friday April 19th.

Lumen Print Workshop by Phyllis Schwartz
Saturday, April 13th, 11am – 3pm (12-1pm beak for lunch)
Admission $15/person
Registration is required: https://lumenprints.eventbrite.ca
The workshop is participating in the 2019 Capture Photography Festival and supported by London Drugs Printing Grant.

 

 

Natural Alchemy — contemplating time, form and the ephemeral

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Natural Alchemy — a group show that contemplates the forces and cycles present that help shape our environment — opens Thursday, 21 March at CityScape Community ArtSpace. The work in this exhibition documents the intersection where natural materials meet, how they affect each other, and how they can challenge the viewer to contemplate time, form and the ephemeral.

The paintings, prints, photography and  installation in this exhibition highlight the beauty, connectivity and impermanence of the biosphere and geosphere, helping us to understand how growth, decay, and geological processes play a vital role in shaping our environment. Presenting artists Phyllis Schwartz, Edward Peck, Katherine Duclos, Pierre Leichner,  and Willloughby Arevalo incorporate organic and plant-based materials, as well as natural processes to help shape the outcomes of their compositions.

Featured in this exhibition are Lumen Prints by Phyllis Schwartz and and Scanograms by Edward Peck. Schwartz makes hybrid camera-less photograms that leave traces and shadows on photosensitive surfaces. Plant enzymes and atmospheric conditions interact with creating alchemical results on the surface of the paper and sheet film, leaving X-ray like marks of shapes and interiors. These Lumen Prints are primal, hovering on the cusp of poetry. 

Peck’s series, Arrangements, is drawn from discarded bouquets, set aside as they wilted but to still full of colour, shape and still in transition, perhaps always in transition as decay eventually rekindles life. He took these discards and after some contemplation, arranged them into compositions, in which he explored their new colours, shapes and fragile state. These works were made using a high resolution scanner, producing a series of Maranasati meditations or a momento mori.

Natural Alchemy
March 22 – May 4,  2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, 22 March (7 – 9 PM)
CityScape Community ArtSpace (335 Lonsdale, North Vancouver)

 

Longevity — now available at NORTH VAN ARTS RENTAL

Longevity is a Lumen Print from a series of photograms made from plant materials gathered at Finn Slough, a tiny fishing community in Richmond British Columbia, Canada, where approximately 30 residents live in wooden houses along a marshy riverbank. The indigenous and cultivated plant materials used to make the photograms reference a community that is inextricably connected to the environment and persistently adaptable to the encroaching built environment that challenges its existence. Of particular interest are the ginkgo leaves, an ancient plant that has adapted to environmental transformations or thousands of years. The ginko tree, one of the most ancient plant forms dating back 2.5 million years, is a symbol of longevity. 170 ginkos survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Longevity is now available for rental or purchse at NORTH VAN ARTS RENTAL

Finn Slough Art Show

Finn Slough: Ancient Memories

Art About Finn Slough Show, sponsored by the Finn Slough Heritage and Wetland Society, includes work by Sassamatt Collective artists Phyllis Schwartz and Edward Peck. This unjuried show features work inspired by late Fall visits to Finn Slough, a small historic fishing village at the junction of Number 4 Road and Dyke Road in Richmond, one of the last tidal communities of the West Coast.

The Lumen Print series by Phyllis Schwartz was made from plant materials gathered at Finn Slough, a tiny fishing community in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where approximately 30 residents live in wooden houses along a marshy riverbank. The indigenous and cultivated plant materials used to make the photograms reference a community that is inextricably connected to the environment and persistently adaptable to the encroaching built environment that challenges its existence. Of particular interest are the ginkgo leaves and horsetail ferns, both ancient plants that have adapted to environmental transformations or thousands of years.

Tidal Zone is a series by Edward Peck made from persistent observations of Finn Slough as Fall transforms the landscape from colour to the spare elements of winter. His series captures the marsh habitat on the Fraser River that has been lost to human settlement and industrial development. This struggle is reflected by the contrast of a dynamic landscape in full colour and the austerity of black and white structures endure the elements.

AAFSS is held at the Richmond Cultural Centre located at 7700 Minoru Gate, Multipurpose Room. The show is open on Thursday, April 9 from noon to 9:00pm, Friday, April 10th from 9:00am to 9:00pm, with an evening reception and guests speakers, Saturday, April 11th from 10:00am to 5:00pm and its ends on Sunday at 3:00pm.

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LIGHT SENSITIVE — opening soon

Finn Slough Landscape

 

Gilbert, Arizona — 06 March – 21 April

LightSensitive 2018, an exhibition of traditional darkroom and alternative process photography, opens at Art Intersection on Saturday, 10 March (5 – 7pm). The selected works, according to juror scott b. davis, “…range from abstract images that defy our expectations of photography to others that affirm our belief in the medium’s inherent specificity.”

Two Lumen Prints from my Finn Slough Series will be on show in an exhibition of handcrafted prints by photographers working in the tradition of light sensitive creative processes. The organic nature of these prints made using materials gathered at Finn Slough reflect the quality of life in a tiny fishing community in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where 30 residents live in wooden houses along a marshy riverbank. The indigenous and cultivated plant materials used to make the photograms reference a community that is inextricably connected to the environment and persistently adaptable to the encroaching built environment that challenges its existence.

These Lumen Print photograms are made by placing plant materials on black-and-white photo paper, which were exposed to both sunlight and the elements for 48 hours during a December snowstorm and then processed in fixer. The atmospheric conditions affecting these prints were especially unusual, resulting in distress to the light sensitive emulsion, which can be seen in the unique marks on the photosensitive surface.

Light Sensitive will show at Art Intersection, a gallery and workspace in Gilbert, Arizona, that promotes the intersection of photography with related art forms. The exhibition runs from 06 March thru 21 April (207 North Gilbert Road, Gilbert Arizona). Opening reception is Saturday, 10 March, 5 – 7 pm).

A Feast of Lumen Prints

Cathy’s Orchid

A feast of lumen prints are showcased in the newly opened Salon at A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. Lumen, an exhibition showcasing this feast of alternative photography, includes Cathy’s Orchid, a digital print made from a handmade negative created by using a Lumen Print process. The exhibition dates are 11 March to 16 May. Two receptions will be held: 25 March and 30 April (4 – 7 pm). An exhibition catalogue available from Blurb is forthcoming.

Lumen prints are photograms made by a contact print process using organic materials that leave traces and shadows on photosensitive surfaces. These unique prints are made without a camera or darkroom enlarger. These materials transmit enzymes that interact with the surface of the paper, leaving X-ray like marks of both their shapes and interiors. Lumen prints on sheet film can be scanned and processed as digital prints. Artists experimenting with this process include Jerry Burchfield, Adam Fuss and the artists showing work in Lumen.

Papergirl Vancouver 2015

Papergirl Vancouver
One of my favourite events. It’s about sharing. It’s about gifting. It’s like sending out a message in a bottle. This year my work is being distributed Mexico, Bristol, Hannover and Vancouver.

All of the artwork submitted to Papergirl Vancouver will be lovingly placed on display at the Roundhouse Community Centre for a week before riders head out on their bikes to spread art throughout the city.

Join the celebration of another year of art and altruism on Monday, August 24th at 6pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre!

Papergirl Vancouver 2015 Offerings

Papergirl Vancouver Exhibition Opening Announcement

Cheyenne Diner (New York)

Forest Fire (2014)

New York: What Remains 9

Spanish Banks Sea Creatures (Lumen Print, 2010)

New York: What Remains

Buy More Art

Two of my vintage analogue Lumen Prints have been selected for auction at ArtBeat Vancouver. Works by fifty up-coming and established local artists have been curated by Lynn Ruscheinsky and will be auctioned at ArtBeat 2015 this Saturday, 25 July at the Belkin Residence (7349 Blenheim Street), 4 – 10 pm.  Event details and ticket purchase details can be found at ArtBeat/Events.

Both Lumen Prints from the Spanish Banks Series were previously exhibited at the in the Emily Carr Awards Exhibition at the Winsor Gallery. These works are early explorations of the Lumen Print process using materials gathered from the seashore.

ArtBeat 2015 is a fund raising event for the expansion of Esther’s Place, a safe house for women fleeing domestic violence, as well as Little Footprints/Big Steps, a charity founded to aid rescuing children from situations of abuse, slavery, homelessness or severe neglect. More details can be found at ArtBeat/The Cause. 

Spanish Banks Impressions 13 (Lumen Print on fibre, unique photogram)

Fan Coral (Lumen Print on Fibre, unique photogram)

Pareidolia — Lumen Prints Telling Stories

I am writing this blog so I can learn to spell and understand pareidolia. In the 70s, I read an article in Scientific American that explained how the eye-brain constructed recognizable shapes from ambiguity. That information gave me insight into how visual art that compelled caused me to look again, and I was sure I would remember that word. I reached for that word many times, talking around it and hoped someone could fill in the gap in my knowledge. That gap was filled in conversation following one of my Facebook posts during  the  Black and White Photo challenge this September. Now in a time when access to this kind of information is only a few keystrokes away, I am able to fill in that gap.

Pareiolia explains why we see the man in the moon, dragons in clouds, faces (especially eyes) in tree bark and projected imagery in reflective surfaces. This rediscovery of this word and this phenomenon gives both an explanation for my fascination with abstract Lumen Print compositions and a context for my artist process. Artwork, music and literature that offer multiple valid readings have always attracted me;  my favourites continue to invite another layer of meaning. My Lumen Prints that render smaller ambiguous pareidoltric artifacts engage my viewers and often spark interesting conversation. I look again.

Bladderwrack and Rainwater (2010)

One of my most enduring compositions, Mother and Child, was an early starting point in my Lumen Print artist practice. When I look at this Lumen Print, I see a goat like figure and a playful calf nuzzling up affectionately to a protective figure, a mother to my way of looking at it; I want to see a Mother and Child, and a reach into the photograph for more imagery to complete that story. Others might see darkened outlines of familiar seaweed shapes: bladderwrack, sea lettuce and the potassium deposits made by sheets of Lamenaria left out in the rain. My early Lumen Print work was essentially creative botanical documentation. I discovered the X-Ray like marks in Lumen Prints  yield more information than in botanical drawings; these Lumen Print documents simultaneously photograph the interior and exterior of the specimen. When I freed these materials from their orthodox portraiture and used these materials in the markmaking process,  then landscapes and narratives emerged. Instead of Lamenaria and Bladderwrack resting on photosensitive surfaces for a portrait, they were telling stories.

Sea Shells and Rainwater (lumen lith printed from a handmade negative, 2010)

Wanting to go beyond the discoveries of the botanists who were among the first to discover a photographic process for recording visual information in their notations, I turned to an exploration of the capacity of sheet film in Lumen Printing.  A 4 x 5 inch block of sheet film does not leave much space for composition, a challenge when I was composing organic material on photo paper that measured 16 x 20 inches. I was curious to find out how much detail sheet film would record for printing and projecting in large format. Sea Shells and Rainwater was my first handmade negative; I positioned a small handful of crushed seashells on sheet film and exposed it to an afternoon of hazy light. This negative was digitized and developed much the way I worked in an analogue darkroom: amplifying light and tonal values. I worked on this image until it came to life: when a pair of eyes appear and a life form took shape on a green colour field. In digital format, I am able to show X-Ray layers in much the same way they appear in analogue Lumen Prints.

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Recent Lumen Prints, both analogue and digital, tell pareidolic stories: Caribou posing for a portrait, momento mori in What Remains from gathering foliage in New York, possible life forms Among Cherry Blossoms, a portrait emerging from Chesterman Beach sea tangles. And more at Sassamatt Images.

Upcoming Gallery Events (and local places to buy more art)

Art Rental Show — two of my recent Lumen Prints have been added to the Cityscapes Art Rental collection and will be on show in their salon syle exhibition. Thursday, 08 January, 7 – 9 PM (Cityscapes, 355 Lonsdale, North Vancouver).

Truth and Beauty DoorCrasher Special— offers Limited Edition Prints (Desert Salt, for example), OpenStock Prints and Loose Prints at discounted prices. One week only: 10 – 17 January (Noon – 5pm), 698 West 16th Avenue. Check out the Collective collection.

Winter Salon at Photohaus Gallery — WinterSalon continues thru January. Three of my Lumen Prints are on show in this exhibition. Two of these prints are analogue lumen prints; it is an exciting opportunity because (as far as I know) I am the only artist in Greater Vancouver working in this hybrid photo-printmaking medium. Check website for hours of opening and location.

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