Kimberly Witham and Ellen Lewis Watson

September 30 - October 30, 2011

Kimberly Witham: Transcendence

Inspired by Victorian post-mortem photography, Kimberly Witham’s Transcendence series memorializes animals that might otherwise go unnoticed. Her photography captures an eerie peace reminiscent of the Victorian Portraiture, but also reveals the exquisite and intrinsic beauty of the creatures she finds to photograph.

Removed from the site of their demise, and photographed on a deep disappearing black surface, the subjects of her photos float, appearing neither dead nor alive. Witham captures a sense of melancholy and intrigue by decontextualizing these creatures and photographing them with her innate attention to detail, sense of irony, and admiration for their natural beauty.

Ellen Lewis Watson: Metamorphosis

Ellen Lewis Watson draws inspiration for her work from the natural world, literature, and mythology. Working primarily in bronze, Watson combines the simple elegance of natural objects with a narrative language, resulting in quiet but psychologically powerful objects.

A common motif in Watson’s work is Green Man imagery: imagery that combines foliage and human figures. Green Man imagery is seen in many cultures and mythologies, including pagan religions, ancient Egyptian iconography, Christian architecture, and Celtic art. This combination of flora and fauna often references rebirth, transition, and metamorphosis.

Watson’s work weaves together the symbolism of the Green Man imagery with her own observations of the natural world and personal autobiographical references, resulting in work that, in her words, “walks between worlds.”