UnBound12! Artist Features: II
UNBOUND12!
July 7 – August 12
Join us for a breakdown of our annual juried + invitational photography exhibition. Each week, we’ll share information about our artists and the processes behind their pieces in the show.
SUPPORT THE EXHIBITION:
UnBound! is our “non-profit” play we make once a year, raising money which directly supports artists in the exhibition. Works in the show are available for purchase (like a normal exhibition), but friends can also give to the UnBound! Fund, which will be used by the gallery to acquire select works for the growing Candela Collection. One day, this collection will be donated to a notable arts institution. This year, we’re also hoping to extend the reach of funding, using a portion to help cover return shipments for artists who need it.
This exhibition supports photographers through exposure, but most importantly through collecting. If you purchase a piece, you are directly supporting that artist and adding to your personal collection; if you give to the UnBound! Fund, you are allowing an artist to be acquired for a permanent collection, or helping to cover an artist’s exhibition expenses. No matter what, your funds support an UnBound12! artist.
FRANK HAMRICK & PAUL WOLFE | RUSTON, LA
Blueberries, 2023. Tintype on Blue Enameled Aluminum, 8 x 8 inches. Edition #1 of 1. $1000.
Traffic Cone, 2023.
Tintype on Orange Enameled Aluminum, 8 x 8 inches. Edition #1 of 1. $1000.
Blueberries and Traffic Cone are part of an ongoing exploration to push the boundaries of what are traditionally thought of as monochrome photography processes. Whereas the highlights of most photographic processes utilize the white of the photo paper, the shadows of tintypes are based upon the color of the material used for the substrate. Therefore blueberries remain blue in a tintype made on blue metal and the traffic cone remains orange in a tintype made on orange metal when either subject is photographed in an otherwise high key environment. A white seamless backdrop was used to isolate both of these subjects so they would be the only subjects the same color as their plates.
Professor Frank Hamrick is Louisiana Tech University School of Design’s MFA graduate program coordinator. Frank’s processes include photography, video, writing, papermaking, bookmaking, and letterpress relief printing. His work is housed in collections including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and The Seattle Art Museum.
Paul Wolfe, from Alabama, earned his BFA in Studio Art from Troy University in 2021. He is currently a graduate student in the MFA program at Louisiana Tech University School of Design creating work using photography, video and ceramics.
CHRIS BENNETT | DETROIT, MI
Remember Me as a Time of Day, from the series, Variant, 2023. Lenticular Print, 20 x 24 inches. Open Edition. $1600.
My photographic practice seeks to explore the intersection of memory, time, and the environment throughout he use of ethereal imagery. By exploring the concept of memory, I am interested in how our perception of a place can change over time, particularly in relation to the complex and often intangible effects of climate change.
In my work, I present the viewer with single images that have undergone various states of manipulation. Through careful alterations to color and texture, I aim to create a sense of otherworldliness that encourage the viewer to question their interpretation of the place depicted. Ultimately, my aim is to prompt reflection on our relationship with the environment and encourage greater appreciation of the delicate balance between humanity and the natural world.
Christopher Bennett is a photographer currently living in Detroit, Michigan. He founded and was the Director of Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon from 2002 to 2012 and served as its Gallery Director from 2012 to 2014. He currently runs Image Works in Detroit which specializes in custom fine art printing and artwork reproduction.
He has exhibited his work at Froelick Gallery (Portland), the Oregon Historical Society, Camerawork Gallery (Portland) The Phoenix Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ft. Wayne Museum of Art, Center for Contemporary Art (Santa Fe), INOVA (Milwaukee), Klompching Gallery (Brooklyn), Circuit Gallery (Toronto) and Kominek Gallery (Berlin).
JORGE ARIEL ESCOBAR | MADISON, WI
The Way He Lays On the Bed (Erik, Milwaukee, WI), 2023. Silver Gelatin Lumen Print, 36 x 24 inches. Unique. $6000, Framed.
Within my art practice, I have been exploring my queerness with image-making; I began to consider the aspects of the male body I find attractive and even further considered what resonates with me most about romantic intimacy with someone. I am drawn to the ephemeral qualities of the male form particularly during these moments of quick immediate intimacy or short-term romances. I remember the smallest, most intimate details, such as the way a lover arches their torso, the way they rest their legs against mine as we lay in bed, the moment they roll over after a night together, or the way they look at me as we share our mutual desire for one another. When I think about the people whom I have been with in this way I tend to remember them in the moments right before we kiss or the moments of decompression before we part ways. They live in a space that is this ideal romance for me regardless of how long this romance may have lasted.
"I Think We Could've Been Something" is a culmination of ephemeral moments of queer intimacy created through short-term romances. The work considers hookup culture within the LGBTQ+ community with a specific focus on the queer man experience. In our modern reality, the act of meeting men through queer-dating apps such as Grindr has become the norm for most queer identifying folks. Meetings from these apps can go in various directions, from a one-time hook up to leading into a long-term romantic relationship. I began using Grindr as a tool to seek out possible photo subjects. The app was particularly a great source for connecting with men when I traveled outside of Madison to more populated queer hubs such as San Francisco and Seattle, however, I did not restrict myself to solely using Grindr to find subjects as I invited male identifying individuals whom I've met through various means (i.e. mutual friends, bars, etc.) to be photographed in these intimate scenes. This act of image-making, which for a few of my participants was the first time we met in real life, becomes a form of creating intimacy with another person that I equate to a romantic or physical relationship that is often created through dating apps.
My photographic process involves capturing portraits within a domestic space where myself and my subject construct different fantasies that are intended to allow the viewer to place themselves in the work, such as the hand being held is their own or the subject is reaching out to the viewer welcoming them into the moment. Much like these quick moments of intimacy I often take quick photographs of the smallest moments that occur while myself and my subject are conversing getting to know each other. I try not to direct in abundance as I want them to be the most natural that they can be in the moment. Any direction that I give is subtle and usually involves me either having them make the slightest adjustments or me giving them a scenario to think about such as me asking them to pretend we woke up next to each other. I view this work as a collaboration between myself and my subject. We’re working off each other to create these images as I find that this back and forth allows the work to feel the most authentic.
The work began as a digital photograph before I brought these images into the darkroom and printed them as silver gelatin lumen prints. This alternative photographic process involves taking traditional black and white silver gelatin paper and exposing it to UV light allowing the paper to fog. With that this process allows me to further queer the photograph by producing pink colors on the print’s surface. This color serves several different facets within the work itself. Through this color palette the prints mimic the body when blood rushes to your head when you are with someone intimately, furthermore it places these constructed fantasies in front of a rose-tinted lens further idealizing these short-term romances that "could've been something.”
Jorge Ariel Escobar is a queer/Latinx image-maker who holds a BFA from James Madison University and is currently a MFA candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is an Ed-GRS Fellow. His work focuses on themes of intimacy, desires, and relationships between queer/gay men using his own experiences as the basis of his research. Primarily working with photography, his work crosses between digital, analog, and alternative processes to visualize these concepts.
He has attended workshops at Penland School of Craft, Anderson Ranch Art Center, and has been an artist in residence at AZULE. As a solo artist, he has exhibited with VALET Gallery and the Jane Sandelin Gallery both in Richmond, VA. Other credits include group exhibitions at RI Center for Photographic Arts (Providence, RI), the Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, WI), the Photographic Arts Center (Denver, CO), and the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), where his work received an Honorable Mention as part of their Center Forward 2022 exhibition.
EBEN OSTBY | ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VA
De Soto Firesweep, 2023. Selenium Toned Argyrotype, 12 x 14 inches. Edition #1 of 3 + 1AP. $800, Framed.
Some time ago - as the pandemic waned - I found myself looking deeper into my adoptive home of west-central Virginia. Simultaneously, I happened upon the calotypes of Egypt of J. B. Greene and Félix Teynard. As simple as that, my exploration of place tied itself to an exploration of a technique.
Developing skills in calotypy is technically challenging. It sparked a deeper understanding of the light and texture of both the medium and of the places I was exploring. I have continued to find it rewarding to look at this area with my new “calotype eyes”.
The prints here are all argyrotypes made from the calotypes with a digital intermediate. The use of a digital intermediate provides me with increased flexibility and quality with an otherwise unforgiving process while retaining the essential look of the calotype. The argyrotypes are toned with selenium for both color and for its archivalness.
Eben Ostby has been working in mostly alternative process photography for nearly 20 years. While his photography started in high school, it grew in scope as an outgrowth of his work in purely digital media at Pixar Animation Studios. Ultimately his work is necessarily a reflection of his interest in his environment, craft, visual media, and technology.
RACHEL ELISE THOMAS | DETROIT, MI
Proud of You, 2022. Archival Pigment Print, 20 x 16 inches. Edition #1 of 2. $2000, Framed.
Sister-Sister, 2022. Archival Pigment Print, 20 x 16 inches. Edition #3 of 3. $2000, Framed.
This work centers on using the writing of my loved ones–things they've written to me over the years and incorporating that into a collage. Using my personal archive and incorporating sentimental objects such as; handwritten messages, envelopes from old birthday cards, pictures of myself, different family members, and also found imagery. Using pictures of myself and my family was especially important to me because with this project I am the narrator and the protagonist.
Rachel Elise Thomas (b. 1988) is a self-described “lens-adjacent” artist, designer, and youth art teacher. Thomas primarily works in traditional/digital collage and documentary photography, where the two mediums often overlap. Incorporating personal and familial photographs and artifacts, her work explores themes concerning identity, family, spirituality, and colorism; particularly her experiences of being affected by it.
Thomas’s distinct style and attention to detail has allowed her work to be exhibited in notable institutions and locations–to date, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Yale Divinity School, and the Photoville photography festival in Dumbo Brooklyn, where she designed and curated her own exhibition. In addition to receiving local and national attention toward her art, Thomas was awarded the prestigious Denis Diderot A-i-R- Grant to attend the Chateau d’Orquevaux Artist Residency in Orquevaux, France (‘24), which will be her first international Artist Residency.
Thomas obtained her BFA in Photography from the College for Creative Studies (‘19) in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. In 2022, Thomas was selected for a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art (’24), where she’s currently pursuing her MFA with an emphasis in Photography–immersed in its studio-based program that focuses on individual study and research, which compliments her multidisciplinary approach.
ELIZABETH STONE | MONTANA
Entwined 1 & 2, 2023. Medium Format Color, Black & White Negatives circa 1950-2005, Adhesive, Waxed Linen Thread, 65.5 x 14 inches. Unique. $3600 each
Elizabeth Stone is a Montana-based visual artist exploring potent themes of memory and time deeply rooted within the ambiguity of photography. Stone’s work has been exhibited and is held in collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,TX, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ, Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill, NC, Candela Collection, Richmond, VA, Archive 192, NYC, NY, Nevada Museum of Art Special Collections Library. Fellowships include Cassilhaus, Ucross Foundation, Jentel Arts, VCCA and the National Park Service. Process drives Stone’s work as she continues to push and pull at the edge of what defines and how we see the photograph.
LEAH SCHRETENTHALER | MILWAUKEE, WI
Ford Island, 2019. Laser Etched Silver Gelatin Print, 15 x 15 inches. Edition of 3 + 2AP. $1000, Framed.
Mauna Kea, 2020.
Laser Etched Silver Gelatin Print, 15 x 15 inches. Edition of 3 + 2AP. $1000, Framed.
The land of Hawaii is vast, luxurious, and idyllic but past the wanderlust images the land is very controversial. The growing population and tourism continues to threaten the space and its ability to accommodate all the occupants. The industrial growth happening in Hawaii goes beyond simply manipulating the landscape; it destroys the historical records and spiritual places that have existed there for millions of years.
Through these photographs, the attention focuses on spaces where these infrastructures impede on the natural environment. Using silver gelatin prints which consist of selected, man made spaces that have attempted to be removed create a burnt and sometimes empty area. The use of a laser cutter to cut the structure from the landscape leaves scar upon the image. The removed spaces aid in seeing what Hawaii would be like without these impositions. However, in the process of trying to remove these objects has weakened the paper and metaphorically weakened the landscape it is trying to depict. The areas that have not been completely removed leaves a faint and thin layer of paper residue. The structures still exist and can never be completely erased. However, it draws attention to what is becoming the built environment in Hawaii.
These invasive infrastructures have impinged on the natural environment. Although these images discuss visually the reality of Hawaii, it brings to light that this is not a localized problem. Much like the invasive species we eradicate from our gardens and fields, so too should we approach these human invasions onto the landscape. No longer should humanity build for the sake of building; but should instead question the social and political concerns that exist in the natural world.
Leah Schretenthaler was born and raised in Hawaii. She completed her BFA degree from the University of South Dakota and holds a Masters degree in art education from Boston University. She is currently an MFA candidate. Her work uses traditional photography, video, and metal casting to create images. Through her art practice, her research presents a connection between land, material, and performance. She was recently named one of LensCulture’s Emerging Talents of 2018 and was awarded 2nd place in the Sony World Photography Awards. In 2019, she was awarded the Rhonda Wilson Award through FRESH2019 at the Klompching Gallery. Her work has been displayed nationally and internationally including Hawaii, Colorado, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, California, Texas, New York, Wisconsin, Rome, and Spain.