Four small images of beauty
Summer (fragment), Four seasons of beauty—The farm at Penny Lane series
SMALL WORKS EXHIBIT
Now through September 21
FRANK GALLERY
CARRBORO, NC
Reception, August 23, 6-9pm
Four small images from my Four Seasons of Beauty—The Farm at Penny Lane series are currently on the wall FRANK Gallery. They are part of a (large!) group show, Small Works, featuring work 12” x 12” or smaller by 35 local artists. FRANK is a contemporary fine arts gallery, located in Carrboro, NC, with a community focus in its exhibitions, events, and arts education. I was honored to be asked to participate in this show with so many artists whose work I admire. This is the first time any of these pieces have been on display.
The series Four Seasons of Beauty is a love letter to The Farm at Penny Lane, a place of refuge, human connection with the natural world, and beauty. This farm in Chatham County, North Carolina serves individuals with severe and persistent mental illness through volunteer opportunities, wellness workshops, and boxes of fresh, healthy vegetables. It has been my good fortune to have spent most Monday afternoons since the fall of 2018 working there as a community volunteer. This sweet place gives me the chance to work in an abundant garden and be with the caring people who come together to grow such delicious, healthy food.
I created this body of work during calendar year 2023 to bear witness to the Farm’s ever-changing beauty and healing magic. I used one camera—my Pentax K-1000 35 mm film camera—to take photographs every week I volunteered there. My Pentax has been around the world with me, and I knew it could take whatever the conditions the garden had to offer. I used a regular 50mm lens, a wide-angle lens, and a telephoto lens. All the photographs were shot on color negative 400 ISO film, processed after every roll or two. I scanned the negatives and edited the digital images. Each set of photos I looked at gave me ideas for new photographs to take the next time I was at the farm.
Many of the images in this series (including all of the pieces up at FRANK) are multiple photographs digitally layered over one another. I created these to convey the intense abundance I experience at the Farm, and the endless cycle of beginnings and endings we call life.
My work now hanging on the wall at FRANK Gallery includes one image from each season. “Winter” is featured on the FRANK website here. Each image is printed with archival pigment ink on cotton duck fabric and attached with cut tack nails to a stained plywood board. If you are interested in learning more about printing on fabric, I have written about it here.
These were chosen from dozens of images I have been working with since the first of the year to create a portfolio from which to create various collections of work. At the moment, I am working on a limited series of handmade photobooks. Each will include the same content, but will vary in size and book structure. I confess that I am unable to stop trying out new book designs, but I am happy to keep the content consistent.
Please come by FRANK Gallery if you are able and see the small works by all of the artists on display through September 21. My pieces are surrounded by the work of photographer Barbara Tyroler on the left and the painter, Katharine Armacost, on the right. For those of you who love Jane Filer’s work, she has one piece in the show. And there are more than 30 other local artists’ work as well.
Also on exhibit is the regular-sized work of four featured artists: R. Scott Horner, Kaidy Lewis, John Parkinson, and Fabrizio Bianchi.
There will be a reception (my favorite part of an exhibit!) this Friday night, August 23, from 6-9pm at the gallery, located 370 E. Main St #13, Carrboro, NC. There is ample public parking close by. I hope I will see you there!
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We were born into beauty as beauty, for joyful, thriving life.
—Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe), Diné elder