Photos entered into the exhibition titled "Persist, Persevere, Be" at
IncuArts Gallery. The exhibition runs May 1 - June 15, 2021. One of my photos was accepted for exhibition.
IncuArts invites artists to submit work for Persist, Persevere, Be- an exhibition exploring ideas related to perseverance in the face of discrimination. Persecution can come in the form of discrimination based on gender, culture, race, sexual orientation, disabilities and more. For this exhibition, we ask artists to respond to this topic. How has persecution affected you? How have you persevered? Is simply being an act of defiance? Is your work the proof of perseverance?
Women, BIPOC, LGBTQA+, and other community members who embody this experience are strongly encouraged to apply. Artists of all media are encouraged to apply.
Each artwork will be considered based upon the merit of individual images submitted by each artist. Strict theme based entries are not necessary- the theme is a jumping off point. Persist, Persevere, Be is meant to start a visual discussion. A brief artist statement reflecting your ideas and how your identity is related to the exhibition theme is suggested.
Selected artists will have their work featured in the online exhibition and via social media platforms.
My Artist Statement: I've been making photographs since 1986, when I spent a summer working at Grand Canyon National Park and my grandfather gifted me his trusty Pentax K1000. When my son was born in 1998, I fell in love with the challenge of portrait photography. There's a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that describes it well: "The soul in man is not an organ... but a light... From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all." My task as a photographer is to capture light in the form of digital pixels; but my task as an artist is to capture a glimpse of the soul shining through. About a decade ago, I started focusing on figure photography, mostly in nature, with themes of reconnecting with that part of us that is natural and wild. My work also strives for diversity, with trans and non-binary representation as well as multiple body types and ethnicities. These are values that were always important to me, but became more personal when I began accumulating members of the LGBTQ community in my own family, starting with my son. My photography is now not only a creative outlet, but an important medium for helping to create the world I want my children to grow up in.
My photos have been exhibited in galleries and festivals around the country.
