Current Exhibition
Future Resonance
December 3, 2021 - February 6, 2022
- Opening Reception: Saturday, December 4, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
This year's Future Resonance exhibition seeks to explore technology as an aspect of human expression - how technology can push our thoughts into new horizons while creating avenues for artistic visionaries to express themselves.
The annual art and technology exhibition returns to Kaiser Gallery. This year Future Resonance presents yet another amazing batch of artists and creators who explore the field of sound and light as a universal media. The exhibition is an invitation to explore the ways in which technology and artistic practices converge. See the synchronicity of these artists as they change the way we see the world.
It is not a coincidence that art and technology have been declared as the theme for our annual exhibition. Technology has become a significant part of our lives – it permeates all aspects of it, from entertainment to medicine. With technology quickly evolving into an essential aspect of our lives, technology is no longer considered a novelty or a luxury. Instead, it's becoming a necessity for the human race. Technology has also increased our appetite for artistry because technology feeds the imagination with its expansive capabilities and unlimited horizons - resulting in ever more ambitious creations that give us elevated perspectives on human achievement.
With technology being a necessary part of life, it has also become a source for artistic inspiration. Technology seeps through the boundaries between science and art. It is no longer something seen as separate from or even opposed to art – technology has become one of the most influential forces behind modern art because tech does not simply illustrate an idea, technology makes it happen.
The human interaction with technology is a major aspect of modern art - because technology has become a part of who we are as a people. It is a cultural force that constantly evolves and will continue to do so until there is no distinction between technology and life. Some believe this shift towards technology couldn't have happened without the emergence of digital technology - that technological jump from analog to digital brought about changes in how things were created and experienced, such as sound and light.
Sound & Light: Now more than ever we can understand music and other forms of sound by seeing them – the visual representation of the elements creates a new lens through which we can experience these phenomena.
Presenting the works of Mike Bruckman, Jeremy Davis, Jeremy Newman, Thea Reid, Ethan Samaha, Dustin Steuck, and Anna Thorne.
The annual art and technology exhibition returns to Kaiser Gallery. This year Future Resonance presents yet another amazing batch of artists and creators who explore the field of sound and light as a universal media. The exhibition is an invitation to explore the ways in which technology and artistic practices converge. See the synchronicity of these artists as they change the way we see the world.
It is not a coincidence that art and technology have been declared as the theme for our annual exhibition. Technology has become a significant part of our lives – it permeates all aspects of it, from entertainment to medicine. With technology quickly evolving into an essential aspect of our lives, technology is no longer considered a novelty or a luxury. Instead, it's becoming a necessity for the human race. Technology has also increased our appetite for artistry because technology feeds the imagination with its expansive capabilities and unlimited horizons - resulting in ever more ambitious creations that give us elevated perspectives on human achievement.
With technology being a necessary part of life, it has also become a source for artistic inspiration. Technology seeps through the boundaries between science and art. It is no longer something seen as separate from or even opposed to art – technology has become one of the most influential forces behind modern art because tech does not simply illustrate an idea, technology makes it happen.
The human interaction with technology is a major aspect of modern art - because technology has become a part of who we are as a people. It is a cultural force that constantly evolves and will continue to do so until there is no distinction between technology and life. Some believe this shift towards technology couldn't have happened without the emergence of digital technology - that technological jump from analog to digital brought about changes in how things were created and experienced, such as sound and light.
Sound & Light: Now more than ever we can understand music and other forms of sound by seeing them – the visual representation of the elements creates a new lens through which we can experience these phenomena.
Presenting the works of Mike Bruckman, Jeremy Davis, Jeremy Newman, Thea Reid, Ethan Samaha, Dustin Steuck, and Anna Thorne.
About The Artists
Mike Bruckman
Inventor, Conceptual Designer: This all encompassing role infiltrates all other aspects of my being. Sometimes a dreamer and other times an innovator, being able to recognize, embrace, and execute vision is the most valuable underlying component to the act of creation...and it is like fuel to my soul.
This mindset dictates my priorities, and when inspiration strikes, I am very good at recording the thought through either notes or journal entry and then allocating time and resources when the time is right. I don’t like to force a project that may not be right for the circumstances surrounding the rest of my life, but having the luxury of referencing idea folders later has most definitely been an invaluable affirmation of my limitless creative spirit over time.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As the inventor of many things that GLO, such as GloKeys, GloDrums, GloQubes, GloFrames, GloSuits, GloTies, and all variety of light-up art and custom one off wearables, I am always on the precipice of incorporating light into my unique artistic style combined with my other creative interests. This exhibit showcases two chapters of that development. 1. 'Elements of Energy' is a representation of the energy that powers our lives. The four parts symbolize Wind, Hydro, Geothermal, and Solar. Installation title: 'Elements of Energy' Media type: 3D mixed (plastic, acrylic paint, LED, foam core, etc) Dimensions: each of the 4 are identical in size (30"h x 30"w x 12"d) An interactive, 4 piece display created in 2012 where users can select lighting combinations via remote control. The work can be hung or stacked or rest on the floor. Here is a link to a video showing the work: https://youtu.be/fnceBXDnG_E 2. 'Memory Boxes' are mesmerizing and captivating. Installation title: 'Memory Boxes: A Collection of Time and Light. Media type: 3D mixed (collage, wood, glass, photography, custom light, paper, glue, crystal, metal, etc) Dimensions: each of the 4 are identical in size (20"h x 30"w x 5"d) An interactive, 4 piece display where users can select lighting combinations via switches highlighting different zones of the work.
Jeremy Davis
Originally from Texas, my studies have carried me all over this country: Connecticut to Chicago, now in Michigan. While my training is academic, based firmly in tradition skill and observation learned at the Lyme Academy in Connecticut, I have travelled some distance from those early roots to explore new forms of sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. As I am both a musician and sculptor, I seek to find meaningful ways to explore music and sound in tangible forms. Some of my sculptures audibly resonate as part of this exploration, while others are silent.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Much can be said by saying as little as possible - and in service of this - I hope my work can speak for itself. Some of my sculptures audibly resonate as part of this exploration, while others are silent. Both are represented here.
I find that objects - granted agency through via sound - can become as intimate and immediate as we are to each other. Some of these works resonate in their own bodies and become a viscous medium that pours into the ears of all those nearby. The connection of form and sound is powerful, and the experience one has when both are brought to bear is both natural and uncanny. My work straddles the field between the serious and humorous, but in each instance seeks to find common ground with those nearby. Time is an important element in my work and sound is a way for me to mark both distance and the passage of time. In many ways, I seek to close the loop and bring the past back to the present. Sound has this ability. While I don’t claim to have found a magic recipe for artmaking, I know that by embracing both the visual and the transmission, I can connect to my audience on a deeper level. You can always look away from a sculpture, but you can’t close your ears.
Jeremy Newman
Jeremy Newman has directed numerous documentary and experimental videos. His work is frequently shown at film festivals and has also aired on several PBS stations. He is Associate Professor of Communications at Stockton University. Newman earned an MFA in Media Arts from The Ohio State University.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My experimental videos involve light and the act of seeing as mediated by transparent objects and through the camera’s lens. In Quasar, sunlight passes through a red water bottle. By rotating the plastic bottle, I control the shape and the direction of the light. Movement and the corresponding shifts in light suggest an evolving celestial body. In The Crystalline Darkness, sunlight passes through a glass doorknob while it turns. Through video effects, I suggest an alternate dimension where light emerges from the void in a series of delicate forms. In Mantis, I film a praying mantis through a glass door at night with artificial illumination coming from both inside the house and outside the door. Although this encounter between human and insect is intimate due to proximity, separation exists. By stylizing the encounter with video effects, I encourage viewers to contemplate this dynamic. Each video features distorted found sound to create an atmospheric effect.
Ethan Samaha
Ethan Samaha (b. 1999, Pittsburgh, PA) is a light and space artist, utilizing neon and sculpture to get an understanding of time, space
and perception in large installations. Ethan Samaha holds a BFA in Art + Design, focus in Sculpture and Dimensional Studies, with minors in Performance Design and Technology and Dance, from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“From our initial encounter with the world to the end of our days, pure light is the first and supposed last recollection our physical bodies experience” - Hannah Stouffer Through the use of minimal installations, I delve into the phenomenology of light as a material. The presence and absence of light within space and the interaction of the viewer are explored. Informed by light color theory and historical theatrical colorways, I assemble neon in clusters to create immersive installations that explore architectural space. Each environment bathes the viewer in saturated color and light. The experience of the installation differs amongst audience members in terms of color and depth perception, but will also change as the participant navigates throughout the space. My work pushes the boundaries of perception in the physical space, increasing spatial awareness. The duality of dramatic saturated environments and their subdued counterparts confronts the individuals’ understanding of light and space.
Dustin Steuck
Dustin Steuck is a performance-based moving image installation artist currently living and working in Minneapolis, MN. Steuck's work explores queer narrative while integrating utopic theory influenced by digital platforms and historical imagery. Whether the outcome is an object, moving images or two-dimensional, Steuck's work is based on the need to document. Through grand-scale projections, moving images, supports their conceptual interests, while the projector fulfills spatial objectives. Currently, Steuck is working with a projection mapping software that allows them to manipulate moving images by inverting grid-points into specific forms. Integrating moving images with imagery of fig leaves, narcissus and hyacinth flowers, this work references to the past while engaging conversation of beauty and salvation.
Steuck received a double bachelor of fine arts degree and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2017. Recent accomplishments include selection as a finalist for the 2019 Fellowship at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, A semi-finalist for the Manifest Gallery's ONE 8, The 8th Annual Manifest Prize, Honorable Mention in the International Sculpture's CEnter's 2017 Outstanding Student Achievement Award Program, and was awarded a student research grand funded by the University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2017. Steuck has exhibiting work locally at the Soo Visual Art Center, MN Regis Center for Art at the University of Minnesota, and Nationally at the Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro, AR, The Alice Wilds in Milwaukee, WI and on two billboards by SAVEARTSPACE and BILLBOARD CREATIVE in Los Angeles, CA.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work integrates digital practices with queer narratives influenced by utopic theory and historical queer imagery to construct multimedia objects for reflection. I am interested in our relationships with technology, how one perceives identity through a filtered world, and questioning how installation and moving images can envision alternative queer futures. My methodology focuses on the combination of moving images and reflective materials to challenge one’s reality. Reflective materials mirror projected figures longing for alternative experiences and systems while simultaneously living them. These manifestations are contingent upon the engagement between the work and the viewer: they reject norms of instantaneous consumption and immediate disposability, demanding contemplation and connectivity. Firmly established in image-making, my multimedia installations conjure notions of potentiality through sculptural objects and immersive experiences digitally assisted by auratic editing software and techniques. Moving images disseminate my conceptual interests in identity production as a way to construct desired futures of queer potentiality, while technology fulfills my spatial objectives. Whether using grand-scale projections, reflective films as refractive lenses, or video monitors placed directly on the ground, my work is site-responsive and subtly shifts between venues. By constructing new landscapes for reflection, I hope to disrupt power systems that profit from queer expression while disregarding the past to reclaim a collective future. Working with a video recording device has allowed me to explore nuances of gender and identity within my own body, mind, and practice. When recording in the studio, I rely on low lighting and utilize liquids as a personal aesthetic that promotes self-reflection and vulnerability. These recordings are edited through digital programs on the computer and projected into space or onto constructed objects. The recording and editing process is crucial to my practice as my work explores nuances of motion through detailed renderings. Notions of uncertainty arise through interventions of intimacy and queer signaling. Currently, I am working with a projection mapping software called MadMapper that allows me to manipulate moving images by inverting grid points into specific forms. Reconfiguring recordings of the body into digitally mapped figures are further manipulated through video monitors and light-controlled environments; they attain an artificial persona heightened by the complete absence of sound. Integrating moving-image with flamboyant materials and symbolic imagery of fig leaves, narcissus, and hyacinth flowers, this work references the past while engaging critical conversations of beauty and salvation.
Thea Reid
Thea Reid is a Canadian artist whose work spans printmaking, drawing and sculpture. Reid received a BFA (2103) from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS and an MFA (2016) from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Since graduating she has taught printmaking and drawing at Saginaw Valley State University, and Oakland Community College. From 2019-2020 she was the founding director of the White Brick Gallery in Ferndale, Michigan.
Reid has exhibited work across Canada and the US including the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax, 1313 Broadway in Detroit, and Neighbors Gallery in Ithaca. Her work is a meditation on perception and sensory experience; on moments where the transcendent and the everyday environment merge.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“One eye sees. The other feels.” - Paul Klee I look at the urban landscape with the same open eyes, the same awe and reverence, with which I view the natural world. My artwork is a way of zooming in on the visual phenomena that inspire me. In Reasons For Knocking on an Empty House Bill Viola speaks of the “border zone between the conscious and the unconscious, where the lines between reality and imagination, between object and association blur.” My work draws on a set of shared visual references, and echos the ubiquitous patterns, utilitarian designs, and vernacular materials of the built environment. It seeks to re-frames and re-presents the everyday world as both familiar and foreign at the same time.
Anna Thorne
Anna Thorne is a visual artist from Florida currently living and working in New York City. She received her M.F.A. in Studio Arts at the University of Notre Dame in 2021 on a full tuition waiver where she also worked as a Photography Instructor for two years. Her photographic thesis ‘Luminous Visions’ was exhibited at the Snite Museum of Art in 2021 and was awarded the Graduate Student Research Award through the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts. Subsequently, her thesis paper ‘Luminous Visions: Expanding Awareness Through the Undisclosed Lenticular Photograph’ was published by the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame. Thorne’s art and writing on photography has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her work is in the collection of the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The photographs comprising Luminous Visions document ordinary and overlooked moments of natural light in interior spaces. The use of lenticular technology in the photographs engage visual perception to encourage a mindful state of observation as opposed to a logical state of interpretation. Immersion into the present moment through mindful observation burns away the mental fog of our day-to-day thoughts and emotions to reveal an ineffable realm of clarity. These undisclosed photographs of light displace the mental impulse for creating meaning in order to draw us into the boundless unfolding of presence. The ontological bond between photography and daily life invites us to recognize the simple presence of natural light appearing in our own everyday environments. Although these are everyday images, the seemingly abstract quality of these photographs allows them to stand as original visual experiences in their own right. By entwining art and life, the work not only offers a new way to engage with photographs but also with life itself.
Inventor, Conceptual Designer: This all encompassing role infiltrates all other aspects of my being. Sometimes a dreamer and other times an innovator, being able to recognize, embrace, and execute vision is the most valuable underlying component to the act of creation...and it is like fuel to my soul.
This mindset dictates my priorities, and when inspiration strikes, I am very good at recording the thought through either notes or journal entry and then allocating time and resources when the time is right. I don’t like to force a project that may not be right for the circumstances surrounding the rest of my life, but having the luxury of referencing idea folders later has most definitely been an invaluable affirmation of my limitless creative spirit over time.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As the inventor of many things that GLO, such as GloKeys, GloDrums, GloQubes, GloFrames, GloSuits, GloTies, and all variety of light-up art and custom one off wearables, I am always on the precipice of incorporating light into my unique artistic style combined with my other creative interests. This exhibit showcases two chapters of that development. 1. 'Elements of Energy' is a representation of the energy that powers our lives. The four parts symbolize Wind, Hydro, Geothermal, and Solar. Installation title: 'Elements of Energy' Media type: 3D mixed (plastic, acrylic paint, LED, foam core, etc) Dimensions: each of the 4 are identical in size (30"h x 30"w x 12"d) An interactive, 4 piece display created in 2012 where users can select lighting combinations via remote control. The work can be hung or stacked or rest on the floor. Here is a link to a video showing the work: https://youtu.be/fnceBXDnG_E 2. 'Memory Boxes' are mesmerizing and captivating. Installation title: 'Memory Boxes: A Collection of Time and Light. Media type: 3D mixed (collage, wood, glass, photography, custom light, paper, glue, crystal, metal, etc) Dimensions: each of the 4 are identical in size (20"h x 30"w x 5"d) An interactive, 4 piece display where users can select lighting combinations via switches highlighting different zones of the work.
Jeremy Davis
Originally from Texas, my studies have carried me all over this country: Connecticut to Chicago, now in Michigan. While my training is academic, based firmly in tradition skill and observation learned at the Lyme Academy in Connecticut, I have travelled some distance from those early roots to explore new forms of sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. As I am both a musician and sculptor, I seek to find meaningful ways to explore music and sound in tangible forms. Some of my sculptures audibly resonate as part of this exploration, while others are silent.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Much can be said by saying as little as possible - and in service of this - I hope my work can speak for itself. Some of my sculptures audibly resonate as part of this exploration, while others are silent. Both are represented here.
I find that objects - granted agency through via sound - can become as intimate and immediate as we are to each other. Some of these works resonate in their own bodies and become a viscous medium that pours into the ears of all those nearby. The connection of form and sound is powerful, and the experience one has when both are brought to bear is both natural and uncanny. My work straddles the field between the serious and humorous, but in each instance seeks to find common ground with those nearby. Time is an important element in my work and sound is a way for me to mark both distance and the passage of time. In many ways, I seek to close the loop and bring the past back to the present. Sound has this ability. While I don’t claim to have found a magic recipe for artmaking, I know that by embracing both the visual and the transmission, I can connect to my audience on a deeper level. You can always look away from a sculpture, but you can’t close your ears.
Jeremy Newman
Jeremy Newman has directed numerous documentary and experimental videos. His work is frequently shown at film festivals and has also aired on several PBS stations. He is Associate Professor of Communications at Stockton University. Newman earned an MFA in Media Arts from The Ohio State University.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My experimental videos involve light and the act of seeing as mediated by transparent objects and through the camera’s lens. In Quasar, sunlight passes through a red water bottle. By rotating the plastic bottle, I control the shape and the direction of the light. Movement and the corresponding shifts in light suggest an evolving celestial body. In The Crystalline Darkness, sunlight passes through a glass doorknob while it turns. Through video effects, I suggest an alternate dimension where light emerges from the void in a series of delicate forms. In Mantis, I film a praying mantis through a glass door at night with artificial illumination coming from both inside the house and outside the door. Although this encounter between human and insect is intimate due to proximity, separation exists. By stylizing the encounter with video effects, I encourage viewers to contemplate this dynamic. Each video features distorted found sound to create an atmospheric effect.
Ethan Samaha
Ethan Samaha (b. 1999, Pittsburgh, PA) is a light and space artist, utilizing neon and sculpture to get an understanding of time, space
and perception in large installations. Ethan Samaha holds a BFA in Art + Design, focus in Sculpture and Dimensional Studies, with minors in Performance Design and Technology and Dance, from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“From our initial encounter with the world to the end of our days, pure light is the first and supposed last recollection our physical bodies experience” - Hannah Stouffer Through the use of minimal installations, I delve into the phenomenology of light as a material. The presence and absence of light within space and the interaction of the viewer are explored. Informed by light color theory and historical theatrical colorways, I assemble neon in clusters to create immersive installations that explore architectural space. Each environment bathes the viewer in saturated color and light. The experience of the installation differs amongst audience members in terms of color and depth perception, but will also change as the participant navigates throughout the space. My work pushes the boundaries of perception in the physical space, increasing spatial awareness. The duality of dramatic saturated environments and their subdued counterparts confronts the individuals’ understanding of light and space.
Dustin Steuck
Dustin Steuck is a performance-based moving image installation artist currently living and working in Minneapolis, MN. Steuck's work explores queer narrative while integrating utopic theory influenced by digital platforms and historical imagery. Whether the outcome is an object, moving images or two-dimensional, Steuck's work is based on the need to document. Through grand-scale projections, moving images, supports their conceptual interests, while the projector fulfills spatial objectives. Currently, Steuck is working with a projection mapping software that allows them to manipulate moving images by inverting grid-points into specific forms. Integrating moving images with imagery of fig leaves, narcissus and hyacinth flowers, this work references to the past while engaging conversation of beauty and salvation.
Steuck received a double bachelor of fine arts degree and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2017. Recent accomplishments include selection as a finalist for the 2019 Fellowship at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, A semi-finalist for the Manifest Gallery's ONE 8, The 8th Annual Manifest Prize, Honorable Mention in the International Sculpture's CEnter's 2017 Outstanding Student Achievement Award Program, and was awarded a student research grand funded by the University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2017. Steuck has exhibiting work locally at the Soo Visual Art Center, MN Regis Center for Art at the University of Minnesota, and Nationally at the Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro, AR, The Alice Wilds in Milwaukee, WI and on two billboards by SAVEARTSPACE and BILLBOARD CREATIVE in Los Angeles, CA.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work integrates digital practices with queer narratives influenced by utopic theory and historical queer imagery to construct multimedia objects for reflection. I am interested in our relationships with technology, how one perceives identity through a filtered world, and questioning how installation and moving images can envision alternative queer futures. My methodology focuses on the combination of moving images and reflective materials to challenge one’s reality. Reflective materials mirror projected figures longing for alternative experiences and systems while simultaneously living them. These manifestations are contingent upon the engagement between the work and the viewer: they reject norms of instantaneous consumption and immediate disposability, demanding contemplation and connectivity. Firmly established in image-making, my multimedia installations conjure notions of potentiality through sculptural objects and immersive experiences digitally assisted by auratic editing software and techniques. Moving images disseminate my conceptual interests in identity production as a way to construct desired futures of queer potentiality, while technology fulfills my spatial objectives. Whether using grand-scale projections, reflective films as refractive lenses, or video monitors placed directly on the ground, my work is site-responsive and subtly shifts between venues. By constructing new landscapes for reflection, I hope to disrupt power systems that profit from queer expression while disregarding the past to reclaim a collective future. Working with a video recording device has allowed me to explore nuances of gender and identity within my own body, mind, and practice. When recording in the studio, I rely on low lighting and utilize liquids as a personal aesthetic that promotes self-reflection and vulnerability. These recordings are edited through digital programs on the computer and projected into space or onto constructed objects. The recording and editing process is crucial to my practice as my work explores nuances of motion through detailed renderings. Notions of uncertainty arise through interventions of intimacy and queer signaling. Currently, I am working with a projection mapping software called MadMapper that allows me to manipulate moving images by inverting grid points into specific forms. Reconfiguring recordings of the body into digitally mapped figures are further manipulated through video monitors and light-controlled environments; they attain an artificial persona heightened by the complete absence of sound. Integrating moving-image with flamboyant materials and symbolic imagery of fig leaves, narcissus, and hyacinth flowers, this work references the past while engaging critical conversations of beauty and salvation.
Thea Reid
Thea Reid is a Canadian artist whose work spans printmaking, drawing and sculpture. Reid received a BFA (2103) from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS and an MFA (2016) from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Since graduating she has taught printmaking and drawing at Saginaw Valley State University, and Oakland Community College. From 2019-2020 she was the founding director of the White Brick Gallery in Ferndale, Michigan.
Reid has exhibited work across Canada and the US including the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax, 1313 Broadway in Detroit, and Neighbors Gallery in Ithaca. Her work is a meditation on perception and sensory experience; on moments where the transcendent and the everyday environment merge.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“One eye sees. The other feels.” - Paul Klee I look at the urban landscape with the same open eyes, the same awe and reverence, with which I view the natural world. My artwork is a way of zooming in on the visual phenomena that inspire me. In Reasons For Knocking on an Empty House Bill Viola speaks of the “border zone between the conscious and the unconscious, where the lines between reality and imagination, between object and association blur.” My work draws on a set of shared visual references, and echos the ubiquitous patterns, utilitarian designs, and vernacular materials of the built environment. It seeks to re-frames and re-presents the everyday world as both familiar and foreign at the same time.
Anna Thorne
Anna Thorne is a visual artist from Florida currently living and working in New York City. She received her M.F.A. in Studio Arts at the University of Notre Dame in 2021 on a full tuition waiver where she also worked as a Photography Instructor for two years. Her photographic thesis ‘Luminous Visions’ was exhibited at the Snite Museum of Art in 2021 and was awarded the Graduate Student Research Award through the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts. Subsequently, her thesis paper ‘Luminous Visions: Expanding Awareness Through the Undisclosed Lenticular Photograph’ was published by the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame. Thorne’s art and writing on photography has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her work is in the collection of the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The photographs comprising Luminous Visions document ordinary and overlooked moments of natural light in interior spaces. The use of lenticular technology in the photographs engage visual perception to encourage a mindful state of observation as opposed to a logical state of interpretation. Immersion into the present moment through mindful observation burns away the mental fog of our day-to-day thoughts and emotions to reveal an ineffable realm of clarity. These undisclosed photographs of light displace the mental impulse for creating meaning in order to draw us into the boundless unfolding of presence. The ontological bond between photography and daily life invites us to recognize the simple presence of natural light appearing in our own everyday environments. Although these are everyday images, the seemingly abstract quality of these photographs allows them to stand as original visual experiences in their own right. By entwining art and life, the work not only offers a new way to engage with photographs but also with life itself.