Facing Time Together

“Facing Time Together” is a collection of alternative photographic process prints. Mass media and social networks produce stereotypical images that define accepted norms of gender, age and occupational behavior. I counteract with images that pose questions and invite the active participation of a beholder.

I am an immigrant female-identifying artist entering the age of invisibility. This puts me into a position to explore and make visible the minoritarian, underrepresented and marginalized.

My work starts with a meditation. I look deep into things that pain me the most: inequality, isolation, rejection. The image emerges from the desire to help others cope with pain similar to what I experience myself. It is both therapeutic to me and positive in a sense that it creates space for dialogue and change.

Sometimes the image I select for the transfer is the original photograph I took. Sometimes the process is more complex. “Turning Over A New Leaf” was originally a chlorophyll print. I found the technique limiting in terms of the color palette. I wanted to incorporate the color blue symbolizing hope. This brought me to the technique I used for the whole project “Facing Time Together” – archival transfer to Arches 88 watercolor paper. The image I transfer is printed on a transparency. I prepare the watercolor paper for the transfer by cutting it to create the rough edge, then I brush the alcohol-based transfer medium on both sides of the paper. I overlay the printed transparency over the saturated paper and hand brayer the image into it.

I am an award-winning haiku poet as well as a photographer. I have been practicing the wabi-sabi way of living for over thirty years. My photographic art stems from cultural traditions that originated in Japan. Wabi-sabi is the appreciation of all things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.

In working with alternative photographic processes, I found peace and contentment that comes from the harmonizing of my workflow with the concepts it is expressing. Every print I create is one of a kind.

I believe we most connect with others when we are most honest about ourselves. My background in haiku taught me to think in personal universal. My prints are made to connect with unique individuals.

Alternative photographic prints are never as perfect as commercial studio prints, but they have character. They are flawed but their imperfections are part of the philosophy and aesthetics I am communicating to the world.

List of titles and descriptions:

01. Youth of Old Age

This photograph was shot in Paris, France, facing the door to a hotel room bearing Victor Hugo's name. French writer Victor Hugo said that fifty is the "youth of old age." The image opens the door to a dialogue about stereotypes assigned to aging and puts forward the often underrepresented problem of age discrimination that affects millions of people around the world. With this image, I am initiating a discussion on ways to avoid ageism. My goal is to get people involved in an open discussion and to facilitate creation of mechanisms to help victims cope with long-lasting effects of this widespread phenomenon.

The image is an archival transfer to Arches 88 watercolor paper implemented by transferring ink from a transparency to paper using alcohol-based transfer medium. The transfer technique complements the idea of smooth transition into the "age of empowerment" - often mistaken for the "age of invisibility."

02. Turning Over A New Leaf

This image started its journey to the viewer as a leaf I collected during one of my long photo walks. I created a chlorophyll print of a person finishing yoga practice by the ocean side directly on the leaf. Then, the scan of this chlorophyll print was incorporated into a digital image transferred to watercolor paper made from natural cotton. I started with a gift of a living plant and finished creation of the print on natural fibers shaped by human hand.

The technique I used to make this print helps to express the idea of the image. A chlorophyll print is very fragile. It symbolizes the fragility of life. The image of a chlorophyll print transferred to watercolor paper is more durable. The transfer technique allows for multiple one-of-a-kind reproductions of a unique print corresponding to new definitions that occur as life continues. When I was born, I received a certain physicality that is defined as female, but it is the way I live my life that shapes my unique gender identity. The process is the same for every person that interacts with my work.

03. The Future Is Liquid

This image depicts an artist taking a photograph of the river. It is a creative reflection on the thought, by Greek philosopher Heraclitus, that you cannot step into the same river twice because the river is changing - and you are changing too. The coins in the river symbolize society and tadpoles represent nature. The ways we interact with both society and nature are ever changing and we must be creative when we do it.

Every time someone approaches my work, I start a dialogue with that unique human being. This dialogue is part of an endless discourse about the meaning of life. Each alternative photographic process print is different every time I reproduce it. The person that approaches to interact with it is different every time he/she does it. All the variables in this interaction are changing and the work of art created as a result is changing as well. I strongly believe that a beholder is as important as the artist that created the work of art. This print emphasizes interactive nature of my work.

04. Don't Let Them Tame You

You see a human face looking through the space between two horses pulling in different directions. The title of this work is a quote by Isadora Duncan. The full quote is "You were once wild here. Don't let them tame you."

It cannot be denied that we all conform to roles assigned to us by society in one way or another. As we desperately attempt to find our place in this world, there is a universal understanding that we are expected to live in accordance with certain rules. But what I am talking about here is a spark of divine creativity that we all have in our souls. Stereotypes defining gender, age, and occupational identity almost never pull in the same direction as the feeling we have about them deep inside. Don't let this divide destroy who you are. Don't make my choice. Make yours. Be true to yourself.

05. Framing A Shadow

In this work you see a framed shadow. There is a lot of talk about gender equality in the workplace. As a female-identifying artist, I was appalled and alarmed to learn the extent to which gender discrimination is alive and well. A survey published in 2019 revealed that only 11persent of all artworks acquired by museums in the United States was made by women. In order to solve a problem, you must be aware that this problem exists. My work makes the problem visible, poses a question, and demands change.

06. Abandon

This image speaks about my experience as an immigrant. You see a mirror image of a triple reflection with a flower and a drop of sap. The large image of a person on the right side of the work is in a state of abandonment. Immigration is abandonment; you abandon your country because it abandoned you. Smaller reflections of the immigrant in the flower-shaped mirror are blurred and distorted. The flower symbolizes the life of a person. The drop of sap shows the passage of time.

For any of a myriad of reasons - personal, political, socio-economic - you did not fit in the country where you were born, so you make a conscious decision to leave for a country that will hopefully provide you with a better chance to fit in. The country you move into is an unfamiliar milieu that you must learn to navigate safely. Immigration affects both the people you leave in your native land and the people you meet in your newfound home country and its impact extends to society as a whole - changing the country left behind, the immigrant and the country that becomes a new motherland. The image invites everyone to pay a close attention to this challenging process. Again, the transfer technique used to create this image is an integral part of this exploration.

07. Galatea Poised For Action

The hand of a fellow artist raised in an offering gesture is holding the image of a human figure poised for action. The image in the hand is a lumen print symbolizing art. This work speaks about the role of art in the society. Every work of art is an offering that is a result of a close observation of natural and social phenomena. The work of art is incomplete unless there is a beholder that choses to actively engage with it. Only together, the artist and the beholder complete the creative process and pass it to the society at large. The audience must meet the artist halfway and the artist must be involved into the life of the community he/she lives in.

Art is not entertainment; it is a catalyst of creativity and development. Art creates thinkers and ideas. Being an artist is an occupation that must be respected in the society. Occupational discrimination is a rarely spoken about as a problem. What is your job? I create alternative process photographic work. How do you make a living? I should be able to give the same answer. Raise your hand to meet art halfway. The creative process uses supplies that cost money. Buy art - be involved in the change you want to happen in the society. Transfer technique once again is essential to the image and reflects the imprint art makes on the society, we live in.

08. The Light Inside

Even in the deepest state of despair there is light. Sometimes it is a tiny flickering flame. Sometimes it is a raging forest fire. Taking the time to meditate, connect with nature, and rest is important for emotional well-being. It is often hard to do in our result-oriented, gadget-obsessed society, but truth is, the process is as important as the result. Look inside. Find your inner light. It will bring you peace and contentment. You will be a better neighbor and colleague, a more attentive parent and friend. It is not always obvious that by taking good care of ourselves we are caring for others. This image is an invitation to make your inner light visible to others.

09. Love Me

In fact, this image is a double alternative process. The foreground image, "Love Me," is a matte medium transfer to wood. I combined it with a self-portrait made using another transfer technique printed on Arches 88 watercolor paper.

We are all born with desire for love, warmth, and appreciation. We keep this desire through the wear and tear of betrayals and disappointments we meet in life. Love begins on the inside. Every morning, come to the mirror and see love. Self-love is not selfishness or egoism. Self-love is care for your own well-being. Be gentle with yourself and the world will be gentle with you.

10. Unchained Heart

Here is the image of a small shadow inside a heart-shaped opening in a chain-link fence. The shadow is not stopped by the fence. It walks right through it. Do not stop when life creates obstacles. You climbed fences and trees as a child. Most people do not achieve what their heart desires because they give up halfway. By giving up on a dream you put yourself in isolation, lose opportunities to connect with other individuals, and deny yourself the pursuit of happiness that is one of the most fundamental human right.

11. Gift Of Life

This is a composite alternative process image that is interlaced with windows the viewer can look through to find the meaning of life. It can be connection to nature represented by the trees, creative work symbolized by the bee, pursuit of a dream represented by the rainbow or a combination of any of the above.

Connect, look into the eyes of a person next to you, and share your inner light. Aristotle said that a friend is another self. One desires the good for one's friend for the friend's sake. Look deeply into the enigma of your own soul and find energy to help others. Gifts of life are abundant, like the milk that overflows the lips in the image. Move from the core of your being and the brain will follow your lead.