Kimberly Schneider says, "All of my photographs are essentially subconscious self-portraits (or natural equivalents); the more I print, the more I start to see the part of me that was unconsciously exposed, and that revelation is largely what my work is about. [That applies to both my film-based, as well as my cameraless, work. However, in the case of my photograms, titles are based on what I see in the images, orientation is never final until the titles come to me].

I began making photograms (sans enlarger) in June 2020, due to having an unfinished darkroom at the time of the shutdown. Over the past 3 years, I have not only refined my self-invented techniques with sand, ice, flowers, glitter, and more, as well as created 6 new bodies of work (including the first 5 images of my "Winds of Change" series) and several new processes, but also teach, and have received quite a few awards for my covid-born alternative process work. [My primary light sources are sparklers, candles, and a firework LED that I actually rig for contrast more often than not]. 

In late November ('21) I began refining my (early) processes with sand, via my ongoing "Metamorphosis" series (which commenced in early 2021). "Wicked (In Mourning)" was one of my first mixed process quadruple exposures (exposed with either a sparkler or a firework LED, or possibly both, I can't quite recall) that resulted.

In February 2022, it snowed briefly in New York; I happened to get the idea to grab some, to test out for photograms, during the last snowfall of the season. My snow photograms led to yet another series, the following month (and happened to place Honorable Mention in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards a few months later). 

 "Fire & Ice" began as a full series of its own; this ongoing (16x20) photogram series has since morphed into a mother series, with two 11x14 bodies of work as children thus far ("The Many Rings of Saturn" in 2022 and & the newest sub-series, "Winds of Change" - which just commenced a few weeks ago); this was my first body of work to incorporate fire and ice - in the making of each unique print. As the work grew, I was inspired to print on smaller paper as I began to design and refine a number of new processes with ice, among other materials.

 "The Many Rings of Saturn" commenced with 4 (11x14) demo prints I made while working with a private Zoom student, who needed a little help getting out of her head; The title of the series actually came to me at the end of that session and I was grateful when Frames Magazine reached out and offered to essentially pay me to complete it, via a (paid) artist residency, that I would literally shoot live – in my darkroom, via Zoom; My A.I.R. began in August and before the residency was over, I debuted the entire series via the magazine. 

Coincidentally, "Winds of Change" also began as the result of work I did with a private Zoom student, in November. While the titles and orientation just came to me in January of this year, she was my first lecture-and-demo style photograms student and wanted to see just how far she could take photograms, if she were to set up a diy darkroom, in her home. I started with frozen spinach-ice (which I actually forgot about until right now), as it was leftover in my freezer, from the late portion of "The Many Rings of Saturn," before incorporating sand, flowers, and glitter; the first 5 prints of the series were made during that session.

Yet, it wasn’t until after they were scanned, that I started playing around with image rotation, and the titles started to come to me... It is too new in the series to get into the meat of what it’s really about, beneath the surface, but the first poems of the series started to pour out of me last week -  and they haven’t stopped yet [I anticipate eventually showing the images, along with some of the poems, as the work grows...]. However, Scott Nichols (of Scott Nichols Gallery) opted to bring three of the first 5 photograms of the series [including "Haunted (aka Owl's Eye View)"] with him to Photo Forward Los Angeles (February 18th & 19th); they are currently available for purchase at his gallery, in Sonoma, California."

Kimberly Schneider is a Visual Artist, Educator, and Master Printer who has been dedicated to the art of handmade (darkroom) print for the past 20+ years. Specializing in true infrared film, spiritual landscapes, and experimental photograms, she holds a BFA in photography (and a minor in philosophy) from Colorado State University; While both are deeply intertwined, she identifies as a Printer more than anything else.

Her current occupation was actually a silver lining of covid, as she not only teaches at ICP (and Penumbra Foundation), as well as privately, but also happens to have a darkroom in her apartment, where she teaches remotely, as well as prints for other artists/enthusiasts.

Kimberly exhibits her personal work regularly and has received several awards for her covid-born photograms.

Her silver gelatin prints have been exhibited domestically at Scott Nichols Gallery, Photo Forward Los Angeles, The Camera Obscura Gallery, San Diego Art Institute, Lightbox Photographic Gallery, Stonehenge Gallery, Art Intersection, ZIA Gallery, Photo Méthode Gallery, among other art galleries; On the international front, Kimberly exhibited a selection of award-winning work in the 6th and 7th Biennial(s) of Fine Art & Documentary Photography, at FotoNostrum Gallery (in Barcelona). She has also shown in Ireland, as well as virtually at The Louvre.

 She is thrilled to have work in Center for Photographic Art’s upcoming (online) exhibition and catalog - and honored that her photogram, “Multiple Fractures,” was one of only 45 images selected for the show (out of nearly 2,200!), by guest juror, Hamidah Glasgow. [The opening reception and award ceremony will take place at CPA (in Carmel, California) on April 1st.]

She also looks forward to teaching her first photogram workshops in Miami, Florida, this summer (and is currently awaiting her New York summer course schedule from ICP and elsewhere).

[Recent awards include Honorable Mention in the 18th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Runner Up (to the Series Winner) in the 17th JMCAs, 3rd Place in the 16th JMCAs, Honorable Mention via the (16th) Pollux Awards, and Honorary Spider Fellow (Nominee) via the Black and White Spider Awards.]

IMAGE FOR SALE-

"Winds of Change"- 11"H x 14" W
Unique silver gelatin print (photogram made sans enlarger)
$1250 unframed
Signed on back

Contact: Scott Nichols Gallery: info@scottnicholsgallery.com (or kimberly@kimberlyjschneider.com - and she will get in touch with Scott)


www.instagram.com/kimberlyjschneiderphotographywww.kimberlyjschneider.com

Kristoffer Johnson says, "This series, 'To which we Return', focuses on the impermanence and fragility of the human body and the physiological problems that are inherent in existence. The human body is a fragile construct that ages and decays. The Buddhist concept of impermanence states, everything is temporary and subject to rise and fall. Mortality is an unavoidable and inevitable fact that humanity must face despite the sense of control which society and self-awareness give us. Reflection on death is a shared concept throughout human history. This work draws from two such traditions, the Buddhist meditation Maranasati “mindfulness of death” and the Western visual tradition of Memento Mori “remember that you will die."

Maranasati invites one to visualize and contemplate their body in a state of decay. In this series, I use an alternative photographic process known as Mordançage to externalize this visualization. Photography has long been associated with memory and the desire to immortalize past moments. The photography serves as a constant reminder of time and mortality. Whereas the goal of most photography is the preservation of self and memory, in this work, the fragmented image functions as a reminder of the ever-present specter of the end of the life we know.  

The mordançage process used in this series degrades and disrupts photographic materials through a chemical process of decay and destruction. The cracked surfaces and emulsion veils, weighted down by gravity, visually reference collapse and entropy and reflect the material conditions of the human body. The figure’s skin pulls away, merging with the background, breaking down the barrier between body and space. The forms, textures, and colors of the images simultaneously reference geological formations and flesh, tying the body to the world in which it exists and to which it shall return.

Kristoffer Johnson (b.1990) is an artist  from Northwest Arkansas whose artwork explores themes of mortality, aging and decay. He received B.A. in journalism and B.F.A. in studio art from the University of Arkansas. In 2021, he received his M.F.A from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design at Indiana University Bloomington. He converted to Buddhism at an early age and Buddhist concepts of mortality and impermanence play a major role in his work.

He primarily uses historic and alternative photographic processes to create, alter and decay images. His artwork has been featured in notable exhibitions including, The Incheon Marine Asia Photography and Video Festival in Incheon, South Korea and The National: Best Contemporary Photography 2022 at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Johnson currently lives in Mishawaka, IN and is the Visiting Lecturer in Photography and Photo Facilities Coordinator at the University of Notre Dame.

www.kristofferjohnsonfoto.comwww.instagram.com/kristofferjohnsonfoto

Stephanie Sydney is a London-born artist who currently resides in Venice, California. She works in several media including mixed media, assemblage sculpture, installation, performance art, photography and digital collages. Her work is in several collections including Banque BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley in New York. She has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Art and History (MOAH:Cedar), Brand Library Art Gallery; Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, Gallery 825, California; and Villa di Donato in Naples, Italy. Many group shows include Launch LA, and the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California; Site: Brooklyn Gallery, New York; San Diego Museum of Art, and BG Gallery in Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California; and Gallery FotoNostrum, Barcelona, Spain where she received a Julia Margaret Cameron  honorable mention.

As global warming and climate change continue to wreak havoc on the earth’s ecosystem, Stephanie Sydney examines the behaviors and attitudes of human nature and their direct contribution to the destruction and decay of the natural world. Through her digital collages, she combines her knowledge of painting and digital photography. These collages are created through the use of Photoshop where she manipulates and layers her photographs on top of one another. This becomes a new vision like memories that pile up to form a personality. Through this layering of images, Sydney examines her fascination with the idea of juxtaposition between extreme concepts like life and death, strength and fragility, chaos and order, among others.

IMAGE FOR SALE:

Roadtrip Construction 9.5"H x 14.25" W
Archival paper
$350 unframed
Limited edition of 9
Signed on back

Contact:
steph.sydney@gmail.com

www.stephaniesydney.comwww.instagram.com/stephaniesydneyart

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