Mixing Things Up

There’s nothing like a political campaign to exacerbate our existential concerns. In the fall of 2024, I began work on Dislocated, a collection of 16 diptychs pairing environmental portraits with distressed urban settings. The project inspired me to try something new — rendering the diptychs in mixed media. I opted to print the portraits on plexiglass and display the backgrounds on metal (my preferred surface). The only question was how best to connect these disparate layers while accentuating the collage's effect. 

As I prepared the images for my photo group’s exhibition, called A Measure of Uncertainty, at San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Photo Center through Feb. 21st, I explored various ways to present the layers. I tried magnets, but they didn’t separate the layers well. I tried edge standoffs to connect the layers, which worked, but they lacked the stability to withstand the rigors of a gallery show.

After evaluating these methods, I asked an expert framer (Orion in S.F.) to create a window box to securely hold and separate the layers. They made it possible to slide the plexiglass in the frame, which is fun, but, as I’ve learned, the plexi is sensitive to fingerprints.

Meanwhile, I want to congratulate my 21 amazing colleagues in the Bay Area Photography Collective (BAPC), who also have images in the show, which was superbly curated by Heather Snider. I also want to give a shoutout to Melissa Castro Keesor, the talented director of the Harvey Milk Photo Center. I hope you’ll check it out when you have time.

Nothing is Lost in Translation

Do you remember the scene from Sofia Coppola’s 2003 movie Lost in Translation when Bill Murray’s character Bob is filming a TV commercial for Suntory whiskey in Japan?
“[after a long speech in Japanese by the director]
Ms. Kawasaki: He want you to turn and look in camera. Okay?
Bob (played by Bill Murray): Is that all he said?”

I thought about that moment this week as members of my photography group, the Bay Area Photographers Collective (BAPC), were preparing to host a joint exhibition in March with Samurai Foto of Yokohama, Japan. Would we need to minimize cultural or language barriers? Unworldly me conjured thoughts of food, whiskey and music — not unlike the movie.  

How did our photo groups hook up? No, it wasn’t on social media. Various members of each group met at Photolucida in Portland, Oregon, in 2017, and the idea of joint exhibitions quickly gained steam. Samurai Foto invited us to participate in a Yokohama exhibition called Beautiful Bridge in 2018, shortly before I joined BAPC. We’re thrilled to reciprocate. 

The natural bridge between our photography groups, of course, is thematic and primarily nonverbal. Kudos to our curator, Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, for suggesting a thought-provoking theme called Memento Mori, Memento Vivere (remember you must die, remember you must live) featuring the work of 22 BAPC and 10 Samurai Foto artists. 

Our new show opens March 9th at the lovely Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross, CA. Please join me at the opening reception on Sunday, March 10th, from 1-3:30p. My mother-in-law, in particular, will be thrilled to see our planned Ikebana demonstration. 

The exhibition runs through April 21st. I’m participating in a Meet the Artist event there on Sunday, March 24, 1-4 pm along with my BAPC colleagues Cindy Stokes, Chris Stevens-Yu, Ari Salomon, Ingo Bork, Mitch Nelles and John Martin.

I’ll have two images in the show: Rock/Vehicle and Valley/Building from my recent series Unnatural World, exploring the disharmony between nature/man. I’ve seen much of the work that will be on display and urge you not to miss it. Nothing will be lost in translation.