Opening Final Friday January 25th with a reception from 6-11 pm is "Backyard," an exhibition of photographs by Rachel Girard Reisert. All works are pigmented Ultrachrome inkjet prints on Moab Entrada natural white paper in poplar frames.
The exhibition continues through February 23rd, with regular gallery hours Tuesday- Saturday, 11-3, or by appointment.
Throughout the seasons of one year in Tempe, Arizona, Reisert ventured into the backyards of friends and aquaintances bearing witness to those things which resided therein. Rachel's photographs take shape in these backyards, which the artist identifies as "microcosms for the larger world." Mimicking the cycles of life and death that occur and have always occurred in the world, the subjects of her photographs are suspended in some part of that cycle. As is often the case, what appears to be death can actually be the start of new life, or vise versa.
Light and focus are in constant interplay in each piece. The viewer is drawn in like taking a deep breath or viewing something under a microscope, but then suddenly your focus changes and the objects fade and blur. The pieces seem to have their own rhythm in this way, back and forth, in and out, fast then slow, and etc.
In the heart of our frozen city Rachel Girard Reisert has put together an exhibition which can help us acknowledge the essential changes which take place even in the still and cold. What needs to happen between the decay of fall and the rise of spring in order for nature and our own lives as human beings to keep their course? Maybe we need to look a little closer to home for the answers. You might not even have to leave your own backyard...
Please come join us for warm company, good food, and great art this Final Friday on Main Street in OTR!
