Past Exhibits

Michael Radin grew up in Los Angeles. As a teenager he became interested in photography. His first teacher was the family’s professional photographer. He went on to get his Master of Fine Arts from UCDavis in the 70s and studied with Robert Frank, Bob Arneson, Wayne Thiebaud, and Harvey Himelfarb. Other influences on Michael’s work include Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Moholy-Nagy.

Michael’s process is to play with the camera until some idea intrigues him enough that he embarks on a project that may last for many years. His work reflects his fascination with images that bend reality and challenge the way we have traditionally looked at things.

His work has been shown in various galleries, both nationally and internationally, and it was published in the 100th Anniversary issue of Lenswork. Robert Frank included Michael in his 1996 book Thank You.

After a many years traveling the US as a programming consultant, Michael came back to Davis and is involved in the local art community.

Judith Monroe believes that we are often overstressed and too busy in our modern world, numbing our senses and making us feel disconnected. She sees the natural world we live in as an amazing place full of potential for refreshment and connection. As she goes through her daily routines, Judith endeavors to focus on the natural elements she encounters, whether taking a walk through nearby woods, walking her dogs in a local park, or stopping to view an insect. She collects natural objects, takes photographs and makes artworks to surround herself with the nature that energizes her. Judith finds solace and peace and reminders of her faith in nature. She says, “A breeze is God’s caress across my face, a leaf is a symbol for growth, a butterfly is a reminder of our potential for transformation into something better than we are today.”

Visual & Verbal is the theme of the 11th annual juried show, TWELVE. Visual & Verbal focuses on the relationship of words to pictures, specifically to photographs. These two realms, visual and verbal, come from different portions of our brains and obviously have different roles in communication. But they are partners. The exhibit Twelve: Visual & Verbal explores that complex and stimulating partnership. The photographic subject matter and methods are wide open, limitless. However, words should accompany photographic entries in one or both of the following ways:

1. The image contains whole or partial letters, words or numbers in any language as a design element. These textual elements might appear in the original photograph, such as a street signs, or may be added to the image, for example, handwritten or digitally applied text.
2. The title extends the meaning of the photograph.

Umbilicus is a creative response to motherhood and the transformative nature of the female body.  The spherical form that appears in my work references the womb, the first dark hollow we inhabit. The uterus can resist or allow potential candidates for occupancy. Once occupied, the long wait ensues, and then - the inevitable surrender. The cord will be cut, but the tether remains. There is a sense of biology in my work, where organic forms meet graphic elements.  These elements allude to the pull from the outside world - the man-made world, where straight lines come from.  Some images in the exhibition began as lumen prints, born in the sun. I enjoy the playfulness of objects on a wide array of papers and the reference to historic photographic methods. I shoot film and experiment quite a bit with alternative processes.  I like when outcomes cannot be predicted, and control is relinquished to the light.

In 2012 Liz Dahler traveled to Kenya and Tanzania, on an African safari and in 2013 to Namibia, Africa, to enable networking technology and teach elementary school teachers how technology can enhance and expand learning.  Both of these experiences left lasting impressions.  This collection of images provides a close up look into the Wild Animals of Africa. You are invited to take a few moments to engage with each photo and imagine the thoughts going through the minds of these beautiful creatures.  Is the animal a ‘watcher’ or ‘being watched?’ Sometimes it’s not what the photographer sees, but what is seen of the photographer. What is the emotion you observe? Do you see a human-like expression?  Genetic comparisons of baboons and humans identify us sharing 94% of our genes. With this photo collection, Liz’s goal is to uncover the common bond so together we can help protect endangered wildlife species.

Traveling was always part of her life, and when her husband’s occupation made it possible for them to live abroad, her travel photography opportunities expanded. Armed with her camera and a ready smile, Cecilia ventured out on her own to explore her new surroundings.

Since 2007, she has lived in Republic of Georgia, Egypt, Tajikistan, Macedonia, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, and in April 2019 a short return to North Macedonia (formerly known as Macedonia or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)). In total, she has set foot on all continents and made photographs in more than 78 countries plus Transnistria, a “country” that no other country recognizes.

In summer 2018, I began asking friends, family and other participants to choose a few objects that they live with and that are special in some way: sentimental, frequently used or just interesting looking. I tried not to give them too much direction so that the participant had total control over the objects to be photographed. I then shot the objects in the room in which they exist. The backgrounds remain consistent in that the object is on a solid surface with a blank wall behind but they change in color and texture due to the style of the room.  The photographs are put into grids based on common characteristics of the owners or the objects themselves.

Emergent technologies give rise to novel art forms, yet the panoramic app installed on smart-phone cameras still awaits its artists. Responding to this conspicuous neglect, Fotographic Phictions proposes a new visual practice that bridges still photography and motion pictures. Peter Sutherland calls it cubist panoramics -- if by cubist you simply mean combining multiple perspectives in a single image.
In 2012, while exploring the panoramic app on his first smart-phone camera (a Samsung-SGH), Sutherland discovered a glitch in its Android operating system, that frees photography from the dominance of Renaissance perspective and the cardinal rule of panoramics -- not to shift the camera’s viewpoint, while you sweep it through the scene to be recorded. Doing so normally aborts the algorithm’s routine, whose early Samsung/Android version divided the sweep into eight separate stills, then stitched them into a seamless panorama.

Reece Metzger has always had an interest in photography and its role in fine art. 

A visit to Western Australia in 2016 was particularly inspirational allowing him to produce a collection of photographs of man-made and natural geography.  These landscapes are reflected in Australian aboriginal art:  themes, designs, colors, and patterns.  By manipulating selected images, Reece’s photos become abstract elements he inkjet transfers to fabric.  He stitches collages adding a three-dimensional aspect.  The result is the joining of landscapes influenced by aboriginal art expressed with Western perspectives.

The current series titled 16 Hours Ahead - Images of Western Australia is a collection of photo constructions reflecting his impressions of this land.  Reece’s desire is to share this captured atmosphere of the other side of the world.

Reece attempts to present a mystery as to how the pieces were achieved.  The viewer asks ‘How was this manufactured and with what materials?’  Each individual construction emerges slowly with the paring of desired colors and textures into an expressive and relaxing composition.

The wild landscape of the Western United States is being rapidly converted to a built landscape due to suburban development. The destructive nature of these large-scale developments immediately disrupts the ecosystems. Even after these developments are completed, they continue to destroy the adjacent environment in the wild-land urban interface due to human caused wildfires, habitat fragmentation, enhancing invasive species migration, surface and groundwater pollution, soil erosion, and pesticide impacts on wildlife. Habitat Lost: Negative Effects of Suburban Sprawl on Ecosystems, is a response to this uncontrolled ecological destruction.

The work is comprised of large 20” x 30” black and white, digital, high contrast prints of the constructed environment. Furthering the dialogue of environmental loss from suburban development, small kallitype prints on fabric, encased in encaustic wax, of the lost wildlife and habitat, are hung in front of the large black and white images. This body of work relates both to western society’s desire to replace natural land and environments with contemporary construction and developments, as well as photography’s desire to replace the historical with the digital photographic prints.