Past Exhibits

A House, A Home Online Gallery

In the series, A House, A Home, Bree Lamb isolates ubiquitous household objects as a way to investigate traditions of domestic American life. Lamb’s observations are rooted in her own personal indulgences, expectations, and questions, as well as how she sees herself existing within this larger system. Lamb is interested in revealing some of the complex layers of this shared cultural vernacular through pairing the familiar with the unexpected and creating anticipation that is never quite resolved. The interventions and commercial style of capture re-contextualize the objects as a way to challenge traditional domesticity, to pose questions about social conventions, expectations and stereotypes, and to highlight consumption and convenience as staples of American popular culture.

About Trees Online Gallery

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” Many have tried but, few can put it better than William Blake. John Sikita’s love affair with trees began like most, as a child. There wasn’t a tree not climbed within his neighborhood, and there was always some kind of construction going on high up amongst the branches, leaves, and squirrels. It wasn’t until he got his first look at a Sequoia though, that he really understood that trees are to be celebrated, not conquered. And this is when he first trained his lens on them. John finds that minimalist compositions suit him best giving order to what sometimes, can be construed as utter chaos. “That, coupled with changes in seasons, and or weather can really transform Mother Nature into a work of art,” says John.

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This series of 25 images focuses on a specific aspect of the Urban Landscape, exteriors of multiple grouped buildings, mostly commercial, with minimal surrounding context. These compositions intend to transform stark geometries into abstract surfaces revealing new and unexpected perspectives. The mathematical relationships among the buildings, the collisions of lines, the confusions of space and depth, the visual interactions of several structures at once, all are spellbinding.

Richard Greene's background as a musician has him interpreting architectural forms and their intersections as music, full of harmonies, counterpoint, fugue and cross rhythms, all captured in steel, brick, glass and concrete. Often this subject is shot as far back as possible to get the whole object in the frame. His abstractive approach hopes to create a temporary optical illusion of captivating lines and patterns, the image being only part of the world it extends into after the eye leaves the photo. His favorite images are the ones that at first the viewers don’t quite know what they are seeing.

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After many years photographing building exteriors and interiors at Bodie, Tim Messick felt there wasn't much new or different to capture there. Then he realized that by embracing the window reflections he had been struggling to exclude from his images, he could bring surprising new depth and complexity to his compositions. That was a breakthrough for Messick, not just in image-making, but also in how he explores and experiences the place.  Now he looks for reflections to include in his images deliberately — by carefully composing them in-camera, then balancing light, shadow, and contrast in post-processing. He hopes that these moody "found collages" — with multiple layers of foreground, background, and reflection — may provoke a different kind of reflection, on the past, present, and future of this once famously boisterous mining town.

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Marco Pinter’s work explores the underlying mechanisms of perception, creating situations of conflict between our higher level consciousness and lower level perception. He typically uses materials that explore a fusion of physical movement with visualizations in the virtual world. He finds inspiration in dance and sculpture, but also in cognitive psychology, neuroscience and mathematics.

In installation form, Mr. Pinter works with robotic sculpture and computer graphic forms. At the same time, he pursues similar themes in performance through the use of dancers, sensors and projected forms. This process becomes cyclical, wherein his observations of public participants with an installation, on the one hand, and his experience with performers and audience, on the other, create a feedback loop of cross-influence in his ongoing exploration.

With his work, through a dialog between dynamic material forms (live participants and/or sculpture) and virtual forms (e. g. via screens and projections), he seeks to challenge our cognitive perceptions of what is real and what is imagined. Ideally, this may inspire a viewer to reflect on the illusory realities which our senses create, and how those constructs impact perception and behavior.

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When photography began its shift from chemical/metal-based processes to digital, Jeff Redman began to fear that manufacturers like Kodak and Ilford would stop making the common black and white papers he had used for decades. So, Jeff began to consider adopting one of the more “hand-made” processes that had been used in the early days of photography. After a bit of research he came to love the look of the few “carbon prints” he was able to see in museums and collections and began to seek information about the process.

A mutual friend introduced Jeff to Vaughn Hutchings, who kindly spend a day teaching him the basics of the carbon process. Under Vaughn’s tutelage Jeff made three very nice small prints that day. He went home and began trying to make carbon prints in his own environment. Jeff states that It would be almost four years before he made another “very nice small print”.

In Jeff’s ongoing efforts to make engaging, compelling, and beautiful images he has grown to love the “look” of carbon transfer prints. Their lush tonalities, their openness, and the surface “relief” they have that imparts a subtly three-dimensional “feel.”

Ann Mitchell is an artist who uses photography to explore space and place, actively en- gaged in creating worlds of poetic experience. After completing a BFA in Photography from Art Center College of Design, she worked as an award-winning advertising and edi- torial photographer for over a decade. She then returned to school to complete a MFA in Art from Claremont Graduate University. While there, in addition to producing her own work, she also curated several large art projects and has continued that commitment to community through the organizing of photo-related events. Shortly after graduation she joined the Art & Photography Department (now Visual and Media Arts) at Long Beach City College, where she has served as Chair and now as Digital Media Program Coordinator.

Ann Mitchell’s mother is a painter and her father was a film-maker. Over time, she’s come to realize that her photography...and her thoughts about the medium in general has been deeply influenced by both those artists. She’s always seen photography as an expressive medium that plays with the “real” but is not bound by it. She wants to create images that people can get lost in, that give the essence of a time or place in a way that speaks to the heart.

Typically, Gordon Reynolds does not preplan his photographs, nor does he work on projects, though he has several series that are constantly expanding. Mainly, he relies on luck, and a good bit of walking around. The subjects that interest him most are things from the man-made world, especially those that seem odd, mysterious, and/or timeless. While he has come to enjoy making photographs in the landscape it’s really the urban setting he most likes to explore.

These photographs were taken a week apart on two days in January, 2015. He has been to the area, Discovery Park, many times before and since, usually during the fall and winter months. On these two occasions the American River was low and flat with barely a ripple on the water, making a fine reflective surface. He felt like he was walking among finely preserved monuments from the past. They are hulking things, these pillars, and he wanted to capture a sense of serene ageless grandeur.

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.