March 28th – May 6th
Western Gallery
Join us in celebrating the works of our professors at the Western Gallery, where Garth Amundson, Pierre Gour, Nathan Cranston and Dana Ollestad have showcased their photography work! Every two years the Western Gallery shows recent work by faculty in Western’s Art Department. The show will be up from Mar 28, 2023 to May 6, 2023.
Garth Amundson and Pierre Gour
Garth Amundson presents the pieces Pile(s) and his collaborative piece made with Pierre Gour, Not the Whole Picture (Alice).
Pile(s) is a mixed media project made of paper in steel, his statement reads as follows; “This accumulation represents 23 years of scholarship, teaching, and service, which reflects the past, present, and future of my professional career at Western.” It could be seen at the center of the gallery exhibition.
Not the Whole Picture (Alice) is a large piece made of sewn C prints, its statement reads as follows; “Not the Whole Picture Series, is an investigation and exploring into personal snapshot photographic archive. Further exploiting vernacular photography, this project literally binds memories together creating calendars, memorials and tributes to places, people, and things. Referencing Victorian collage and devotional photography, Not the Whole Picture documents, marks, and recognizes the incredible contribution individuals/animals make in our lives. In Celebration of the Year of the Cat (Vietnam’s 4th animal symbol in the 12 cycles of Zodiac), cats are considered lucky, ward off bad spirits, and symbolize wealth, strength, power, and aggression.”
Nathan Cranston
Nathan Cranston has displayed the series’ Erased and Viewer. His photos in Erased feature four parts of selenium toned silver gelatin prints, and his statement about the series reads; “Recognizing that something was being lost forever, I started photographing chalkboards around WWU, just as the last surviving few were being replaced by whiteboards and digital projection screens. What has been written on them wasn’t of particular interest to me, but I was fascinated with the sort of in-between netherworld of the erased and what that represents. We all get erased eventually”
The series titled Viewer features chromaluxe prints, where photos of figures across the country are collected to create a body of work. Locations (which coincide with individual titles of pieces as well) include; Point Sublime, Lamoille Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Saguaro National Park and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.
Dana Ollestad
Dana Ollestad’s digital video, titled Casa Fantasma (Ghost House), is 5 minutes and 43 seconds long. His statement reads; “Casa Fantasma, (Ghost House), is a diary page- grandparents are passing away, parents are getting older… I’m getting older… It’s surreal to watch my parents so stubbornly cling to the things they’ve built in life, even as they’re digging through the dusty boxes their parents left behind. It’s been startling disorienting to so clearly see what I build will be consumed by time and dust. The allure of the archive, especially in a family space, and even with the seductive veneer of higher and higher tech processes, still fails life in the entropic flow.” You could find Casa Fantasma at back of the gallery, where the video plays on loop.
Dana has also published a video in lieu of an artist talk, where he talks about the process behind the work. You could access the video here!
There is much to see at the western gallery during this showcase, including other projects from Western Teacher and Staff! There are also artist talks on Mondays and Thursdays at 12:00, where artists also discuss their work and artistic process. We look forward to seeing you there!