EXHIBITION DETAILS

Allegory | S Gayle Stevens

May 4 – June 30, 2012

S. Gayle Stevens has worked in antiquarian processes for over fifteen years. Her chosen medium is wet plate collodion for its fluidity and individuality; she especially delights in the flaws. Using modified Holgas and Holga pinhole cameras, she produces small wet plate tintypes. She exhibits extensively across the United States. Ms. Stevens received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999. Called the "Alt Queen" by her students, she has taught alternative photo processes at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn Illinois for ten years. S. Gayle Stevens lives and works in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA.

STATEMENT

Allegory consists of a series of wet plate collodion tintype photogenic drawings of plant, animal specimens and detritus I have collected on walks. This series is inspired by “cabinets of curiosity”, natural history collections from the 17th century and the precursor of museums. The original meaning of “cabinet” was a small room; these rooms housed collections of plants, preserved animals and minerals.       

I have rendered my drawings of these specimens in wet plate collodion. The silhouettes of the photogenic drawings are black shadows, sparse yet expressive.
As my earlier series calligraphy is to the silhouettes of found objects, allegory draws its strength from the space surrounding the silhouettes. By manipulating the development process I create the supportive background for my collaged imagery. This can be seen in the surrounding waves which ebb and flow in “wideness of the sea” and in the sense of falling in “when the bough breaks”. It is this space that defines the narrative of each piece. Allegory asks the observer to ascribe personal meaning to ambiguous shadows cast from another reality.