Joshua White

She's Been Gone These Five Long Years
Glass, metal dish, plait of hair

Joshua White is an artist who uses photography, sculpture, mixed media, digital technology, and other processes to address questions of memory, presence, loss, and personal histories. His works range from traditional photographic images to sculpture and installations, circling around the idea of what we have lost, what we try to save and protect, and why. Originally from Indiana, White received his BFA in Photography from Northern Kentucky University, and his MFA in Photography from Arizona State University. His work has been shown in numerous group and solo shows nationwide. He currently lives and works in Boone, NC, where he is an Assistant Professor of Art and Photography Area Coordinator in the Department of Art at Appalachian State University.

View more of Joshua's work here

Device for the Distillation of Memory
Copper, brass, glass, dome, found photograph

In Search of Lost Time Statement

In Sévres, France, a vault with three separate locks contains, under three glass domes, the 132-year-old platinum-iridium cylinder that represents the standard mass of a kilogram. It has been measured against replica standards at approximately 40-year intervals, and it has been different each time. If this supposed scientific constant is in a state of change, how could we hope that something as evanescent as our recollections could remain immutable? I am fascinated by memory. I am as interested in theories of contemporary neuroscience that discuss the deterioration of our memories, brought on by the very act of remembrance, as I am in Honoré de Balzac’s opinion that the attempt to preserve a subject through photography physically diminishes it. The title "In Search Of Lost Time" refers to Marcel Proust’s tome of the same name. It was previously translated as Remembrance of Things Past, and I can’t help but think that he would smile a little to know that even the title of his book has changed over time. Proust’s words about his memories, penned nearly a century ago, reflect what neuroscience is discovering now: that memory is malleable, imperfect, and ephemeral. The idea of the search is key for me. Rather than approach art making with hopes of finding an answer, I love being led by the question, stumbling upon a new thread, and following the questions that that new curiosity generates. I invite you to share in that process, and thank you for taking the time to look.

Family Album: Portrait - Liz
Cedar, glass, Blanton’s Kentucky Bourbon from our engagement party, a lock of her hair taken on her 34th birthday, fireplace ash from logs received as a bridal shower gift, bee I swatted for her which lay in the sill for months afterward

Elizabeth
Laser-cut inkjet photograph

That Which We Have Held (Installation Shot)
Inkjet prints from scans of found tintypes, MDF, leather dye

Untitled Triptych (That Which We Have Held)
Scans of damaged found tintypes

Installation of In Search of Lost Time