Ewa Doroszenko

Ewa Doroszenko -- Doctor of Arts in Fine Arts, a graduate of the painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. She tests various ranges and scales of artistic expression: from traditional photography to multimedia installations, also in the field of Internet art. Recipient of many scholarships and beneficiary of residency programs: Atelierhaus Salzamt, Linz (Austria 2016), The Island-resignified in Lefkada (Greece 2015), Kunstnarhuset Messen in Ålvik (Norway 2015), Fundació AAVC Hangar in Barcelona (Spain 2014). Her projects were presented during arts festivals: FILE 2015 Electronic Language International Festival in Sao Paulo, Biennale of Digital & Internet Art nfcdab in Wroclaw, 7th Incubarte International Art Festival in Valencia, ISEA - 21st International Symposium on Electronic Art in Vancouver, 9th IN OUT Festival in Gdansk, GENERATE! Festival for Electronic Arts in Tübingen. Amongst others, she exhibited at Kasia Michalski Gallery in Warsaw, Historic Centre of Athens, Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun, the Stark Family Foundation in Warsaw and Fait Gallery in Brno.

Artist Statement: The Promise of Sublime Words

photography | 2016

The project I started whilst the course of doctoral studies, when I was preparing to the final exam in art history. During my research I discovered many old and obsolete books with popular sculptures from Antique to Classicism. To spice the process of spaced repetition, I began preparing photographs connected with discussed topics. I tried to confront myself with photographic reproductions of varying quality and scale, which depict stone sculptures, illusionistic spaces, portraits, etc. My aim was to show my favourite statues as objects, which arouse ambiguous associations. I tried to distort the usual view of sculptures and finally destabilize a natural sense of order. The appropriated images, deliberately trimmed to remove some details, are hard to decipher. I created new equivalences and relationships – the internal juxtapositions are far detached from the original context of images.

Chris Mottalini

Chris Mottalini's photographic work has been widely commissioned and exhibited. His first book, After You Left/They Took It Apart, is an atmospheric final portrait of three demolished Modernist homes. Chris is a partially colorblind photographer that lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Statement: Secret Meaning 

Creative direction: Jeffrey W. Miller
Food styling: Julian Hensarling

Secret Meaning is a modern photographic interpretation of the religious and symbolic meanings embedded within 17th century still life paintings.

The project originally sprang from my fascination with Zuburon’s “Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose” (painted in 1633). The seemingly ordinary objects depicted in the painting actually contain significant religious meaning (allusions to the Holy Trinity and to the Virgin Mary). When the painting was x-rayed, several objects and layers were discovered hidden underneath. Learning of the existence of these hidden images and layers inspired me to make the photographs that comprise Secret Meaning.

In many classic still life paintings (Flemish, Spanish and Italian), fertility, wealth, death, the fall of man, the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures, decay, resurrection and vanity are all represented by such innocuous subjects as fruits and vegetables. Today, these multiple layers of meaning have become unfamiliar to us. Secret Meaning attempts to re-examine and modernize this practice.

One of the most elemental and classic “tricks” of photography, about which I have always felt a sense of wonder, is the double exposure. This technique still manages to fascinate me and is, by its very nature, indicative of the magic of the photographic process (due in part to the fact that you are always at least somewhat surprised by the final image). In using the multiple exposure technique to make many of the images in Secret Meaning, I hope to provide a new perspective on still life photography.