JURORS STATEMENT

I really don’t like picking the best or giving grades at the end of a class.  Not because I don’t have opinions, but because I find more value in supporting the ongoing process of creation.  A fusion of technique with personal ideas framed within a larger context of culture, history, philosophy, etc. takes time and effort to form, with many steps along the way.  To encourage some and not others is to deny the very creative subconscious that was requested for the call: the influence of dreams on human form. To that end, each artist that submitted should know that I was impressed and inspired by the immense creativity, genuine personal expression and technical realization that is found in your examples of the photographic art form. 

Dreams are not only what happens once we slip into a sleep state, but that which brings humanity to the next level.  Throughout history artists have been the leaders of cultural shifts which take place through the very process of believing and manifesting dreams.  My primary role as juror for this call was to find the artists that exemplified a commitment to their subject and an understanding of the medium which then integrated their ideas into a broader theme on dreams as it pertains to the human form. 

Broadbent’s compelling images of her mother juxtaposed with beautiful colors, textures and fantastical icons are labyrinths of desire.  Her exploration addresses the social expectations of “mother” while cleverly addressing her own physical fate from behind the lens - a poignant cognition of the dream we call reality.  Bateman’s whimsical re-creations of carte de visites from an imaginary past are artfully rendered and technically superb, but also challenge the contemporary dream of robots that sustain humankind in our technological age.  Keleman’s assertion that “The dream process connects the body we are with the one we are becoming” are apropos for Bateman, as well as Gardner’s affecting self portraits.  I was drawn like a moth to her sublime lighting and skillful representations in diverse photographic mediums, but I was won over by the heartbreak of Gardner’s subject: the broken dreams of women sculpting, cutting and purging for the mechanical ideals of commercial media and advertising.  Hoving’s theatrical self portraits are the realization of the illogical symbols and actions in dreams.  Karabinis’ secret codes in salt prints and cyanotypes are in fact explorations of backlit tabletop fantasies that rat out photography for the impostor that it is.  Together, the chosen finalists’ artworks on dreams create an intriguing narrative on reality.  I hope you enjoy contemplating the mix as much as I have. 

Thank you to Blue Mitchell for allowing me the pleasure of viewing the creativity and forward thinking ideas in Plates to Pixels 3rd International call for artists.

--Nichole DeMent

www.nicholedement.com