Thesis Exhibition 2012

Mary Callahan, Ray Deardorf & Kaitlin Roos

On view: June 1 – July 15, 2012

Artists’ Reception, Graduation & Lectures: Thursday, June 14, 6-9 pm

Every year the Photo Center celebrates the graduates of the Certificate in Fine Art Photography program through a comprehensive exhibition of their thesis work. Each thesis project consists of a cohesive series of photographs, a visual and conceptual manifestation of a focused subject. These works not only mark the culmination of a year’s worth of artistic practice for each artist but they also represent a new generation of Seattle-based artists.

In Unbound, Mary Callahan’s whispering abstracts and photograms depict the gentle movement of light, the slight dance of greys and less often the thunder of black.

Sanctuary explores images of places that serve as refuge and evoke feelings of safety and sacredness. Ray Deardorf’s black and white photographs reflect places of personal sanctuary close to home in Seattle, Washington, as well as Muir Woods in California, Bandolier National Monument in New Mexico, and Yelapa, Mexico. Each photo conveys a reflection of each place’s emotional power.

Up until the last generation, from baby boomers beyond, people have gone straight from being children to having them.  There is a new period of time between these stages where family and home are redefined.  The nuclear family is destroyed and the relationships that have always been constant are now in a state of fluctuation. In Kaitlin Roos series, Life As I’m Beginning to know It, she examines her personal transition by documenting moments during her daily routine to understand the meanings behind these terms during this unfamiliar period where her life in general is redefined.