Lanterns by Karl Knapp
Photographs by Julia Max
Small Constructions by Rebecca Muller

December 2-30, 2009
Reception: Saturday, December 5, 2-4 PM

Northampton artist Karl Knapp scavenges local vines and uses handmade Asian paper to build large and unusual lanterns. The process involves steam, which temporarily plasticizes the wood, allowing it to be bent into permanent new shapes.

Julia Max attended the Art Institute of Boston, where in May of 2004 she received her B.F.A. in photography. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Art Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Always drawn to the honest energy she feels from the natural world, her senior thesis centered on the animating force present in all things, specifically trees.

For this body of work Julia used a Hobo 8x10 camera to create most of the images. Her use of a box camera (literally a wooden box) with a fixed lens and shallow depth of field along with Fuji color paper as a negative produces a ghostly, impressionistic quality with subtle yet rich colors. A pinhole camera, with its simple and organic approach to image making, is her other choice of camera.

Small Constructions by Rebecca Muller is a collection of small mixed media objections made from reclaimed material. Muller uses ordinary material found in her daily wanderings that reflect the impact of time. The recomposed matter is placed in a completely different context from its original function. Images are created that evoke the ephemeral nature of being. They speak of presence and absence and how our perception of images, memories, events all change based on where we stand: our point of view.