Distant Transmissions

A series of eight gum-bichromate monoprints

The early 20th century ushered in the proliferation of the vox humana, the human voice, transcending the bounds of average human limits.  Radio waves crossed the diameters of the earth with historical precedence. Decades later, we traveled beyond our planet and the earth was photographed for the first time by the NASA Voyager Probes, altering our perception of the immensity of the universe and the smallness of our world. Our understanding of reality continues to be shaped by technology and how we use it to explore the unknown. Distant Transmissions explores ways in which the subjectivity of photography can be used to rewrite and re-imagine a history that includes the powerful role of the female explorer. The handmade prints in this series are grainy, out of focus, abstract landscapes. The nature of these print processes illuminates the tension between the innate ability of the photograph to record and our desire to re-experience memories. What we remember is a copy of an experience at best.  Our memories begin to change and break down from the moment an experience happens. The aesthetics of the images in this body of work, the in-between nature of the photographs, demonstrate a lack of literal representation-- the layering, covering up, and altering of memories through process.