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Maude Kerns Art Center Presents
Photographic Journeys:
Stephanie Luke and John Ritchie
Opening Reception:
Friday, April 5, 6 – 8 pm
Exhibit Dates:
April 5 – May 3, 2013
Artist's Talk with John Ritchie:
Friday, April 19, 7 – 8:15 pm.
The Maude Kerns Kerns Art Center presents “Photographic Journeys: Stephanie Luke and John Ritchie,” opening on Friday, April 5, and on display through Friday, May 3. Luke and Ritchie are each exhibiting photographic series, largely in black and white, that reveal their own explorations of mood, dream images, and, in Ritchie’s case, an after-dark world.
The public is invited to the Opening Reception, which takes place on Friday, April 5, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. The Reception features Territorial Vineyards & Wine Company wine.
John Ritchie discusses his process and the inspiration behind his work in an Artist’s Talk at the Center on Friday, April 19, from 7:00 – 8:15 pm.
California artist Stephanie Luke took photography classes at Lassen College in California, and has been steeped in the art of photography for nearly forty years. Her work, which includes a wide range of subject matter, has been featured in photography magazines and she has exhibited in juried photography exhibits throughout California and in New York City. In 2006 she transitioned from the darkroom to digital photography, enjoying the freedom of Photoshop and the possibility it provides of surprising and often mysterious juxtapositions. She says: “Photography is an intimate medium that reveals details we might never notice as we go on with our daily lives.” The art of ink jet printing and the quality of the finished print are very important to Luke. At the Art Center, Luke will be displaying photographs from a series titled “In the Land of My Dreams: A Photographic Journey.”
Corvallis artist John Ritchie has exhibited his work in various venues in Corvallis, including the Corvallis Arts Center (2011 and 2012) and in San Francisco, where he won honorable mention at the Nocturnes 2010 photography exhibit. He considers himself an “art photographer” in the sense that his “photographs are about something rather than of something,” that is, he attempts to “transcend the subject matter and engage the viewer in an emotional topic.” At the Maude Kerns Art Center, Ritchie shows works from a series titled “Light Becomes Strange After Dark.” He attributes his fascination with the after-dark world to the experience of delivering papers in the middle of the night in the small town where he grew up. He says of this work: “In the strange light of darkness, I explore the peaceful solitude of small towns, where alert watchfulness allows the imagination free rein and transforms the nighttime world into unusual imagery.”