C. Meier

As an artist who delights in experimentation and process, I am intrigued by photography’s materiality - of light, chemistry, and paper- and its inherent reality as object. I am interested in challenging the traditional viewpoints of how photo-sensitive material and representation function in photography. The work developed during the residency was a continuation of two series in progress, "Liminal Spaces" (2016-ongoing) and "Pushed" (2020-ongoing). The work in "Liminal Spaces" are made of/near bodies of water of personal significance - Lake Michigan (Chicago), Cannon Beach/Oregon Coast, and now Seaview/WA Coast. The images are made using instant film exposed/developed by various means and often intentionally hand manipulated. "Pushed" (2020) are an ongoing series of unique Polaroids made by manually manipulating the chemical process with no or limited exposure to light. By eliminating the camera and working strictly with the material itself, these images lose the object referent and become, as a photograph, the object itself. My approach in both series embraces unknowns and unpredictability, disruption and improvisation.