'Mindscapes' - group exhibition, 22-30 October 2019

Mindscapes group photography exhibition, Nicole Allan, Emma Douglas-Clifford, Hannah Jane, Harriet Patching, James Rickards, Ginell Sim, 21-30 October 2019 at Photospace Gallery, Wellington NZ

Mindscapes is a diverse photographic exhibition exploring the perception of scapes within the emotional and physical state. The show includes the use of alternative photographic techniques, digital photography, video and publications. Artists, Nicole Allan, Emma Douglas-Clifford, Hannah Jane, Harriet Patching, James Rickards and Ginell Sim are all exhibiting their final projects within their Bachelor of Design majoring in Photography at Massey University, Wellington.

‘Soft Fascinations’ by Nicole Allan is a photographic series interpreting the human relationship with nature through an exploration of the outdoors and its ability to improve psychological well-being. With the urbanisation of society alongside growing technological developments, our relationship with nature has shifted to one where it is believed that humans and nature are independent of one another. There is a growing need for awareness to be brought to our reciprocal relationship with the earth, prompting the necessary preservation of our natural spaces. ‘Soft Fascinations’ captures the intricacies in nature that elicit an emotional response, highlighting the psychological effects surrounding the phenomenology of experience within the context of New Zealand’s natural environment.

Photo: Nicole Allan

‘The Empirical Land’ by Emma Douglas-Clifford encourages the viewer to examine what it means to believe something from experience, rather than theory. These photographs are attempting to deconstruct the conventions of western perspective within the post-contact New Zealand landscape tradition. Emma’s work recognises how dominant these systems are and attempts to undermine them, preferring a lack of horizon lines and focal points. Generating a new experience through the removal of these aspects, this approach manifests within these images. Photographic truths like most truths rely on the understanding of the world around us and how we exist within it. Through the gaze of fixation, the landscape photographed becomes an abstraction through the act of observing closely.

Photo: Emma Douglas-Clifford

Dreams are a result of our minds taking moments from the past and placing them into imagined future scenarios. In the same way, photography captures a segment of the past for future reading, a reading that is altered by the way it is presented. Hannah Jane’s project, Sleep Sleep Wake explores how photography can perceive the world around us in a similar way to the visions we experience while we’re asleep. Through the sequencing and editing of images, the mundane becomes bizarre and alive with meanings. Just like in our dreams.

Photo: Hannah Jane

‘The River went out of Eden” is a publication and exhibition created by Harriet Patching that points out the negative side effects of ‘paradise’, whilst celebrating the nature surrounding us, reminding us to care for the environment before it’s too late. In the current climate crisis, it is reassuring to assume that there is a paradise out there. Collectively we have attempted to recreate paradise through introduced planting, man-made structures and the importation of animals into new ecosystems. However, through this practice, we have exhausted what is left of our naturally existing Eden.

Photo: Harriet Patching

James Rickards' creative practice explores digital three dimensional landscapes using Google Maps and Density Maps, creating spaces that can be seen in their entirety. Throughout his project, James has interrogated the history of the sites, exploring primarily archived material while conducting on-site research to give his photography a deeper understanding. With this information he aims to create experimental videos of landscapes that provide a unique experience of viewing a digital space, “transporting” you to the site. James explores how humans have impacted the land and how we are shaped though these landscapes.

Photo: James Rickards

‘Tell Me Again’ by Ginell Sim address’ the issue of sexual re-victimisation in New Zealand. Through both fine art photography and poetry, this book encapsulates the different emotional responses and experiences of rape survivors, expressing untold stories while also informing the wider public of this alarming issue. Sexual Revictimisation is a social and psychological phenomena, meaning that once a person is subjected to assault they then become much more likely to experience the same violence again. The statistics show that “50% of girls and women who are sexually assaulted are likely to be sexually re-victimised” (MWA 11).

Mindscapes is showing at Photospace Gallery, 37 Courtenay Place, Wellington, open to the public from 22 to 30 October, 2019. (21 October is the installation day.)

Photo: Ginell Sim