FIRST PLACE: Dana Walker 'Joan's Trinity'
L.A. Photo Curator: Global Photography Awards - 'Where Photography & Philanthropy Meet' FIRST PLACE: Dana Walker 'Joan's Trinity'  (Click on image for larger view)
JOAN'S TRINITY by Dana Walker
FIRST PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)

Review by curator Jane Szabo:
"In Dana Walker’s image, Joan’s Trinity, the artifacts on the wall of pictures once hanging, now destined to be distributed to a mourning relative, are ghostly and haunting. The stains dripping down the wall are a bit inexplicable to me, and leave me feeling that the artworks themselves have also died with the passing of the owner.

This photograph gives me the visceral sensation that someone has left the room. I feel the emptiness, the quiet and the sadness. The profound effects of this picture work in two ways: first as a documentary photograph that tells the story of the emptying of a home, and secondly as a poetic narrative that speaks to the tentative aftereffects of a life lived.
 
Dana, the title for one of your images, Measured Spaces, Time Suspended, aptly describes all of the work you submitted, and gives me entrance into your experience of the suspended moments each photograph depicts. As adult children of elderly or deceased parents, we cling to these moments and recollections of places, which both preserve our loved ones, and our own personal history.

These photographs look backwards in time; I am curious if you are also making images that address your own moment in time, and how you move forward after the passing of a loved one.

How do we as artists, in this era of selfies, and the overwhelming documentation of every moment, create lasting images that speak more broadly to our human existence?"

Dana Walker says, "Memento mori-
Selfies present unquestionable proof of our existence… though a controlled, often hyper-realized, narrative of self. But unlike selfies, we have little to no control over mortality.

As an artist, I’ve long been intrigued by the places people inhabit and I’m interested in how, as an outsider, I can use photography to create new insights into loved ones. To re-imagine them solely through their belongings… through the spaces they inhabit.

The theme of this exhibit, “Confronting Mortality,” really spoke to me because it reflects concepts frequently explored in my work. My series, “measured spaces: time suspended,” reflects aspects of this theme … this series seeks to capture the transient nature of life… to create an intimate portrait (real or imagined) of someone, whether a close family member or a stranger, through fragments of their memories. 

Memories that inhabit spaces and haunt belongings. It is through these memories and the photographs I make that I feel better equipped to understand my own moment in time…to understand my existence…and to confront my own mortality."
 
Additional review by curator Ellen Jantzen:
"This is a very haunting photo! I’m not sure I understand the title, “Joan’s Trinity” because I clearly see four ghostly remains of formerly hung images. Plus there are four pieces of artwork leaning against the wall with a sticky note that I think says “Joan”.  I find that the whole image has a sentimental and voyeuristic quality to it. I don’t get the feeling that the pieces are going to be distributed to a mourning relative as Jane Szabo states, but perhaps there was a statement stating that. I get more of a feeling of abandonment, like perhaps a place where these hung for years unattended."
 http://www.ellenjantzen.com/
 
More about Walker:
Dana L. Walker’s imagery deals with elements of time, fragments of memories, gesture, color, texture… remnants of past, present, future. Using photographic medium, she creates intimate portraits of objects and places that are composed, constructed, or abstracted to create new compositional spaces.
 
Walker’s work has been inspired by a number of artists including Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Uta Barth, Hiroshi Sugimoto and her father, artist Larry M. Walker.
 
The daughter of an artist/art educator, Walker has been creating photographic images since she was 8 or 9 years old. She received her formal training in photography at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, worked for several years creating images for commercial use, and eventually migrated back to her practice of fine art photography.
 
During the day, Walker works as the Managing Director, Public Programs at ArtCenter College of Design. She lives in Tujunga, CA with her husband, Emile.
 
Highlights of career/Recent exhibitions:
 
6th Annual “Open” Art Exhibition, Light Space and Time Online Art Gallery, Special Merit award. October 2016. https://www.lightspacetime.art/open-2016-art-exhibition-special-merit-mo-thru-zo/
 
"Brand 44 Works on Paper Annual National Juried Exhibition," Glendale, CA. September 2016
 
Pair Shaped Collaborative Project, Series 20. Creative dialogue/call and response project by photographer Dana L. Walker + filmmaker Karissa Hahn. Published online February 2016. http://www.pairshaped.org/artists/walker-dana-l/
 
"Privates Lives, Public Space," K-Collective, London, UK. Two images selected for book to accompany this exhibition. November 2015
 
5th Annual "Botanicals" Exhibition, Light Space and Time Online Art Gallery, Special Merit award. October 2015. https://www.lightspacetime.art/botanicals-2015-art-exhibition-special-merit/
 
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery 2015 Juried Exhibition, July 2015
 
5th Annual “Abstracts” Exhibition, Light Space and Time Online Art Gallery, Special Recognition. October 2014. http://www.lightspacetime.com/abstracts-art-exhibition-photography-category-2/
 
"Brand 42: 42nd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper," Glendale, CA. May 2014
 
contact info:
(626) 379-6254
www.danaimages.com

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CONFRONTING MORTALITY HOME
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo

FIRST PLACE
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/first-place-dana-walker-joan-s-trinity----/1

SECOND PLACE
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/second-place-luke-jordan-bill-and-jane----/1

THIRD PLACE
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/third-place-cat-coppenrath-autopsy-report----/1

HONORABLE MENTIONS: THE CLASSIC BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES

http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/honorable-mentions-the-classic-black-and-white-images-mara-zaslove-return-to-nature-shana-einhorn-aunt-violet-7-traci-marie-lee-that-lumbered-all-the-way-edward-boches-cherry-garcia-one-day-later----/1

HONORABLE MENTIONS: MEMENTO MORI, THE FLOWER
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/honorable-mentions-memento-mori-the-flower-nina-weinberg-doran-transition-diane-fenster-flores-para-el-muerto----/1

HONORABLE MENTIONS: THE ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/honorable-mentions-the-alternative-processes-leslie-sheryll-louisa-and-baby-ii-mourning-tears-nicole-fournier-brain-stem-robin-repp-just-fade-away----/1

EXHIBITION #1
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/exhibition-1/1

EXHIBITION #2
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/exhibition-2/1

EXHIBITION #3
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/exhibition-3/1

EXHIBITION #4
http://www.laphotocurator.com/confronting-mortality-curator-jane-szabo/exhibition-4/1