SIERRA OVERTURE:

ARTIST’S STATEMENT: For over a decade, I have returned to both familiar and secret places in order to observe the changes brought about by changing chroma, light and weather.  My camera captures what the eye cannot see — blurred waterfalls, snowflakes frozen in time – but also what my mind and heart perceive.

Anchored in my deep connection to Yosemite and the Sierra, these lyrical scenes seek to score the ineffable experience of exploring its sublime landscape.  Like washes of paint across a canvass of rocks, trees and waterfalls, the painterly compositions are observations about color as it appears in nature’s light, as if drawn from the imagination, a fantasy or a dream.

Looking through the clutter and messy business of nature, I seek to conduct a sense of order in these works, yet retain visual and conceptual awareness of their complexity. My goal is to invite the viewer to take in Yosemite and its broader range more intimately, discovering a deeper acquaintance through photography. As with poetry, the images are meant to instill greater meaning with each reprise.

These photographs are frequently symbolic, with an eye toward the subtle and sometimes overlooked elements of nature. They are not meant to be pretty postcards, but rather frames that celebrate form, line, shape, color and texture.  I combine everything I know about the technology of modern photography with my artistic aesthetic, aiming to compose stirring imageries that distinctively illuminate Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada range.

More About the Artist: Charlotte Gibb