December 2 - 11, 2020
GVSU Art Gallery
Haas Center for Performing Arts

Statement

Grand Valley State University is honored to present Breathing Space, a photographic exhibition featuring four photographers and their best unique work. This show will include four collections of work that provide a space to reflect, contemplate, and breathe amidst the daily challenges that the world is facing this year. The Department of Visual and Media Arts is a proud sponsor of these graduates of the Photography Program.

From the exhibit statement: "We invite you into the spaces that are both real and imagined and somewhere in between. As photographers, we explore the struggles that women today are burdened by, respond to emotions associated with isolation, create intricate compositions that engage the viewers' perception, and capture the complexities found in nature as it transitions from monoculture to a thriving ecosystem.

As you view this exhibition, take time to enter both the physical and mental spaces that are represented. Which emotions do you identify with? What calms your mind? What feels unsettling? Which images have a presence that draws you in? Look for what shifts and what stays in place. Allow yourself to hover between what is real and what is not."

Participating photographers in Breathing Space include:

• Savanna Klear
• Meghan Reiman
• Bethany Levandowski
• Madison Cruz

Additional work can be viewed at: exhibitiongvsu.wixsite.com/breathingspace

Voices in Isolation - Madison Cruz

Over the last nine months, we all have endured many struggles throughout the CoronaVirus Pandemic. Because humans all over the world were put in isolation and forced to stay inside, people were kept from seeing friends and family causing people to struggle to maintain good mental health. Many experienced an increased feeling of being anxious and or their depression got worse during this time.

Through my images I hope to depict the emotions we bottle up inside and what the anxiety or depression some of us have experienced might look like from the inside out. While viewing my images, I ask you to self-reflect and think about how this isolation from the quarantine has affected you and those around you.

A Glitch in the System - Savanna Klear

Welcome to “A Glitch in the System”, a series of nontraditional still life photographs inspired by collage artist Nicola Kloosterman’s series “Shadowplay”. This series is my response to quarantine, using still life photographs as a way of navigating through the strange times we are living in. Using objects usually found around and in homes I wanted to put a spin on the traditional still life. The locations of these images were taken in locations I found myself most in quarantine, these became my safe spaces or, if you will, my breathing space. By editing the still life photographs how I would physically make a collage, I am challenging the tradition of the still life. I welcome the viewer to step into the intricate compositions and enter a new world, escape the everyday stresses and examine life in a new way.

The Highlands - Bethany Levandowski

Think about the closest natural area to where you live. Is it near or far? Is it close enough to walk to? Natural areas are some of the best places to disconnect from technology, be active, and connect with others. Nature is all around us, but there are only certain places where it is not mixed with the built environment.

​Blandford Nature Center and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan purchased the former Highlands Golf Club in 2017. For over 100 years, the land was carefully maintained as a golf course. During the past three years, nature has gradually taken over. People are now able to interact with the space in new ways as a recreational area. With the help of restoration efforts, a thriving ecosystem is emerging. This series of photographs is a visual study of the landscape in the midst of that transformation. The Highlands is represented through six essential categories: earth, water, land, structure, texture, and sky. The presence and absence of humans in the environment is explored through each of those perspectives.

The Subtle Inequality - Meghan Reiman

The Subtle Inequality explores the shocking gender discrepancy that still exists today. 

In some ways, it is obvious. Glass ceilings are difficult (but not impossible!) to break, the pay gap still exists, our bodies are still attempted to be controlled... 

But in other ways, it is more subtle. Enduring snide remarks about how you talk too much, how you’re too innocent and religious, that your thighs are too big, that you’re a woman who “doesn’t deserve to be working in a corporate office.” Being sexualized for having too large of breasts, or being criticized for having too small of breasts. Drowning in unreasonable expectations in the home and unrealistic beauty standards-such as how wrinkles are considered a downfall of aging and something to be surgically altered and fought against with creams and products.  All of these are examples of real experiences shared with me by my models and by over 25 women through social media. The list goes on, but I think you get the point. Women are historically silenced, unappreciated, overlooked, and held back solely because of our gender.

This series of photographs aims to showcase that this is still a real issue in our world today. And that we can’t forget that even though it is 2020, we still have so much progress to make. While you view these photographs, think about your experiences with gender inequality, or how you may have reinforced these stereotypes themselves, whether on purpose or by accident. Knowledge is the key to changing our ways. Think about ways you can switch the tide of these stories.

Exhibit Dates and Times

December 2 - 11, 2020

GVSU Art Gallery
Haas Center for Performing Arts
1 Campus Dr.
Allendale, MI 49401

Hours:
Monday 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Friday 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Contact

For special accommodation, please call:
(616) 331-2563

For exhibition details and media inquires, please email:
Joel Zwart, Curator of Exhibitions
[email protected]

For learning and engagement opportunities, please email:
Amanda Rainey, UX/Learning Manager
[email protected]