Chris
Dahlquist
One of Sager Reeves Gallery’s most tenured represented artists, Chris Dahlquist brings to the February Exhibit new work in which she utilizes layers, texture, materials, and the mark of her hand to further the story of photographs she has captured. Dahlquist learned to use a camera and darkroom as she was learning to ride a bicycle and write in cursive. The artist has always used a camera to quiet a world that contains excessive visual stimulation. The lens creates a distance from her environment and acts as a filter to slow the intake of information. Once back in her studio, she is afforded the quiet space to consider and create images of “in-between” spaces, the ones where we must be mindful to appreciate the subtle beauty that resides there. In this body of work, her manipulation of her imagery includes semi-translucent acetate over traditional rag paper, obscuring details and adding marks created both digitally and by hand. She says, “I photograph and create islands of solitude, the places with fewer fireworks but more daydreams, the silence that allows the inner dialogue to be heard.”
