Sharon Koelblinger
Aritst Statement
The natural landscape is simultaneously enduring and malleable; this is a point of departure that allows me to investigate the relationship between representation and interpretation of the physical world. Through my work captured images of the natural realm coexist with photographs of hand-built sets to establish a connection between what has been seen in the past and what is viewed in the present.
My camera often acts as a sketchbook, recording ideas and inspiration for my studio practice. These photographs then become interpreted into constructed sets that resemble enigmatic landforms. The sets exist solely for the purpose of the photograph and after the image is captured they become dismantled.
My images lack the specificity of a particular time and place in which they were taken, de-emphasizing the inherent documentary quality of photography. The photograph as an object itself becomes paramount. The paper that the image is printed upon takes on a particular importance as it is manipulated, folded, and drawn upon in an effort to emphasize its own ephemeral and inherent materiality. The photograph no longer serves as a portal into the past, but instead the viewer is made aware of the physical space a photograph itself occupies.