Tina West - Found Object - 1999

The Robin Rice Gallery announces a solo exhibition of photography by Tina West. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday, September 15th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show runs through October 30, 1999.

Photography may be the art of writing with light, but for Tina West the magic of creating images comes firstly from the mystery of shadows. With a single light source, the lamp of an old slide projector, she creates environments where found objects and shadows interact to create enigmatic stories.

West, a collector of timeless bits and pieces, from textbooks, old glass negatives, old shoe forms to scraps of metal from the Manhattan Bridge, brings ne w life to forgotten treasures. At the edge of a new century, She is interested in documenting the talismanic quality of the objects which she depicts in a quasi-scientific way.

The quality of the work, sepia toned prints, where not all of the subjects are completely in focus, brings a sense of vagueness, leaving room for interpretation and space for wondering.

Primarily unrelated objects find their way together in perfect compositions as in the invitational piece “View,” where an old protractor frames the picture of a wide open eye, and reminds us of the ambiguities of the early Surrealist collages. Printing objects much larger than they really are, she amplifies these ambiguities; in another image, “Memorial Day,” an old school buzzer serves as a background for a composition with an old stamp pad, a rusty key, and a little toy head that is the size of a fingernail.

From Kansas City, Tina West found her way into photography while studying sculpture. Living in New York since 1989, she has established herself as a commercial photographer working for clients such as Knopf Books, Vintage Books, Simon & Schuster, Citibank, Atlantic Records, Elle Magazine and Mirabella Magazine.

Since 1991 she has shown in several group shows and one duo show. This is her first solo show at The Robin Rice Gallery. She has also exhibited in Kansas City and Santa Fe.