VICTORIA GOLDMAN

NOVEMBER 5 - 
DECEMBER 14, 2014

The Robin Rice Gallery is pleased to present a photographic exhibition by Victoria Goldman. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday, November 5th, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show will run through December 14th, 2014.

Victoria Goldman's twenty-year-long fascination with Tarot has created a series of photographs based on the imagery and the mythology behind the ancient Tarot cards. Each image in the collection is inspired by and named after one of the 22 major archetypes of the Tarot. While photographing and teaching yoga and meditation in India, Hawaii, and throughout Europe, Goldman always made sure to carry a Tarot deck in her backpack. She views Tarot as a tool for personal elevation, helping her direct her focus and better understand her psyche.

The collection's soft focus and figurative emphasis is reminiscent of the work of Francesca Woodman or Julia Margaret Cameron, whom Goldman cites as personal artistic inspirations. The concept behind the exhibition was long thought-out; while some pieces date as recently as two months prior to the exhibition opening, others date as far back as 1999 or 2000. Shot primarily with vintage Polaroid and film with a twin lens Rolleiflex camera, the dark, moody, mythological images recall a classical tone that mirrors the timelessness of the cards themselves.

The invitational image, entitled "Wheel of Fortune", depicts a young woman in a glittering gown, her backside facing the viewer and her body positioned to spin a large carnival wheel hidden in the darkness of the photograph. The high-contrast nature of the image abstracts the gown, morphing the glitter on the dress into drops of light that shine through the dark air. The slender young woman in "Fortune" can be found in several of the collection's photographs, depicting not just Lady Luck, as in the invitational image, but also the Emperor, the Devil, and even the World. Says Goldman, "I chose to use one main model for this show to speak to the fact that all of the characters that Tarot contains are within each one of us."

This model appears again as the inspiration for "Judgement", a color portrait portraying the woman surrounded by furs, with a brass crown on her head and a large magnifying glass held against her face. The magnifying glass distorts the model's delicate features, expanding her nose and bright blue eyes, while sky and tree branches reflect brightly upon the glass itself.

Victoria Goldman has been exhibiting her photography on both a national and international scale for over 25 years. Goldman was born in New York City, attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, and has lived in Santa Fe, NM for the last 15 years. Her work has been featured on numerous book and CD covers, and has been published in editorials such as Healthy Living Magazine, Yoga Journal, and The Magazine. Goldman likes to describe her photography as "visual poetry", referencing Mary Oliver and Rumi as poetic inspirations. This is Goldman's sixth exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery.