a|symmetrical love
May 19 - June 8, 2010
The series of digital photographs collectively entitled "A|symmetrical love" consists of self-portraits in which the artist's image and her reflected mirror image seem to be engaged in a series of intimate moments. The angle and cropping of the frames creates the appearance of two persons tenderly interacting. What looks like two responsive subjects, is actually an active subject, and a passive object, the mirrored surface. The artifice of the interaction is betrayed by the thin vapor of breath that separates the two images.
The work explores the concept of love as desire for what one lacks, a perpetual absence. It calls attention to the inherent separation, as well as the potential for symbolic connection present in the human condition. It also brings into question the relationship of the artist and the audience to the art object. The breath mark on the mirrored surface recalls the tear that alerted Narcissus to the fleeting quality of his own limpid image, while the pearl earring references traditional modes of representation, and the gaze by recalling the Vermeer painting, "Girl with a Pearl Earring." The amorous solitude of these images can be read as Narcissian, not in their tragic unawareness of self, but rather in the creation of an inner space and symbolic meaning through representation.
Nicole Ratos Enerson lives and works outside of Boston, MA. Her artwork explores the condition of the body, as well as the art object, as peculiar things that hold meaning issuing from, but above and beyond, their physicality. She considers her work a form of philosophical inquiry into existential concerns, which she also engages through reading and writing. Her artwork encompasses several media, and is connected through common aesthetic and conceptual frameworks. She received her MFA from at Cornell University, and is an adjunct professor of art University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She was recently included in shows at the Mills Gallery in Boston, the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, and RISD's Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI.
Reception: Saturday May 22, 3 - 6pm. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday,12 - 5pm. For information and images, contact Mary Ann Kearns, artgal@119gallery.org
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119 Chelmsford Street Lowell, Ma 01851
978.452.8138 http://www.119gallery.org
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