Description
OD Photo Prize 2023 | WINNER
Patricia Voulgaris [b. 1991] is an artist from New York who is currently a 2024 MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art. Since graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 2013, her work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions including Aperture Foundation, Rubber Factory, Baxter Street at CCNY and the Silver Eye Center for photography
Artist Statement | “The camera is capable of amplifying a detail otherwise imperceptible to the naked eye. Photographic technologies shape our perception of the real world, just as they can distract us from reality and potentially obstruct our direct experience of it. Whether they are put to the service of scientific investigation, historical documentation, or artistic expression, photographs and moving images are tools for exploring the world. The impulse to look for, and capture, the supernatural is complicated and personal to each investigator. Photography is continuously under scrutiny, as we question its function within reality. Is this an image of a ghost, a reflection or possibly a trick? I am interested in the tension between reality and fiction and its ability to reveal aspects of the physical world that our naked eyes cannot perceive. My practice attempts to highlight the confusion between reality and image, the real and the imaginary, the material. Truth, lies and deception in photography has been widely debated. This debate regarding what makes a photograph “truthful” or not continues to confound image makers. It’s a question that can never be answered once and for all, simply because photography functions as a tool for self expression. The artist’s demands from the medium are constantly shifting as time progresses. The truth or falsity of an image is an exciting concept to deconstruct. It is often expressed as an impulse that is rooted in my subconscious. Throughout my practice, I am interested in creating worlds that function as both physical and magical plains. My work is centered around creating a language for these worlds to exist. When I create an image, I often reflect on my childhood as I attempt to articulate events from the past. These experiences become entangled with truth and what is revealed is often a version that is unexpected. This loss of control and manipulation becomes effortless as I convey meaning through personal experiences. If I am the vessel for language, it exists as my truth because I have lived it. My experiences are logged as memories and they function as a line of communication in which I rely on. When we begin to layer and project, the story begins to change. We lose control over its meaning and the work speaks for itself. There is a beauty that lies in a memory that can never be fully replicated, a constant chaos that moves us all. “ — Patricia Voulgaris
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All print enquiries:
tom@opendoors.gallery
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