AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

A solo Exhibition Featuring:

Tracie Spence

OPENING RECEPTION:

SEPTEMBER 1st  |  5:30PM - 7:30PM

Exhibition Statement:

This series is deeply personal and profound to me. This collection explores the visual aesthetics of the purest form of abstract photography and is unscathed from any postproduction manipulation. I wanted to create inherently unique, original, and authentic abstract imagery using nothing but my camera and the ocean as my subject. As an artist, it is my most genuine form of expression to date. The imagery of the water’s surface explores nature’s ability to evoke depths of curiosity, thoughts, and emotions, and are symbolic of the fluidity in the ebbs and flows of life.

The ocean is a vast body of dynamic wonderment, covering over 71% of earth’s surface. The ocean’s water is constantly moving from one place to another and changing from one form to another. It is an endless form of connection, balance, destruction, and life. I have always been fascinated by water; its ability to be a solid form, gas, or liquid, the waves and ripples it makes and what causes them, and how water reflects whatever is above. The concept of water reminds me of one of my favorite sayings in life; ‘what is above, so is below.’ For me, looking at the ocean is one of the largest invitations for curiosity, exploration, contemplation, and introspection.

How can something on the surface be so deep?

Ocean waters are fluid. They are the connection to the entirety of our earth. These ocean water images remind me that we too are fluid, and that we are also connected to every other aspect on and of this earth. Looking at the ocean’s surface arouses deep curiosity in me, as an artist and personally, as I constantly ask and seek philosophical questions and answers to the meaning of life and my relationship with myself and others. I embrace that this collection of images allows me to witness the shadows within the highlights and the highlights within the shadows, and what they reflect to us as the viewer. These images are tranquil despite the high contrasting nature between one ripple to another, yet each ripple still achieves nature’s perfect balance. It is the little things in nature that can remind us of this perfect harmony and balance found from mother nature… we just need to look for it and celebrate it in the many ways we find it, and in this case, it is found on the surface of the ocean. I have been given the gift of ‘stopping and noticing’ these quirky yet powerful aspects of life that usually go unnoticed by most, and I am thrilled and honored to share these with you. These water images are symbolic of life, each ripple represents the ebbs and flows of life and our interconnectedness to each other and our planet. Each highlight and shadow represent our inner thoughts and emotions. The fluidity of the water transforms energy and that we, and all things, are in constant motion with endless opportunities and possibilities. These images ask me to be ever mindful of what is above, so is below in every aspect of life. And once again, I ask “How can something on the surface be so deep?” I invite you into the depths of emotions, thoughts, and feelings as you look into these waters, and perhaps develop a new perspective. Do you see yourself and your life in them? Do you see our world? Do you feel the connection between the two? We are all one.

Technically speaking, my goal was to capture art forms from rippled oceanic waters applying decisive camera techniques uniting with the numerous unbridled variables of nature in fractions of a second. My only control was the boat speed, the manual settings of my hand-held Canon EOS 5D Mark III inclusive of iso, shutter speed, aperture, manual focus of my Canon 100-400mm lens and finally the angle positioning of my body on how, and where, I wanted to focus. All the uncontrolled factors at stake are what I believe to be where the true magic lies. They are created by the combination of the wind, sun, atmospheric clouds, and energy of water that affects speed and slope of the waves. The water’s slope interactions with the sun’s reflections creates sun glints and glittering patterns. Add in the play of mirrored atmospheric clouds and the result birthed images of abstraction that are wrinkled and indistinct of anything you would ever imagine the ocean surface would look like when frozen in just a fraction of a second.

What I celebrate and am most proud of is the fact that these images are presented to you exactly how I photographed them- original capture in its raw and purest form. The art is comprised of twoness- the way I chose in capture on camera the waters and the environment itself; in the way you see these images is accurate and authentic to the camera’s recording. To me, this is a sheer celebration that we can experience and witness an abstract visual art in the colors, shapes, textures, and fluidity of the surface of the ocean in this most honest photographic presentation.

Click here for available work by Tracie Spence