Surface Tensions

Artist Statement

"If memory is where we fictionalize reality, the photograph is where the truths of memory can be found".

The interplay between memory and photography directs us towards deeper insights about how we remember and interpret our experiences. With the camera, I describe moments in transition while observing the complexity and vastness of people, land, and objects within constantly changing conditions. For these brief moments, time stands still for eternity. In my work, the photograph serves as a container of form and content, allowing the viewer to hold onto the continuum of time and light in which to explore the details constrained within a photograph.

The question is often more important than the answer. While I use the camera to document the external, the process seems to magnify the mysteries which exist within one’s self and the world in which we traverse. How does emotion impact memory? How does the familiar slide into the unknown? How do we transform what we’re seeing into something vital and essential while simultaneously raising questions about the world we think we know and share?

I have been immersed in a daily practice of photographing and working on images for the past 50 years. At times, moving between classical visions of storytelling with other images, pushing and distorting creative experimentation.

Not just an observer, I am present, describing and raising questions about what we think we see. My images reveal over and over the metaphorical fog that shrouds our experience, as well as the endless, and sometimes overwhelming possibilities, while identifying the moment when a profusion of packed color overrides cognition and becomes a celebration of graphic abstraction.

There is pathos and humor and wonder in my juxtapositions. Many of my images are captured very quickly, on the fly. There are also themes I return to over and over again. In my 1970's black and white documentary images of urban places, I look back with a romantic view of where America has been and possibly with satire as to where we are going. I thrive on being in the creative process, making new images while I continue to explore the metaphorical roads less traveled.

* Adapted from Mind Over Matter by Sarah Eron

Education: BFA / Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Solo Shows:

December 12, 2024-February 7, 2025: Anastasia-Photo, NYC, NY

December 1-30th 2024: Wellesley Public Library, Wellesley, MA

Upcoming: January 2-Feb 28th 2025: Brookline Public Library

Upcoming: April-June 2025 : Sherborn Public Library, Sherborn, MA

September-October 2024: Helen Bumpus Gallery, Duxbury, MA

May-June 2024: Carlisle Public Library, Carlisle, MA

February 2024: Concord Public Library, Concord, MA

November 2023: Hingham Public Library: Hingham, MA

March 2024: Bolton Public Library, Bolton, MA

December 2023: Newton Public Library, Newton, MA

September 2023: Weston Public Library: Weston, MA

September 2023: Andover Public Library: Andover, MA

August 2023: Lincoln Public Library, Lincoln, MA

May-July 2023: Bedford Public Library, Bedford, MA

2019: Griffin Museum of Photography: The County Fair

2018: Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY: Road Paint

2017: Boston Public Library, Jamaica Plain Branch, MA: Road Paint

2017: Catamount Arts: Ranson Gallery: All Roads Lead Home

Group Shows

2025

Perfect Compliment: Collaborative Juried Show with sculptor / artist Jay Eberly at the LexArt, Lexington, MA: Photography and 3D Art 1-11-25 - 2-9-2025

2024

Mary Schein Fall Salon: Cambridge Artist Association: University Place Gallery / Harvard University: Surface Tensions

30th Annual Juried Exhibition: Zullo Gallery, Mansfield, MA Juried Group Show: Where the Gods Come and Go

Fotofocus: Stories of the Land: A Sense of Place 2- German World War 2 Bunker, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Hamilton, Ohio

Alchemy + Art: Flora and Fauna: 2-Photographs Selected: Dahlia and Lavender Field: Amesbury, MA

Coney Island 3:: 2- Photographs Selected for the group juried show. Brooklyn, NY

Storytime: CAA@Canal Gallery, Cambridge, MA: Altered States

30th Annual Members Juried Show Online Exhibit: Griffin Museum of Photography:

Photographic Resource Center: VanDernoot Gallery, Cambridge, MA: Flight

2023

Mary Schein Fall Salon / Juried Show: Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA

Out of Office: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Selected Photo: Airstream at Dusk, Cape Breton, Canada

8th Annual Landscapes Art Exhibition: Fusion Art: February 7-May 6, 2023: Selected Photo: Road into Winter

9th Annual Allegany National Photography Competition: Awarded Best of Show, Juried group show, Juror, Todd Tubutis, director, Art Museum of West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV: A Sense of Place 1, Detroit MI, A Sense of Place 2, Martha’s Vineyard, MA

2022

Griffin Museum of Photography: Winter Solstice, Members Group Show.

23rd Annual Roddy Open Competition: Concord Art: Juror: Shana Dumont-Garr: Winner: Cash Roddy Excellence Award: Image: Rock at Lucy Vincent Beach

Urban 2022 Photo Awards: Trieste, Italy: Image: Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park

Boundaries: Peoples Choice Award: Juried group show 6 Bridges Gallery: Landscapes Obscured:

The Speedway Gallery: Love that Dirty Water: Juried Group Show: Image: Good to the Last Drop

2021: 'Once Upon a Time': Griffin Museum of Photography: 1- Image from Altered States portfolio.

2021:

The 2021 Frances Roddy Open Competition: ConcordArt: Sept- Oct. Juror, Sam Adams- Two photographs selected for the exhibition with 1- image, ‘Surface Tensions’ awarded the prestigious Roddy Excellence Award.

‘Thoughts Produce Noise’, Belmont Hill School: Oct. – Nov. 2021- 3 images:

FAVA Juried Biennial Photography Show 2021: Juror: Barbara Tannenbaum: Curator of Photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art: 3 images: Private Faces / Public Spaces

Tales of the Unwritten: Fall 2021: A Tribute to Street Photography: Trieste, Italy

Griffin Museum’s 27th Juried Exhibition: Juror, Arnika Dawkins: Honorable Mention: Wall of Windows

The Passage of Time: Moakley Federal Court House: 4- Images

2021 National Prize Show: Cambridge Art Association: Juried Group Show: Leaving

Beacon Street Gallery: Collective Consciousness: 2 Images selected

Moakley Federal Court House Gallery, Boston Seaport: The Future is Many Colors, 8 photographs selected

2020

Art Through the Lens 2020: Paducah, Kentucky: Surface Tensions

Frances Roddy Open Juried Competition: Concord Art: Surface Tensions

Cambridge Artists Association: Mary Schein Fall Salon: Sept 9-30

Array Contemporary: AC5: Surface Tensions: Sept 1st-Sept 30th

Beacon Gallery: SOWA: 2-Person Photography Show: Curated by Christine O’Donnell

BSA Space: Architecture of Time Juried Show: 2 Images Selected- 12/19-12/20

WILD: Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA. National Group Juried Exhibition: The County Fair, 01

Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN: Juried Group Show: ‘The Streets’: Urban Landscape

Members Prize Show: Cambridge Artist Association: Road Paint: Curated by Jessica Roscio

Galatea Fine Art: Group Photography Show: Dynamic Lenses

Group Show: Cambridge Artists Association ‘Broken Beauty’ Juried Show:

2019:

Winter Solstice, Members Show: Griffin Museum of Photography

Photographic Resource Center, Members Show: Altered States

Cambridge Art Association: 2019 Mary Schein Fall Salon: Jurors Award: Altered States

7th International Call: RI Center for Photographic Arts: Oceans Edge 01 and 04

Landscapes and Seascapes Juried Show: 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC: Oceans Edge

Dusk to Dawn: Juried Show: NY Center for Photographic Art: Honorable Mention: The County Fair

Davis Orton Gallery: 5th Annual Group Show: Hudson, NY: 'Ocean's Edge'

New England Collective X: Galatea Juried Show: Galatea Fine Arts, Boston: 'Ocean's Edge'

Cambridge Art Association: 2019 National Prize Group Show: Road Paint

MOPLA: Month of Photography Los Angeles: 2- 1970's B+W portrait photographs in Analogue Portrait Project

12th Annual Gala Awards Show, Barcelona, Spain: 'The County Fair'

Photowork 2019: Barrett Art Center, Juror James Ganz, Senior Curator of Photography of the J Paul Getty Museum, LA: 'Road Paint'

2018:

Bronx Documentary Center, Bronx, NY: 'The County Fair'

Secret Gardens, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA: 'Flower Power'

Arts Connect: Catamount Arts, St Johnsbury, VT.

2017:

SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC

Arts Connect: 'Road Paint' 2nd Place, Juried Show, Catamount Arts, St Johnsbury, VT

2016

Art Now: 'Road Paint' New Directions in Contemporary Photography, Ann Arbor Art Center, MI

6 Bridges Gallery, Maynard, MA, Juried Group Exhibition: Winner: Gallery Award:

Del Rio Council for the Arts / F22 Juried Exhibition on Photography

Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition

5th Annual Juried Exhibition, Sohn Fine Art Gallery, Lenox, MA

2015: The Fence: 6- ‘Road Paint’ images chosen for Brooklyn, NY, Houston, TX and Atlanta GA 2015 Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition

2014 Danforth Art Annual, Danforth Museum of Art: Juried Group Exhibition

2013 Grand Prize Winner, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM

Awards:

2022: 23rd Frances N Roddy Award: Concord Art: Image: Rock, Lucy Vincent Beach.

2021: Communication Arts 2021 Photography Annual: Institutional Category: Surface Tensions

2020: 15th Annual B+W Spider Awards: ‘Chairs’ 2nd Place, Merit of Excellence in Abstract category

2020: Vienna International 2020 Photo Awards: Honorable Mention: Inverse Relationships

2020: 14th Annual B&W Spider Awards: Honorable Mention for 5 images in multiple categories.

2019: International Color Awards: Nominee / People / County Fair

2019: 12th Annual Pollux Awards: Winner / Series: People & Daily Life Category

2018: 13th Annual B&W Spider Awards: 3-Honorable Mentions / 4-Nominee

2018: Communication Arts 2018 Photography Annual: Institutional Category

2018: Honorable Mention: Americana: The County Fair; International Color Awards

2018: Winner: Black & White Spider Awards: Architecture

2017: Gold Medal Winner: Graphis Photography Annual 2017, ‘Art of the Automobile’ series

2017: 2nd Place Award, ArtsConnect at Catamount Arts 2nd Annual Juried Show 2017,

2017: Honorable Mention: Architecture: B&W Spider Awards

2016: Gallery Award: 6 Bridges Gallery, Juried Group Exhibition:

Publications:

2023: Boston Globe Review by staff writer, Mark Feeney: Winter Solstice at the Griffin Museum of Photography

2021: Noice Magazine: 1980's Color photography by Steven Edson

2021: Everything is Narrative, Anthology of Contemporary Photography, Published by SubjectivelyObjective

2021: Tales of the Unwritten: A tribute to Street Photography. Published by dotART / Exhibit Around

2020: Women Art Dealers Blog: https://womenartdealers.org/beacon-gallery-presents-perception-abstraction/

2019: Create Magazine: 'Road Paint'

2018: Eye of Photography photo profile on ‘The County Fair’ series photographs.

2018: Huck Magazine: Interview and photo essay on my 1970's B&W photography of NYC

2018: Boston Voyager: Bostonvoyager.com: Interview and photo’s

2018: Communication Arts: 2018 Photography Annual: Institutional Category

2018: "The County Fair' published online gallery portfolio at The Vision Project.

2018: 'The County Fair' published online gallery at The Social Documentary Network.

2018: B+W Spider Awards, Winner, Architecture

2018: The Weather Channel- Online Story about US Climate Change: Humarock, MA

2017: Chronagram: December 2017 Issue: Road Paint Photograph: Arts & Culture Section

2017: Graphis International 2017 Photography Annual: Gold Award

2017: Seven Days: Art Review: Road Paint: Arts Connect at Catamount Arts Juried Show

2017: Boston Political Protests and Marches' at the Social Documentary Network Presentation at Silver Digital Imaging in Belmont, MA

2017: Published work on Social Documentary Network

2016: CNN Online: Article and Interview about my ‘Car Details’ series of photographs.

2016: Adore Noir: Article and interview on my 1970’s series of Black and White images.

2016: F11 Magazine: Article and interview on my ‘Road Paint’ and ‘Car Details’ series.

2016: Fah Thai Magazine, Profile w/ 2-page spread of photographs, Bangkok, Thailand

2016: Yankee Magazine 2016 Sept/Oct Issue: Vermont Covered Bridge.