Jennifer Little
Barriers and Conduits: Viewing the Urban Landscape
July 1 - August 29, 2008
In Jennifer Little's most recent body of work, Barriers and Conduits: Viewing the Urban Landscape, heavy, concrete bridges frame glimpses of nature. The framed views depict nature's containment within the urban landscape, while alluding to the technological and social conditions that create this urban nature. Reflections in the water beneath the bridges double the geometry of the structures, emphasizing that nature is completely surrounded by a manmade frame. The watery reflections also imply that the natural and the manmade coexist in a tense but fluid equilibrium. The constant noise and congestion on the busy city street surfaces of these bridges stand in stark contrast to the tranquil and quiet remove of the hidden and wild spaces just below them. These photographs explore the near intersection of two conduits running in perpendicular directions: the manmade conduit of the road and the natural conduit of the creek, stream, or river. The two conduits converge at the bridge, but never quite intersect. Little's photographs seek to capture the small fragments of sublime nature that lie hidden beneath these bridges in our post-industrial urban landscape.
The artist uses a combination of analog and digital processes to create these images. She photographs 4x5 inch color negatives, makes proof prints using a color enlarger, and scans the best negatives to create final large scale ink jet prints on an Epson wide format printer.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Jennifer Little was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She attended college at Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a B.F.A. in Photography. She subsequently completed her M.F.A. in Photography at the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at University of the Pacific in Northern California. She teaches courses covering Digital Photography, Black and White Darkroom Photography, Computer Graphics, and Web Design. Jennifer has exhibited her work at museums and galleries across the United States, including The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery at San Francisco City Hall, The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in Novato, CA, and The Center For Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO. Her work has been published and reviewed in Camera Arts Magazine and The Austin Chronicle. https://www.jenniferlittlephotography.com/