Daniel W. Coburn

Next of Kin

May 4 - June 29, 2012

About his exhibition Next of Kin, Daniel Coburn states, “I use craftsmanship and beauty to engage my viewer in a dark family narrative. After a yearlong hiatus from my hometown, I returned to reexamine my relationship with immediate family. I use the camera to describe the powerful personalities of my parents, and the complexities of their relationship. I photograph the children in my family to revisit my own childhood, which exists only as a set of fleeting, enigmatic images in my aging memory.”

Next of Kin records the interaction of a working-class family living in Middle America, and the anxiety that occurs within the confines of suburban dystopia. The viewer is encouraged to contemplate the complexities of these relationships in dialogue with their own family experience. How the imagery functions in conversation with the viewers personal family narrative becomes paramount and its value is ultimately determined by its transformative potential.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Daniel Coburn is currently an instructor and a graduate student in photography at the University of New Mexico. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Rayko Photo Center Gallery in San Francisco, Wall Space Gallery in Santa Barbara, the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and the Chelsea Museum of Art in New York. Coburn's prints are held in many public and private collections including The Mulvane Museum of Art, the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, the Mariana Kistler-Beach Museum of Art and the Moraine Park Museum. His writings and photographs appear regularly in regional and national publications including Fraction Magazine and Photo-Eye Magazine. Coburn received his BFA with an emphasis in photography from Washburn University where he was the recipient of numerous honors including the Charles and Margaret Pollak Award. https://danielwcoburn.com/