Allyson Klutenkamper

Circumstantial

Nov. 1, 2013 - January 2, 2014

For as long as I can remember I have had boxes of treasured objects that members of my family passed along to me posthumously. When sorting through sets of china, knitted doilies, a plastic hand mirror, and photographs of people I do not know, I realized that I never knew the significance associated with people I thought I knew very well. I wonder what they saw in me that I have yet to realize myself. The scope of my work continues to explore personal psychology and altering perceptions of common experiences between siblings, while investigating the construction of memory, and the always-evolving definition one's “self.” Through the creation of these images, I found the language of theatricality to be an engaging factor, allowing viewers to deliberate the metaphoric, tangible objects in which the figure engages or carefully rendered as subject matter. Some images appear to be torn from a larger contextual narrative, while others appear as silent still lives. Despite these differences, the work aims to initiate a narrative impulse.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Allyson Klutenkamper received her MFA in photography from the University of Notre Dame and BFA from the University of Missouri. Her current work deals with the translation of objects left or given to one without any sentimental qualities. The scope of the work continues to explore personal psychology and altering perceptions of common experiences between siblings and belongings, while investigating the construction of memory, and the always-evolving definition one's “self.” Imbedded in all her artistic pieces are heavy undertones of modes of spectatorship and film theory. She is an assistant professor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.