Monday, August 3, 2009

Geneva Girls

Kim Curinga is a digital photographer and photo-illustrator. Her exhibit Geneva Girls opens in the Side Gallery August 22. The artist talks a little about how this show came about:

" The Geneva Girls series came about from a random purchase of a batch of old correspondence, envelopes and some letters dating back to the 1920's to and from girls incarcerated at the Geneva School. Using old census reports, of the names, family members, occupations and neighbors from the addresses and return addresses, I found myself drawn into their lives. Being unable to access prison records, and using research on the school and time period, I drew my own conclusions, at times, to what could have happened to these girls." These girls were often imprisoned for the slightest of infractions, or perceived misdeed. Kim juxtaposes "portraits" of these girls with pop-culture based female images to underscore the changes in attitude.

"I have always taken pictures the way people keep journals and diaries.
of placing my ideas and feelings in a concrete form outside myself, of breaking my isolation." Diana Michener

"While there is a province in which the photographer can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little
our eyes permit us to see" Dorothea Lange

I am a digital photographer and photo-illustrator. My work derives from two different mediums,
the merging of the computer and photography. The photo-montages are the result of my need
to create personal landscapes from images I feel compelled to photograph, things I need to document. They're not always pretty, and the subject matter varies with what I'm seeing around me, and what is meaningful to me.

My intent is to diary my life through my work. In the end, this is my legacy, what I leave behind, what I was, and what I hold most dear.