Family Silver | Rebecca Pavlenko

Traffic Zone Gallery presents Family Silver, an exhibition of gelatin silver prints with black and white photograms and hand-colored images. The photographs are all one of a kind and created in the darkroom. The artist places silverware on photo paper and exposes it to light. Using outdated and fogged photo paper gives a grayish silver tone to the photogram. The silverware appears to have bodies and heads and certain implements seem to have gender or age depending on their size or shape. Each silverware pattern has a different shape and silhouette that creates a specific feeling: bold, strong, gentle, elegant or any number of variations – just like families. By shifting the paper to the right or left under the enlarger, the outline of the silverware can change, making it look as though a spoon has turned its face, suggesting an expression of feeling. In other images Pavlenko creates a photogram on a projected image of a natural object and then adds hand coloring.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Families gather around tables to share meals and in so doing shape what it means to be a family. I use silverware to explore the psychology of family dynamics and the place individuals hold in that relationship. I also connect what we eat to the natural world by means of a cooking utensil whose shape recalls a subject in nature.

GALLERY HOURS
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 9 am - 5 pm, Saturday 1 - 4 pm
And by appointment: pavlenko@bitstream.net
Free and open to the public.