Opening Reception for “Looking Without Seeing” & “Transmutations” — 3rd Street Gallery

Looking Without Seeing:

We continue to pass by our everyday surroundings blinded, therefore, not seeing. Even photographers become blind to their most familiar spaces such as our own home and our everyday environment.

When I’m in my solitary space, I take the time to observe the details, lines, color, shapes in the most benign and common places that would normally not pull the eye. I’ll photograph these to study more closely later, to contemplate the fine details. These photos allow me to reason-out what’s there, what’s going on, the personality of the scene. Recently I’ve come to the realize that this is how I approach most things in my life. I’ll remove myself, watch and observe from a distance before engaging with people or surroundings. I take my time to assess before becoming engaged.

Quick photographs on the fly, that are not composed or planned, allow me to go back to that space and see the details with which I only had a moment. Having the photograph lets me play with them later with eyes and imagination to find what it was that drew me to taking it in the first place.

To see what we could not see.

Look without seeing Brailed world dulled by callouses Continue to be.

Transmutations:

Every ending ushers in a fresh beginning. Nothing stays the same forever; change is the law of nature. Transmutation is the process of creatively manifesting and changing something lesser into something much greater. This is what ancient alchemists sought to do when they attempted to physically and spiritually perfect elements by turning them into gold. Gold was frequently used as a metaphor for the process of transitioning from one’s lower to the higher self.

Nicole Patrice Dul utilizes alchemical principles and experimental processes for inner exploration and development. She begins with the prima materia or initial matter required for the alchemical magnum opus, “the great work”, and the formation of the philosopher’s stone which represents the ultimate stage of completeness. Nicole uses the effects of weathering, transforming media, and layering imagery, discovering the beauty in the changes that occur within the chemical and creative processes themselves, bringing these elements into harmony for the magnum opus. Her work shows metamorphoses through deterioration, destruction, reformation, and renewal. Nicole’s exploration of art media inspires and contributes to her capacity to create both tension and ease, as well as command interactions between both the past and present, the ephemeral and immortal. Approaching the world with a mystical perspective opens portals through which she can connect with the mysteries of the universe.