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Prismatic Embers: an exhibition at the Alter Gallery

By Bill Larson | July 25, 2006 |

Beauty is subjective, each person who attends this show will see beauty in different things, different ways. What photographer Curtis Davis does is attempt to give us a glimpse of his unique view of the world in his exhibition of irises at the Alter Gallery, Prismatic Embers.

Artist’s Statement

To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. - From Auguries of Innocence, in Poems from the Pickering Manuscript by William Blake

Like Georgia O’Keeffe said, “Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven’t time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.” In our Post-modern world this is truer even more so as the world becomes entrenched in technology.

The inner mechanism that drives my photography is from a lifelong attraction to flowers, specifically irises, and my love for nature. This allure, this kinship with nature in general—present even in my earliest memories growing up—has vastly influenced my professional, academic, and personal pursuits, and most overtly, my photography. Mystery draws me to the perfections, imperfections, and mutations of these flowers.

In my work I strive to exemplify the naturally occurring forces that come to fruition when a flower blooms. Sometimes this results in a random deviation that makes the creation all the more appealing, mysterious. The counterbalance between physical order and chaos is but a thin strand, like a butterfly flapping its wings against the air. These tiny changes in our atmosphere—the cycle of life before it decays and crumbles back to the ground—adds up like droplets of water dripping into a water-wheel. There are three types of order at work here: a steady state, a periodic looping of events such as the cycle growth and decay, and a third order, which gives rise to what appears to be random events. Upon a closer inspection, it is conceivable that this third order of spiraling ‘chaos’ is ordered even though it never repeats the same exact thing. Likewise, it is equally possible that a small, unimportant fluctuation can produce a sequence of gradually more powerful tier actions. Chaos theory asserts this effect.

Along a much slower-moving scale, I assert that if a very small happening can produce such long-term, unpredictable results, that the single act of an iris opening is a convergence of order and chaos. Like a falling snowflake—no two are entirely alike. Sometimes the flowers abruptly depart from their templates and forge out ahead to a life of their own. To me, it is this very randomness that gives them their uniqueness, their beauty and allure. And all the while, these spirals of life, of order and chaos, reach out and connect us. There is a kind of order to chaos—a non-repeating flow—perhaps that is the very hand of God.

The intention is for each photograph to stand as a frozen yet serene moment in the tide of order and chaos, yet to see the pattern of the elements that produced them as well as the fractal-like world inside of a world.

Some of the pieces are named after lines of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Latin names inspired by Thoreau’s passion for nature. Compositional arrangement, elements of design, and semi-abstract qualities are all employed here to convey the order in apparently random creations and in some cases, the chaos.

Most photographs are shot with either the new Olympus E-500, or the FUJIFILM Fine Pix S5100 digital camera; the rest were shot with a manual Vivitar camera.

What others had to say

I am proud of Curtis’ accomplishments here, and his extraordinary talent and photographic eye is finally being appreciated by the public. It’s been hidden for far too long. I was especially happy to see the great turnout from people of all walks of life to see the show. - David Shelton, Curtis’s life partner

I stand here face to face with beauty and vulnerability. The flower did not choose a pattern that I wanted to see. And yet it shines out without fear and I am the one who can either recognize its beauty or not.

In real life if I don’t like these flowers I can ignore them. I can choose to paint the flowers the way I think they should be and take out any “imperfections”. I can crush them.

Maybe this artist is getting me to look at beauty without changing, correcting or crushing it. Curtis strikes me as a representative of beauty, inside and out. Yet, I could choose to see his life style as imperfection and try to crush him instead of let him be. Then we would never have the chance to see his beauty or know his story.

How simple an act yet how difficult a task: to look at flowers that display their vulnerable soul in a fearless, naïve way, purely trusting that the universe will support them. - Debbie Boen, Clarksville Online Author and local community activist.

About Bill Larson

Bill Larson is the Creator and Publisher of Clarksville Online, and works as a network administrator for Compu-Net Enterprises. He is politically and socially active in the community. Bill is a member of the Friends of Dunbar Cave, and an associate of the Clarksville Free Thinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. You can reach him via telephone at 931-920-0043 or via the email address below.

Email: clarksville@clarksvilleonline.com

Sections: Arts and Leisure
Topics: Alter Gallery, Arts, Culture, Curtis Davis, Downtown, Events

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