Portfolio: Kate Breakey – Golden Stardust

photo-eye Gallery Portfolio: Kate Breakey – Golden Stardust photo-eye is pleased to introduce Golden Stardust, a portfolio of new work by Australian born photographer Kate Breakey. The eclectic series is focused on intermittent states of being, featuring the soft and beautiful observations for which Breakey is known.

Kate Breakey – Golden Stardust installation view

photo-eye Gallery is pleased to announce Golden Stardust, a portfolio of new work by Australian born photographer Kate Breakey. The eclectic series is focused on intermittent states of being, featuring the soft and beautiful observations for which Breakey is known. Wrapped in dark and substantial frames, the images in Golden Stardust are crafted by transferring archival black-and-white pigment prints to glass plates, finishing them with a thin backing of 24 karat gold leaf. At first, the project's scope appears to be widespread as the imagery represents many traditional photographic genres including: landscape, classical still life, nude figure study, and wildlife, among others.

Kate Breakey – Five Figs

It's true; Breakey cuts a wide swath, but does so with purpose. Unified by the textured luminescence of the gold backing, the conceptual cohesion brought by this material outweighs even its aesthetic effects. In the portfolio's project statement Breakey takes time to detail the birth of gold as an atomic element:

Kate Breakey – Nautilus Shell

"The events that produce most of the gold in the universe are called ‘Gamma Ray Bursts.’ This occurs when a double star consisting of two neutron stars collapses under the force of gravity. Neutron stars are the cores of dead stars. They are only a few miles in diameter; so dense that every last bit of matter has been compressed down to the density of the atomic nucleus. The two dead, dark stars spin around each other for millions of years at millions of miles per hour, constantly pulling each other closer. Then finally they touch. At that moment more energy is released than the rest of the universe combined. Much of their mass collapses into a black hole and leaves our universe forever, but the rest is released in an enormous explosion of gamma rays and newly- formed elements. Some of that star-dust flung into space, is gold."

Kate Breakey – Hale-Bopp Comet

Here, it seems the addition of gold to a collection of earthly settings is quite literally universal. Gold, and its violent cosmic beginnings, create a 'dust to dust' moment within Breakey's series — at once denoting the preciousness of life while foreshadowing the inevitability of its passing. While Breakey is no stranger to creating images concerning death, in this case the death of otherworldly suns, Golden Stardust also concerns transformation and perspective as the implosion of celestial bodies yields something new, something cherished, something rare here at home. In this way, Golden Stardust acts as an affirmation of the ephemeral natural beauty present all around us.

Kate Breakey – Two Trees, Birmingham

As objects, the framed prints in Golden Stardust are exquisite. Especially in a dimly lit settings these prints these prints seem to radiate from within, projecting a warm hue into their surroundings. The thickness of the glass gives space between the image and the gold leaf, lending the print a unique three dimensional quality — especially in the more detailed photographs.  The bold and dark frames give contrast to their glowing interiors, helping to punctuate the image as installed on the wall.

A selection of work from Golden Stardust is currently on view at photo-eye Gallery through August 22nd as a part of Kate Breakey's exhibition Shadows & Light. The artist will be in Santa Fe for the Opening of her exhibition on Saturday July 11th from 3–5 PM.

View the Golden Stardust portfolio

Read the introduction for Shadows and Light


For more information and to purchase prints please contact Gallery Director Anne Kelly at 505-988-5152 ext 121 or anne@photoeye.com