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Showing posts with label Tree Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tree Stories. Show all posts

photo-eye Gallery Radiant Allure Kate Breakey's Orotones at photo-eye Gallery Alexandra Jo A selection of 24kt gold leaf orotones featuring images of trees is included in Tree Stories, Kate Breakey’s solo exhibition currently on view at photo-eye Gallery. The orotones add brightness and depth to the subtle hand-colored archival pigment prints and delicate hand-embroidered photographs on silk that make up the rest of the exhibition.

Kate Breakey, Eucalyptus Tree, Fallen Boughs, Kangaroo Island, Archival pigment ink on glass, 24kt gold leaf, 10 x 15 inches, edition of 20, $1920 framed 

The luminescent flash of Kate Breakey’s orotones is a large part of their instant allure. These works are made by printing images directly onto glass, and then carefully applying 24 karat gold leaf behind the ink. The orotones shimmer when directly lit and emanate a warm glow in subdued lighting. The contrast between the ink and gold backing, and the way light is reflected from the gold, creates a shifting, radiant presence that thoroughly captivates viewers.

Kate Breakey, Eucalyptus Trees, Xmas Day,
South Australia, Archival pigment ink on glass,
24kt gold leaf, 5 x 12 inches, Edition of 20, $1375 framed 
The other side of what makes these unique works so appealing to a wide audience is being able to understand Breakey’s motivation for creating them. In her artist statement about the series, she explains that these works are “an act of investigation — a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world.” Breakey uses the images in her orotones to highlight and record individual moments in the world that might otherwise go unseen. This insight allows viewers to truly appreciate Breakey’s selective eye and knack for observation.

Like most of Breakey’s work, the orotones are editioned, and yet there is room for variance and individuality in each piece. Since each work is custom framed, and the gold leaf is applied by hand (like the embroidery and hand-applied color in her other works) no two images in an edition will be entirely identical. This makes each piece feel special, and function as a unique object.

A selection of the orotones featuring images of trees is included in Tree Stories, Kate Breakey’s solo exhibition currently on view at photo-eye Gallery. The show combines work from three different series of Breakey’s work, displaying a range of photographic techniques that she is known for. The orotones add brightness and depth to the subtle hand-colored archival pigment prints and delicate hand-embroidered photographs on silk that make up the rest of the exhibition.

Kate Breakey, Scrub, Kangaroo Island, Australia, Archival pigment ink on glass, 24kt gold leaf, 10 x 15 inches, 
Edition of 20, $1925 framed 
Tree Stories is on view at photo-eye Gallery through February 22, 2020. photo-eye Gallery will also show a selection of Kate Breakey's orotones to Photo LA at the end of January. 


 »View more work by Kate Breakey

»Read more about Kate Breakey

»More info on Photo LA

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com


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photo-eye Gallery Behind the Image Kate Breakey on Tree Stories Alexandra Jo While the time and meticulous effort that goes into the creation of all of Kate Breakey's work is indeed captivating, her conceptualization behind each image is just as rich. This week, photo-eye is excited to share insight into Breakey's thought process.

Sheoak by Ocean, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Hand-Colored Archival Pigment Print, 36x32" Image, 
Edition of 20, $2,030, Framed
When looking at Kate Breakey's process-based work, it's easy to get caught up with how each piece was made. While the meticulous effort that goes into the creation of Breakey's work is captivating, her conceptualization behind each image is just as rich. This week, photo-eye is excited to share Breakey's thought process behind all of the images in Tree Stories, our current exhibition of work from three different series, as well as the specific story behind Tree of Life, Mesquite, Full Moon Rising, Bahrain.

Kate Breakey, Eucalyptus Trees, Xmas Day, South Australia,
Archival Pigment ink 24k gold leaf on glass, 5 x 12 inches,
Edition of 20, $1375 Framed  
Tree Stories
I grew up in rural Australia with a lot of trees — big, old trees that I climbed and played in with my friends as a child. There was evidence that generations of children before us had been in these trees. There were carved initials and remnants of older tree houses and swing ropes. Those treetops were a fantasy world, a place where it was possible to make believe we were different creatures, where we could lie precariously on boughs, and feel them sway and groan in the wind, hear the wind in the leaves, and smell the sap. And it was familiar and comforting, a primal ancestral memory of being tree-dwellers perhaps. In trees we were invisible, but we could see everything — get a whole different perspective. My own house was strangely small from up there. We were also aware trees had stories and histories, and that the cycles of their lives — the seasons, the droughts, fires, floods, and storms — were all written in their rings. They also knew birds, bees, beetles, and earthworms, possums, and generations of people who rested or wrote poetry under them, or sketched or photographed them. As symbols of strength, endurance and wisdom in most cultures, trees have been the subjects of much art, including my own. Each tree has a story, and I have a story about each tree.



Kate Breakey, Tree of Life, Mesquite, Full Moon Rising, Bahrain, Hand-colored archival pigment print, 24 x 30 inches,
Edition of 20, $1730 Framed 

Tree of Life, Mesquite, Full Moon Rising, Bahrain.

Tree of Life is the official title of this tree. It is a 400-year-old Mesquite, with sprawling limbs, growing in the Arabian desert, near the city of Manama in Bahrain. It is on a hill on the site of a 500-year-old fort, now rubble. The tree is considered to be a miracle because no one understands what its water source is, and how it can still be alive at all. Some say, the tree is protected by the Babylonian god of water, and it is fabled to be on the site of the Garden of Eden. People bring water to pour at its base and pray. An armed guard now patrols its perimeter. I was in Bahrain with friends, and there was a full moon rising at twilight, so I suggested we go see the tree. I didn’t have a tripod, but it was lit by spotlights at its base. I waited, and the moon rose through its branches, and in that moment it was indeed miraculous.

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com


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photo-eye Gallery Common Threads Kate Breakey's Exploratory Process Alexandra Jo Breakey’s series of embroidered nests is distinct in the Tree Stories exhibition. However, it is the consistent exploration of materials and open approach to process in Breakey's practice that truly ties each individual work in the show to all the others.

Kate Breakey, Nest 9, Hand-embroidered archival pigment print on silk, 24 x 24 inches, Edition of 20, $2,290 Framed 

Most of the works in Tree Stories, photo-eye Gallery's current exhibition of works by Kate Breakey, are images of the same subject: trees. However, the exhibition actually features photographic works from three different bodies of Breakey’s work, each of which explores a different photographic process or technique. Her shimmering gold orotones feel extremely different than the smoky, soft aesthetic of her hand-colored archival pigment prints, which are divergent in aesthetic from her hand-embroidered prints on silk. Across the board, it not just consistency of subject matter, but the exploration of materials and open approach to process that truly ties each work in the show to all the others.

Kate Breakey, Nest 35, Hand-embroidered archival pigment print on silk
20 x 20 inches, Edition of 20, $2,030 Framed
Breakey’s series of embroidered nests is distinct in the exhibition. These archival pigment prints on silk, which the artist delicately, laboriously, embroiders by hand, have a dimensional objecthood that stands apart from the other works in the show. Viewers are drawn into the intricate, threaded details and soft tones of these works by cast shadows and the subtle but impactful shifts in surface texture. The silk panels are pinned inside shadow-box frames, which adds to the works’ legible sense of depth.

These works are intimate and visually gentle, but hold a strong presence in the gallery space. Breakey’s choice to make the nest images in a larger-than-life scale is impactful. This offers audiences a chance to inspect details in each nest, and highlights how each structure is unique to the needs and instincts of the creature that built it. These images aren’t pictures of trees like the works in the rest of the show, but rather, images of tree materials put to utilitarian use. The ingenuity and attention to detail in Breakey’s exploration of process acts as a bridge between each of the nests and the wider exhibition.

Kate Breakey, Nest 32, Hand-embroidered archival pigment print on silk, 24 x 24 inches, Edition of 20, $2,290 Framed

Tree Stories is on view at photo-eye Gallery through February 22nd, 2020

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kate Breakey was born in Adelaide, Australia and received her MFA in photography from the University of Texas, Austin in 1991. Breakey is known for working in a multitude of photographic techniques, including large-scale, hand-colored archival pigment prints, gold-leaf backed orotones printed on glass, and hand-embroidered images printed on silk. Since 1981 her work has appeared in more than 75 solo exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions in the United States, France, Japan, Australia, China, and New Zealand.

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com


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photo-eye Gallery Kate Breakey: Tree Stories Opening Friday, November 29, 2019 Alexandra Jo Tree Stories encompasses a wide array of approaches to a singular subject as the exhibition will include a combination of the many photographic materials and techniques Breakey is known for. An opening reception for Tree Stories will take place this Friday, November 29th from 5-7 pm in coordination with the Railyard Arts District Last Friday Art Walk.

Above Image: Kate Breakey, Tree of Life, Mesquite, Full Moon Rising, Bahrain, Hand colored archival pigment print

The versatility of technique that comes from Kate Breakey’s studio is astounding. Though all of the work centers around photography, Breakey is an artist who explores the relationship between materials and images with a sense of openness and experimentation. This Friday, November 29,  photo-eye Gallery will host an opening reception for Tree Stories, our current exhibition featuring a diverse selection of Kate Breakey's photographs.

Kate Breakey, Eucalyptus Trees, Xmas Day, South Australia, 
Archival pigment ink on glass, 24k gold leaf, 5 x 12 inches, $1375 Framed 
Some of the oldest living things on earth are trees. Simultaneously fascinating and daunting in their endurance, trees are seemingly still and eternal, yet are constantly growing and changing. Trees have many stories to tell, as forests provide the backdrop for countless fairytales, ghost stories, and ancient mythologies. Home to a variety of creatures, intelligent beyond our full understanding, and vital to many of earth’s ecosystems, these deciduous beings connect many aspects of life on our planet. Trees can experience the equivalent of many human lifetimes and have become symbols for the cycles and mysteries of the natural world.

Tree Stories encompasses a wide array of approaches to a single subject, as the exhibition will include a combination of the many photographic materials and techniques Breakey is known for. Shimmering gold-leaf orotones bring richness and a dazzling quality of light to this selection of work. Hand-colored photographs of trees are traditionally illustrative and straightforward, while delicately hand-embroidered photographs of bird nests on silk embody grace and elegance in exquisite detail.

This exhibition also coincides with photo-eye’s 40th Anniversary celebration. Founded as a mail-order photography book source in 1979 in Austin, Texas by Rixon Reed, photo-eye has grown into one of the leading contemporary photography galleries while continuing as the oldest and largest photography bookstore in the country. Today, photoeye.com is recognized as one of the foremost websites devoted to contemporary photography and our online bookstore includes the world’s largest selection of contemporary photobooks. photo-eye Gallery and Bookstore have been in Santa Fe since 1991.

Kate Breakey, Nest 32, Hand embroidered archival pigment print on silk, 24 x 24 inches, Edition of 20, $2290


Tree Stories will run November 22, 2019 to February 22nd, 2020 with an opening reception this Friday, November 29th from 5-7pm in coordination with the Railyard Arts District Last Friday Art Walk.


ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kate Breakey was born in Adelaide, Australia and received her MFA in photography from the University of Texas, Austin in 1991. Breakey is known for working in a multitude of photographic techniques, including large-scale, hand-colored archival pigment prints, gold-leaf backed orotones printed on glass, and hand-embroidered images printed on silk. Since 1981 her work has appeared in more than 75 solo exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions in the United States, France, Japan, Australia, China, and New Zealand.

All prices listed were current at the time this post was published.

For more information, and to purchase artworks, please contact photo-eye Gallery Staff at:
(505) 988-5152 x 202 or gallery@photoeye.com


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