The Natural World - Online Group Exhibition

The Natural World
An Online Group Exhibition 
March 13, 2023 – Indefinitely
Analog Forever Magazine

“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this (20th) century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” ~Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Many of us in the 21st century turn to nature for nurture, perhaps because we have an innate desire to commune with our surroundings and at this time in particular, to appreciate what we have and bring awareness to what we are losing. Species are disappearing at 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural rate, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century.

The veneration of fleeting moments of beauty is now intensified by the quickening pace of loss. To what do you pay tribute and seek to bring attention? Where do you find your sense of place, solace or disruption? What moves, replenishes, or disturbs you? How do you express what resonates with your soul in the natural world, be it the birds, bees, plants, trees, or other creatures? What is the story only you can tell?

Curator Bio:

Wendi Schneider is an American artist widely known for her ongoing series of hand-gilded photographs, ‘States of Grace.’ Drawn to the serenity and transcendence she finds in the sinuous elegance of organic forms, she creates illuminated impressions of vanishing beauty in the natural world. Schneider came to photography from painting in the early 1980’s, blending the two mediums by layering oils on her silver gelatin prints, hovering between the real and the imagined. She began working with grainy, painterly color slide film in the late ‘80s, initially for editorial work, before transitioning to digital in the 2000s. In 2012, she began layering her digitally layered images with gold leaf in the ‘States of Grace’ series – infusing the artist’s hand, and suffusing the treasured subjects with the luminosity and spirituality of gold, ensuring each print is a unique object of reverence. Schneider’s images seemingly dance on the paper’s surface amidst reflections of light on precious metals, creating a synthesis of technique and subject. Her work is influenced by a background in painting, art history, and her collection of turn-of-the-twentieth-century photogravures, platinum, and gum prints.

Schneider’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of The New Orleans Museum of Art, The Center for Creative Photography, The Memphis Brooks Museum, The Auburn University Library Special Collections, as well as numerous private collections. Her work has been published, awarded, and exhibited extensively worldwide and is represented by A Gallery for Fine Photography (New Orleans), Arnika Dawkins Gallery (Atlanta), Catherine Couturier Gallery (Houston), Etherton Gallery (Tucson), PhotoGraphic Gallery (San Miguel de Allende), Rick Wester Fine Art (New York), and Vision Gallery (Jerusalem). She is an active board member of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.