Tag: joshua moulton

Metonymies-Sojourn

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“Metonymies – Sojourn”
An Exhibit Featuring the Photography of
John Moses and Joshua Moulton

November 4 – November 28, 2021

ArtHop Reception: Thursday, November 4, from 4PM to 8PM

Mausoleum Door, Highgate Cemetery -- John Mosea
Mausoleum Door, Highgate Cemetery -- John Mosea

“Metonymies”
By
John Moses

Metonymy is the imaginative process that uses a part to represent the whole.  Proximity, or contiguity, is basic to how it operates in figures of speech.  But more than just a literary device in poetry, metonymy is part of everyday communication, a way of understanding and speaking about the world—for example, “hand” for helper, “Hollywood” for American movies, “Rothko” for the artist’s paintings.

But what does that have to do with photography, you may be wondering.  Linguists and artists have long extended the concept to the visual arts—from painting to the cinema.  Roman Jakobson contrasted the metaphors of surrealist art to the metonymies of Cubism.  Sergei Eisenstein theorized about the metonymies inherent in distinct categories of cinematic montage, the relations of shot to shot.

Photographers constantly make judgments involving contiguity.  Whether in the viewfinder or the darkroom, they reveal what is in the frame and what is beyond it.  Sometimes the subject is complete and surrounded by empty space—a still life, a building, an object from nature.  Just as often, the subject is only implied by the part shown, sometimes so abstracted as to be ambiguous even in its concreteness.

The images of “Metonymies” play with these possibilities. They imply what is not there as much as present what is.  Some are abstract, minimalist images—a light shining on a reel of film; a detail from a 6-foot bronze; a hoist drum from a Cornwall mine.  Others are more recognizable parts of some whole—a building façade, a tree within a forest, components of a steam engine.  And others are of images connected to concepts like flag for country.  Each illustrates how metonymy is as basic to visual language as it is to verbal.

Functionally, metaphors are the opposite of metonymy, based on imagined similarities rather than recognized proximity. Yet the two creative processes often operate together. A flag connects to country but also evokes ideas about honor or dishonor. The closeup of a sunflower’s center may epitomize the beauty of the flower but can also remind us of Van Gogh’s fields of yellow or a dreamlike scene from a Busby Berkeley musical.  So, while I present the images in this exhibit as examples of metonymy, I invite you to imagine the metaphoric possibilities as well.

Kirkjufell -- Joshua Moulton

Sojourn
By
Joshua Moulton

Hiking through the Icelandic mountains on a deary, late afternoon and coming over the rise of the hilltop, I finally get my first glimpse at the Geldingadalir volcano and my heart skips a beat. As I draw nearer to the eruption I feel heat from the lava warming my face just like I’m sitting in front of a campfire even though the source is thousands of feet away. The sound of stones grinding upon each other as the hardened uppermost layer of molten rock flows past in a river of fire fills my skull. And then comes the eruption-a magnificent, glorious and violent explosion of lava directly from the heart of the volcano high into the sky as more pours down the side. This could be Mordor. 

At my core I love fantasy. I love fantasy books, movies, games, and the wide-sweeping vistas that detail the epic quests and scenes that drive these stories. In essence that is what Sojourn is to me. Sojourn features photos from around the world that share that common sense of adventure and wonder. From the Martian landscapes of the Tron a Pinnacles to the abundant waterfalls of Iceland, each location weaves a story for my camera to capture. 

California is home to many captivating and varied landscapes and I take every opportunity to explore my native state, but nothing excites me more than the call of an exotic land. My latest sojourn to Iceland, the land of ice and fire, did not disappoint. There are waterfalls everywhere you look, erupting volcanos, glacier bays and epic canyons that transport you to a time before humans roamed the earth. In this collection I’ve gathered moments from Iceland, California and afar to bring viewers along with me on my adventures. 

So, come sojourn with me through these epic landscapes and maybe, if you’re feeling up to it, you can hum along to the Lord Of The Rings soundtrack like I always find myself doing when I’m out there. 

New Members’ Exhibition

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September 5 – September 29

Spectrum Art Gallery is proud to present the 2019 New Members’ Exhibition. This exhibition will show a collection of our newest members’ work. Come on down to the gallery for ArtHop and view original and refreshing photographic art by our fine members.

Rachel Clark lives in Fresno with her husband, Alex. She was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, just south of Fresno. At the tender age of nine, she developed a love for the study of North American birds. As she grew older, it morphed into an all-consuming passion. Rachel earned her degree in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University, and today works as a wildlife biologist, but her primary aspiration is to work as a bird guide in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the surrounding areas. Although she has been watching birds for most of her life, she has only been photographing them for just over a year.

Larry Cusick is an amateur birder and photographer. Now retired from a career in higher education, he is finding time bird, take pictures, play music with friends, and wander in nature. He has never been busier.

Joshua Moulton enjoys being outside and taking photographs of the beauty of nature. He went to school with the intention of being a data guy and ended up getting a job being a data guy. Turns out being a data guy all day every day was driving him a little “batty.” He already liked to hike and travel so Josh figured he’d try taking pictures; it looked fun! It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the art. Photography means so much more to Joshua than just preserving sanity now.

Bonnie Polson is a local amateur photographer who initially learned photography using black and white film. She now uses a digital camera and gets inspired to shoot when the right light appears. Landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, as well as little details easily overlooked catch her eye and are caught by her camera. Now that her real-world title is “Retired Speech Pathologist”, she intends to spend more time traveling to catch, edit and print her images.

Art Serabian was born and raised in Fresno California. While he has used a camera most of his adult life, his experience was limited to taking an occasional snapshot or documenting events; it wasn’t until he retired that he had time to redefine his craft and truly grow as an artist-photographer. Art enjoys photographing a variety of subject matter including landscape, urban scenes, architecture, creative images, and still life. He creates both color and monochrome images with a mild bias towards monochrome images. Photography is a deeply personal and self-fulfilling proposition for him; his goal is to make images that engage the viewer, taking them along a mental journey filled with memories that trigger the imagination.

Ronald Webb embarked on his photographic journey while teaching life science and physical science classes on the Micronesian island of Kwajalein in 1977. Black and white darkroom photography seemed like a logical hobby choice for a science-oriented guy looking for a creative/expressive outlet. That spark of interest soon became a burning passion. He immersed himself in learning all he could about the art. It wasn’t long before his teaching interest shifted from the sciences to photography. By 1980, he was a full-time photography teacher at Clovis High School in Clovis, California. He continues to photograph for clients and pursue his own personal photographic experiences across the continents. Ronald has always considered his career as a passion that became a profession.

Kathy Wosika studied music and art at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana from 1966-1970 and completed her B.A. and M.A. in Art with an emphasis in Craft Media at California State University, San Diego in 1974. From 1975 – 2012 she coordinated the Craft Program and taught Textile Structures, Hand Papermaking, and Ceramics, as well as 3 Dimensional Design and Art Appreciation at Fresno City College. Since 1988, she has traveled to Africa, Thailand, Mexico, and Ecuador to meet with artists and study traditional paper and textile arts as well as clay work. In 2008 she taught papermaking in Ghana and Morocco and also visited local traditional textile and craft media artists. In 2012, Kathy retired after 37 years in the Art Department at Fresno City College and currently works in her home studio. Not able to abandon music altogether, she also plays fiddle with a local Fresno band called BLIND DOG, which features an eclectic mix of traditional music from Ireland Spain and America. Having taken thousands of photos over the years as a resource and inspirational material, she has only recently begun to personally explore the creative and artistic potentials of this vast world of Photography.