Castell Photography opens new exhibit, “Objects In Perspective,” April 3

Castell Photography is pleased to announce the opening of their newest exhibition, Objects in Perspective, a mixed media collaboration of photography and wax sculpture between two artists: Charlotte-based Aspen Hochhalter and Charleston-based Natalie Abrams. The opening reception will coincide with the Asheville Downtown Gallery Association first Art Walk of the year on Friday, April 3rd.

This collaboration explores the transformation of form into space by the manipulation of perspective and scale through the photographic lens. As these elements shift in relation to each other our sense of scale is lost and the photographs cease to present merely form, but coalesce into ambiguous “scapes” that exude a sense of place, landscape and history. During the nineteenth century, wet plate collodion—one of the earliest photographic techniques—was used to document the exploration of the new frontiers in the American west; exotic, surreal landscapes emerged that challenged and expanded our experience of space and land. In this joint project, Hochhalter uses the wet plate collodion photo process to photograph Abrams’ sculptural works, at times drawing out the very grains of ochre pigment suspended in a wax based medium. The imperfections of voids and brush lines add to the sense of time. These images enhance the connotations of ambiguous landscape that not only reference the cliff faces, monuments, mountains and river beds of the west, but also the bluffs and valley floors of the unexplored ocean floor.

Hochhalter attempts to see beyond the surface of an object, distorting the original and definitive reference. The use of antique photo processes, adding to the imperfections or details, further manipulates perspective and scale as seen through her photographic lens. Abrams work examines suspended moments in time; the physical and textural experience of those moments, the delicate beauty of our surroundings and the difficulty of preserving the present. An environmentalist, Abrams has created a unique method of manipulating wax medium and other natural materials to create her highly sculptural works referencing natural habitats and landscape.

Aspen Hochhalter received her Masters of Fine Arts in Photo Based Media at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC in 2004. She is an Associate Professor of Art and the Photography Area Coordinator in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Her work has been widely exhibited nationally and explores the crossover between digital technology and historic photographic processes.

Natalie Abrams received her Bachelor of Science in Interior Design with minors in Construction Management and Sociology from Colorado State University in 1990. Abrams lives aboard a sailboat currently located in Charleston, SC. She and her partner are beginning a multi-year environmental art project, Define Earth, sailing to biodiverse hotspots experiencing loss of habitat and environmental degradation.

The opening reception for Objects in Perspective will be held on Friday, April 3rd from 6p.m. to 8p.m. Specialty cocktails will be served to celebrate the evening. The exhibition will be on view at Castell Photography through the end of April.