Contemplating Water

Aryaloka Buddhist Center, Newmarket, NH

The Earth, Water, Fire Exhibit of my contemplative photography is on display at Aryaloka Buddhist Center from Oct. 5 - Nov. 14, 2012.   I will be speaking about my work at the center on Nov. 11 at 6 pm.  This post is part of a series of musings on the elements as I have expressed them in my art.

Ripple - 2007

The element water has always been a fascination of mine, possibly because I am a Scorpio, which astrologically is a fixed water sign. In the Buddhist mandala of elements, I identify with the clarity of the Vajra family, which is connected with water.   People often comment about my clarity of expression and I am known to get angry and self-righteous when I get too solid in my opinions.  Both are qualities of this family.

Fall Reflection - 2012

 
Yet water offers a wealth of other qualities.  It is the most adaptable of elements taking the shape of whatever contains it.  It can be as solid as ice or ethereal as mist, capable of great destruction in minutes as a tsunami or slow penetration as drops cutting through stone over eons.  Water cleanses and binds together solids, while keeping them flexible. Water as saliva makes taste possible.  Our body mass is 80% water, as blood and other bodily fluids.  Water energy is what facilitates communication as we speak of the flow of ideas, commerce or emotions. 

Snow,Drop,Mist - 2011

I have been fascinated with documenting the many faces of water as a photographer and videographer.  With so many moods, I find myself mesmerized by its ever changing nature.  We live near a creek and less than a half hour from the ocean, which gives me plenty of opportunity to explore natural bodies of water visually.  My husband loves to go canoeing and I will often bring my camera on our excursions.  "Loon" is an example of a single take video created from the canoe.  Guy smoothly paddled while I shot the footage.  A fellow grad student, Brian deAngelo composed the soundtrack.

The exhibit at Aryaloka shows just a small sample of the hundreds of images I have taken of water over the years.  You can see more at: www.rebekahyounger.com 

Upcoming Earth, Water and Fire Exhibit

Exhibit at Aryaloka Buddhist Center

October 5 - November 14, 2012

I will be exhibiting a series of photographic prints on paper and canvas, centered around the theme of earth, water and fire. Most of these were taken as part of my graduate work in 2006-2007.  My masters portfolio centered on contemplative arts practices, and more specifically photography as a tool for contemplative looking.

Earth, Fire, Water - photo montage

My art is grounded in a practice of looking, an active engagement with the phenomenal world; to look at a leaf, light on a lake or litter on a city street… to look at life; all this is part of my contemplative art practice. To look, really look, I don’t mean just glance, for “to really see takes time,” as Georgia O’Keeffe once said, “like to have a friend takes time.” It requires slowing down, opening up a non-judgmental space where genuine contact can be made. It is as Robert Irwin’s biography title states, “Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees.” It is seeing with all the senses, a process of synchronizing mind and body.

Clouds on Water - c. 2006

 My photography is integrated into the larger context of years of meditative practice as a Shambhala Buddhist.  The teachings on art and meditation of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, founder of Shambhala Buddhism; a poet and interdisciplinary artist in his own right, are at the core of my practice as an artist and teacher.  His book of collected teachings on art & meditation, True Perception have been influential in my approach to this work.
These images are part of a larger inquiry into the nature of the Five Great Elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Space), as part of my study of Vajrayana Buddhist philosophy. The entire manifested universe is composed of these elements.  They form a mandala of energetic qualities that manifest on the coarse, subtle and secret levels in all aspects of life; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  Understanding their nature we can more skillfully work with the world as it is.

I will follow this post with more on the elements in the coming days.  

For more information on Robert Irwin, I highly recommend his biography. 

Cover Image for Goddard College Clockworks Magazine

"Released"  by Rebekah Younger cover image for Fall 2009 Goddard College Alumni Magazine

I just got my copy in the mail of the Goddard College Alumni magazine which features one of my photographs on the cover.   While my clothing images have been published on the covers of national magazines in the past, this is my first cover featuring my own photography and artwork.   My photographic work is about capturing moments of clear seeing. There is magic in the phenomenal world and a certain sacredness that is accessible when the world is experienced anew, unfiltered by our conceptual ideas about what we are seeing. To wake up to the world as it is can feed the soul. My images are intended to encourage the viewer to slow down and contemplate the wonder of our world.

This image records the morning light through our front door onto the hand of my sculpture, "Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion", a life-size porcelain and mixed media figure of a Buddhist monk.  The rainbow light caught my eye, calling me to record the moment of magic with my digital camera.

Here is a picture of the entire sculpture shot in 2007 at an exhibit in Brunswick, Maine.

Avalokiteshvara Installation with wall hanging and flower arrangement at a Shambhala Art Festival 2007

Extracts Show Review in Maine Sunday Telegram

The day after my show opened at Addison Woolley Gallery, the owner, Susan, called me, saying excitedly that Philip Isaacson, the art critic from the Maine Sunday Telegram, had stopped by the show and was quite taken with my work. He asked for a picture to be included with a review he would write about the work. We waited a couple weeks and today the review is finally in the paper! Jim Kelly's work gets the lion's share of the review, talking about his abstractions of walls. Here is what he said about my "Extracts" series,
"I also make note of the digital photographs of Rebekah Younger. Titled generically "Extracts," they appear to do for paintings what Kelly does for walls, but in a more assertive manner. The color is bold, nearing violent, and the sense of movement is intense. These are strong, emotionally charged photographs created from the abundant forms Younger finds within paintings."
Well he almost got it right... It would have been a more powerful and accurate review if he had noted that they were all Extracts from the same painting and that painting was also my creation. But it is a mention, a beginning.
My goal for this show was to put my name on the map of the Maine art scene and this will certainly help me as I go forward. I hope it helps sell some of the work, as well, both for the gallery's sake and my own. In these tough economic times, as a newer gallery, Susan is struggling to keep her doors open. Please do take the time to see the show before it comes down on November 1. I am sure you are in for a treat.

Addison Woolley Gallery Opening and New Web Show site

For those of you who couldn't join us in Portland on Oct. 3 for the opening of my show at the Addison-Woolley Gallery here are a few pictures of the scene. The show is up until Nov. 1, so if you are in Portland, ME visit the gallery at 87 Market St. Check out the gallery website for show hours. All of these images were taken by my husband, Guy Marsden.

The gallery was brightly lit and ready for the artwalk crowds

The proud artist in front of her work. Dressed to make a statement and coordinated with the artwork, right down to the new streaks of red in the hair.

An early arrival checks out the images. The Extracts series certainly is a powerful statement when viewed all together.

An intrigued viewer questions me about my process. Each of these artworks, except for the one on the left of this image, are extracted from the same painting, by photographing cropped segments of my original mixed media painting with a macro lens. See the statement in the last post to learn more about these works. The piece behind my head is by Jim Kelly (see next picture)

Jim Kelly talks with a professor from the University of New England in front of one of his works that was part of the show. Jim starts with photographs of graffiti and other textures and then blows them up and paints on the surface. The other two artists in the show, Arunas Bukauskas and Paul Brahms both used photographic references to make drawings or paintings that were on display. Hence the title of the show was "Camera as Artist's Tool".

The crowd begins to fill in a bit as the night wears on.

The dialogue picks up as fellow Buddhist and artist, Peter Spano and I discuss Color energies and how they relate to this work. Clearly there is a lot of fire in these images which relate to both passion and compassion.

Talking with another guest about process.

All talked out and ready for dinner, the weary artist smiles for the camera.

The gallery hound, Rufus, looks ready to head home too.

You can now find my work in an online show of Maine Photographers. For a non-juried show the work is quite impressive and quite a range too. Amazingly few seashore or landscape shots and I don't recall any lighthouses, although there is at least one of lobster buoys. Don't get me started on the tyranny of these Maine icons on the art scene here!

Camera as Artist's Tool: Artwork by Rebekah Younger, Jim Kelly, Paul Brahms and Arunas Bukauskas

Well it is happening! I am exhibiting a whole collection of my photographs at a gallery in Portland, ME along with 3 other artists. The show is entitled, "Camera as Artist's Tool" and opens on Friday, October 3 - November 1 at the Addison-Woolley Gallery at 87 Market St. The opening is from 5-8 pm on October 3 and there will be an artist talk on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2pm. Come see the show if you can.

The show features work that either blurs the line between painting and photography like Jim Kelly's and my own or uses photography as a reference, like Arunas Bukauskas and Paul Brahms.

I will be showing my "Extracts - Firestroke series". These pieces are extracted photographs from an original mixed media painting. What do I mean by extracted? I used my camera to explore the painting in close detail with a macro lens, much as I have done with flowers. They are about examining the textures, lines and colors independent of the larger context. What emerges is a series of distilled compositions that are strong and richly layered.

Here is the statement I wrote for the show.

Is this a painting? Or is it a photograph? Are these distinctions relevant in an age where most art experiences are mediated by digital technology? In this series each medium was part of a creative process of discovery. In painting there is the urge to make a mark, to leave a trace of myself through the expressive line. My ego, or sense of self, expresses in layers of complexity, building up associations as the hand moves across the page. I use the camera to frame the image, separated from the physical act of making, looking with fresh eyes. In the process of perception, the composition is deconstructed and distilled by the act of photographing it. Fragments were extracted, as the eyes moved across the image, capturing lines, a shape, a color.


These images digitally record the process of looking, a process that creates new worlds of wholeness out of the fragmented impressions of an original composition. In our daily lives, do we not extract our vision of the world out of the whole in our effort to make sense and order out of the chaos of stimuli, seeking beauty and wholeness in the fragments?

If you can't make the show and would like to see more of these images visit my website, www.rebekahyounger.com You will find them under the digital mixed media category in artwork as "Extracts".
Comments always appreciated...