On a recent winter afternoon, Wendy Given spoke at the gallery about her current photography exhibit Turn Your Back to the Forest, Your Front to Me. We appreciate everyone braving the cold to attend!

Wendy discusses her artist residency in Caldera, Oregon,  where she created her current body of work for the exhibition.

Given (left) discusses her creative  process & the photograph, By the Boat of Charon.

Based on a witches ladder, Given explains the meaning  behind her rope and feather sculpture, Not All is Kept Hard or Soft.

Whitespace is pleased to present Turn Your Back to the Forest, Your Front to Me, a photography exhibit by Wendy Given.

Wendy Given produces work that resonates in the deep, dark and unstable ground between consciousness and collective memory. The current exhibition “Turn Your Back to the Forest, Your Front to Me” consists of various portraits, objects and scenes depicting the subtle locus between metaphor, allegory, fact and fiction. The majority of the work was conceived and produced during a month long artist residency in 2010 at Caldera and Blue Lake in idyllic Sisters, Oregon.

Given’s photographs and sculptures are constructed to introduce a contemporary narrative directed by centuries of folklore and legend—ultimately depicting the fine, delicate line between realism and imagination. Given is keenly interested in observing and documenting the otherworldly—or seemingly supernatural—in the everyday experience, realizing an ongoing fascination with myth and magic.

Wendy Given received her Master’s of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California and her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the Atlanta College of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work in photography and video has been exhibited in Germany, The Netherlands and nationally. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two dogs and cat.