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Sarah Walker applies systems theory to paint, producing work that is both highly theoretical and extremely personal. Systems theory asserts that no matter how complex or diverse our world, we will always discover different types of organization within it. Walker's large dense canvases explore the structural kinship between private mental space and public cyberspace. At the foundation of these two seemingly disparate realms is highly organized information. The differences lie in the ability of each to connect and communicate facts into ideas. Like systems theory itself, Walker's visual inquiry invokes many areas including philosophy, biology, psychology, mathematics, technology, and spirituality. She takes the common denominators:cells, zeros, ones, synapses, connectors; and translates the complex intersection of science and spirituality into the very human and personal realms of painting and looking.

Born in Bethesda, Maryland. Received BFA at California College of Arts and Crafts, and an MFA from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. Teaches at Clark University, Worcester, MA and is director of the University Gallery at Clark. Lives and works in South Boston, MA.

Recent solo exhibitions at Lillian Immig Gallery, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA; Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Creiger-Dane Gallery (2 person), Boston, MA; and Fletcher/Priest Gallery, Worcester, MA.

Participated in group shows at DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA; FPAC Gallery, Boston, MA; Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA; Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA; Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA; Creiger-Dane Gallery, Boston, MA; and Fitchburg Museum of Art, Fitchburg, MA.

press release

Spiraculum I
acrylic on paper on panel
44.5 x 51.5 in.

Descending Order III
acrylic on paper on panel
50 X 38 in.

In capturing ecstatic moments on film, Frank Yamrus' The Portrait Series:Rapture raises many public and personal issues about art and sexuality. Defined as "the state of being transported by lofty emotion; ecstasy," rapture is a highly ethereal and internal state. Yamrus is interested in giving it real physical dimension by documenting a variety of people during a quantifiable and reproducible rapturous experience: the orgasm. As portraits, the photographs reveal much about their subject and subjects.

A documentary approach was essential to emphasizing the psychological aspect and legitimacy of his work. Like Bernd and Hilla Becher and August Sander before him, Yamrus is consistent, almost scientific, in the organization, parameters, and logistics of the project. The black-and-white images present the subject, alone, from the shoulders up. In minimizing distracting or influential variables, specific and subtle individual differences stand out. But these are no clinical profiles. The delicacy of modulated light and detail make them visually compelling, regardless of content. Their emotional charge and intimacy is visceral and palpable. The faces and body language reflect many different states. Some are in bliss or serene while others seem frustrated, strained, even confrontational.

Given that we known the context of the image, the photographs raise emotional and political connotations for both the subject and viewer. They communicate a dimension of the sitter's perspective on intimacy, trust, performance, self-consciousness, sexual liberation. As viewers we add voyeurism to the list of issues.

And, of course, there is pornography. If the images were seen without prior knowledge of the context, would they be as challenging? Is there something intrinsically pornographic about an emotional state as conveyed by the human face? And despite the absence of any graphic "money shots" does their circumstance alone push them into pornography? Or does any art that holds up an uncomfortable mirror up to the viewer and society find itself in danger of moral questioning? Ask and answer, but above all, look.

Born in Kingston, PA. Received MBA from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. Currently Board Member, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA. Lives and works in San Francisco, CA and Provincetown, MA.

Recent solo exhibitions at Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown, MA; Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR; Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX; Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York, NY and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA.

Participated in group shows at Cornel Museum of Fine Art, Winter Park, FL; Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL; Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO; SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; Discoveries of the Fotoplace, Houston, TX; Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Wessel O’Connor Gallery, New York, NY; Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA and Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM.

Selected Public Collections: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA and Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL.

press release

Paul
gelatin silver print
20 x 24 in.

Astrud
gelatin silver print
20 x 24 in.