In her most recent work, Laura J. Padgett continues her exploration into public and private space and the places in between. The way in which we structure and delineate our environment is always an expression of our relationship to society and is coincident to the visual. In many situations the gaze replaces our physical ability to enter a particular location.
The artist’s main theme remains photography’s ability to depict things while fostering conceptual narratives that can be experienced by means of perception.
How do we understand surfaces and space? How do we consciously negotiate these complex conditions? The visible, lines, colors, shapes and structures also express peoples’ relationships to their immediate surroundings and living conditions. The photographs open up these spaces, making them navigable.
The films and photographs shown in the exhibition have been produced during the last two years and thematise the relationship between the still and the moving image as well as between public and private space. The shifts between image and depiction, the notion of presence, in addition to questions regarding perception, are ongoing themes in Padgett’s work and address our relationship towards the visual and the narrative.