During my entire photographic artist career, landscape or elements that reference landscape have been my main aesthetic themes. This most recent body of work, Transitory States, continues these concerns. Wabi-Sabi – the aesthetic of imperfection and impermanence perfectly describes this work. Counter to the normal expectation of “beautiful color”, faded, muted tones direct the viewer to consider our life cycle. Our cultural emphasis on youth, freshness, and perfection, misses the importance of experience, of life well-lived. My images explore the aging process and all the signs of passing time. Surfaces wrinkle and may fade. Small creatures suddenly appear on plant materials attempting to live from its declining vigor. Any hint of fragrance no longer remains to enjoy. As negative as this may sound, I have come to embrace the aging process and look to a more mature appreciation of all stages of life. I employ a 100-megapixel camera, macro lens, and controlled lighting, while isolating the subject against black velvet. “Stack focus” allows the series of frames (as many as 60) to be composited into a final image that encompass the entire object with absolute crispness and detail. Original plant pieces may be as small as 3” and I have successively printed as large as 40” x 60”. My usual print size 32” x 40”, matted and framed in black. My attitude toward composition is one that presents a significant form when seen at a distance but must also reward the viewer with interesting detail when viewed closely.
Ardine Nelson, Professor Emerita holds BS Art Ed, MA Sculpture/Photography, and MFA Photography. She came to OSU Dept. of Photography and Cinema in 1974 and retired from Dept. of Art in 2011. Besides teaching all aspects of Photography, in the summer of 1995 taught the first Adobe Photoshop course at OSU. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, has received Guggenheim Fellowship, Ohio Arts Council and Greater Columbus Arts Council Individual Artist’s Fellowships, was GCAC visiting artist Spain in early 90’s and visited Slovakia to teach alternative camera workshops. Her work is included in numerous public collections including Columbus Museum of Art, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography Columbia College Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts–Houston, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, and Technische Sammlungen Dresden. Nelson’s practice includes traditional and non-traditional use of cameras and materials. Her German Schrebergarten work was recognized through a Graham Foundation Advanced Studies in Fine Arts grant and John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography. Her body of work, Ceilings, explored formal visual aspects of structures in the process of repurposing/renovation or demolition. Nelson’s recent projects explore specimens from the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity collections and currently, the aging process in “Transitory States”.