Michelle Rogers Pritzl: Soma
Read a full review of this exhibition, written by Arlene Distler, at https://vcphoto.org/review-of-soma/
From the Artist:
I am interested in anamnesis- the act of remembrance, and the tension between personal history and present life. Traumatic events mark us, change us, stay with us. Though time moves us towards recovery, there often remains a compulsion to act out that which was most painful.
I create self-portraits using physical metaphors that speak of ties to time, to the past. These tableaus, symbolic of the affect of trauma on the psyche, contain a character that moves through a dark space and ambiguous environment. The tasks, bindings and contortions affecting the character reflect the interior, unseen workings of the self.
My photographic process uses antique processes combined with composites, Photoshop and transparencies, breaking down the boundaries between antique and contemporary processes. Expanding on the theme of time, my image-making workflow mirrors the connection of the past to the present within the photographic medium.
This exhibition will be on display from Friday, January 2 through Sunday, February 1, 2015.
Opening Reception: Friday, January 2nd from 5:30 to 8:30pm.
Biography
Michelle Rogers Pritzl was born and raised in Washington DC, where she began studying photography in high school. Pritzl received a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in 2001, a MA from California State University in 2010, and a MFA in Photography from Lesley University College of Art, where she studied with Christopher James, in 2014. Her work explores the tension between past and present in our psychological lives as well as the photographic medium itself, often working in a digital/analogue hybrid.
Pritzl works in alternative and historic photographic processes, and has been widely exhibited in New York, New Orleans, Fort Collins, Boston and Washington DC, amongst others. Pritzl was a Critical Mass Top 250 finalist in 2013; she has been featured in Lenscratch, Noovo Editions, Diffusion Magazine, Lumen Magazine and her work as been recognized by the International Photography Awards, LensCulture and the Prix de la Photographie Paris.
Pritzl has taught photography and drawing in both high school and college for the last 10 years, most recently serving as an adjunct instructor at Lesley University College of Art, as well as leading workshops for the Griffin Museum of Photography. She is represented by Corbis Images.