[Middle Room Gallery] "Land and Water" @ The Middle Room Gallery

[Jason Pitzl-Waters]

The Middle Room Gallery
@ The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
218 W. Main St., Urbana IL 61801
http://www.gallery.ucimc.org/

The Middle Room Gallery is proud to announce the kick-off of it's 2003-2004 
season!

Our first show of the fall will be a group photography show "Land and 
Water" curated by Lissa Raybon. Lissa is a graduate of the University of 
Illinois with an MFA in Photography (1989), studied photography with Less 
Krims and Bea Nettles, both renowned photographers known largely for their 
storytelling through images. Lissa is the owner of Better Image Film Lab in 
Champaign.

The group show will focus on landscape and nature photography and will 
feature local photographers Lisa Billman, Jennifer Gentry and Lissa Raybon.

The show runs from September 8th - 30th

There will be a reception for the artists on Saturday, September 13th from 
7-9pm.
Spirits provided by The Corkscrew Wine Emporium
Food provided by Strawberry Fields

Artist Statements:

Lissa Raybon:

Photographing landscapes has always been a way for me to de-stress. I have 
never done anything with them after they were shot. This year, I have had 
the privilege of working with a few people whose landscapes really stand 
out. Seeing their work made me look a little closer at my own. They have 
inspired me. One artist’s work that I admire greatly could not be in this 
show at this time.

My usual work is to collage media images together to evoke a thought or 
question as to the way we as a society chooses to interact with one 
another. I have been a custom printer for 22 years and although I have 
printed many beautiful images for people, most of them are solitary lucky 
shots. These few people only know each other through me. What they 
experience through the process of image making might make them fast friends.

As I began to think about their bodies of work, I realized that my 
de-stressing and taking landscape photographs actually could help evoke a 
change in the way we live and interact with each other. This show for me is 
an attempt to get people to slow down and talk to each other
about their 
sameness and their differences in experience and opinions.
Although we all see things individually and analyze it based on our own 
lives, there is nothing like a quiet moment in time to put a positive spin 
on the ugly parts of our world around us. Turn off the T.V.

Lisa Billman:

As a young child, I sought refuge from familial chaos by retreating into 
the sanctuary of nature. Less than two years ago following horrific losses, 
I returned. Using my camera and a fresh eye, I interact with the intimate 
details of nature and their interface with the metaphysical realm. My 
photography reflects my intuitive interaction with and examination of the 
life cycle as I capture the ongoing process of birth, growth, and death in 
relationship to the parallels of human existence.

Jennifer Gentry:

Being a financial person, I sit indoors without a window, in front of a 
computer most of the time. I have found over the course of years, that I 
seek adventure travels to feed me and keep me going. The trips I take bring 
me to places that most people never get to see or experience. I am moved by 
the landscape that I am in whether it is kayaking in a fast river or hiking 
in the desert, far away from daily life.

It is not the danger I seek, but the concentration of just surviving.

Photographing the world beyond the city walls helps me to describe my 
adventures and the emotions I experience that I do not have words for. None 
of us needs to travel far to dream. It is outside, wherever you look.

After the opening is over, be sure to stop by The Iron Post just a block 
away in downtown Urbana for a great night of folk music in support of 
Grrrl-Fest 2003!

Iron Post :: 120 S Race U, 217.337.7678 :: 9:3p-1a
Aerin Tedesco and Andrea Bunch
Joni Laurence
Eleni Moraites


Jason Pitzl-Waters
jason at ucimc.org
Acting Coordinator
The Middle Room Gallery