Jan 21 to Apr 23, 2017
Susana Reisman: Standardizing Nature
About the Exhibition
Susana Reisman’s photographic and sculptural practice investigates the reasoning and decision making behind the ‘shape’ of things. She is interested in the natural environment and how it adapts (or is adapted) to the urban landscape. The two bodies of work on view, Standardizing Nature and On Technology (in the Collections Gallery) continue the artist’s exploration of wood as both subject and object. The enduring individuality and uniqueness of this material is highlighted, despite the various natural and technological modifications it experiences.
In Standardizing Nature, Reisman explores the transformation of trees into lumber. The photographs in this series document the various processes (cutting, sawing, and drying) that wood undergoes before it becomes the standardized product we buy in hardware stores. Paired here with F.H. Varley’s Second Growth, Lynn Peak (c. 1932–1936), these works speak to Reisman’s concern for the natural resources we harness from the earth and the role they play in our everyday lives.
This project is part of Present | Perfect | Continuous, a year-long exhibition celebrating the Varley Art Gallery’s 20th anniversary. The contemporary artists participating in the show bring new insights to the study of F.H. Varley’s work from our collection.
About the Artist
Susana Reisman was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1977. She received a BA in Economics from Wellesley College (Boston, 1999) and an MFA in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, 2005). After teaching photography for a number of years, Susana now dedicates her time to making art and running Circuit Gallery. She lives and works in Toronto.
