NEW YORK, NY.- Dual Perspectives considers the subject of traditional photographic process- photogram, collage, wet collodion that allows for new experiments and original aesthetics. The two artists Joanne Dugan and Nadezda Nikolova take on this subject in their own way to configuring the narrative of their purpose.

Joanne Dugan explores the intersections between analog photography, painting, sculpture and mindfulness. Her work focuses on photography as a physical medium and on seeing as a dynamic, cognitive process that connects people through shared, contemplative viewing experiences. “Through my practice I seek to unearth the potential for the movement hidden within traditional still photographic processes. I am attracted to photographic abstraction and collaged, repeated forms because they allow for open interpretation by the viewer and an opportunity for visual encounters that can evoke a quiet interconnectedness to all things. The final works become as much about the reactions of the viewer as they are about the visual presence of the works themselves, or in the words of James Turrell, “I hope that when you see my work you are looking at yourself looking.” Every piece I make is a visual reminder to bring my attention back to the present.”

Dugan’s one-of-a-kind images are made from Cyanotype, Silver Gelatin and other traditional light-sensitive photographic materials and are informed by Buddhist principles and her ongoing mindfulness meditation practices.

Joanne Dugan, born Wilmington (DE), lives and works in New York City, She is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in Photography.

“Through my practice I seek to unearth the potential for the movement hidden within traditional still photographic processes. I am attracted to photographic abstraction and collaged, repeated forms because they allow for open interpretation by the viewer and an opportunity for visual encounters that can evoke a quiet interconnectedness to all things. The final works become as much about the reactions of the viewer as they are about the visual presence of the works themselves, or in the words of James Turrell, “I hope that when you see my work you are looking at yourself looking.” Every piece I make is a visual reminder to bring my attention back to the present.”

Nadezda Nikolova, born in Novi Sad (former Yugoslavia), is anchoring her work in a deep connection to the landscape and fascination with the photo-based object. Her work investigates on how observing nature informs contemplation, perception, and identity. Her process through the wet collodion practice, involves daily walks to connect with the landscape. The experimental camera-less compositions created through multiple exposures allude to landscapes, light and atmospheric phenomena, and organic forms found in nature.

Drawing on poetry, literature and a myriad of artistic influences including Japanese Notan design, Matisse paper-cuts and the organic landscapes of Georgia O’Keefe, Nadezda Nikolova creates photographic compositions which become sculptural in their focus on the object yet have the depth and thought of a painting. Using geometrical shapes and floating planes, these works build on her preceding series of landscapes taking them to a higher level of abstraction. With the materiality of the photographic medium, she seeks to record intangible aspects of the landscape, as she experiences them, through immersion and observation, without the camera’s capacity for transcription.

Nikolova’s practice is inextricably linked to her way of life. The physical process of creating work uses her daily ritual of walking in the redwood forests near her home in Oakland, California to connect with nature and respond intuitively whilst reflecting her beliefin the concept of immanence.