Blackdamp
A play in four acts
hi there -
Finally a little colder now + looking forward to the northern chill that threatens. crossing fingers for big snow this year, snow Everywhere…
Writing to share that I have a show titled BLACKDAMP A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS currently on view at the Gelsy Verna Gallery in Art Lofts in Madison, Wisconsin. Had a big conversation with friend + fantastic photographer Henry Archer some weeks ago about a distant cousin he ran into at a wedding who does work finding and backfilling abandoned mine shafts in West Virginia. This conversation + thinking always about the literal zone between the aboveground and belowground worlds led to the work in this show - what does that zone look like + what happens there? What creatures exist at that site?
Text:
BLACKDAMP A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS
ACT ONE YOU ARE ABOVEGROUND. EVERYTHING IS WICKED. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS BEING PALMED. NOTHING IS SHORT OF PERFECT
ACT TWO IT THREATENS, PERHAPS ONLY BECAUSE IT MIGHT SPILL OVER INTO THE MATERIAL WORLD. YOU LIKE ITS THREATENING ASPECT - THOUGH YOU NEGLECT TO SAY THIS WHEN WE SIT TOGETHER AT THE TABLE MADE FROM GNEISS BLACK SHALE AND SLEDDING EARTHROCK. OUR CRATERS POINT IN ONE DIRECTION (DOWN)
ACT THREE THERE IS A BLURRINESS TO IT. SOMETIMES STEPS LEADING DOWN. SOMETIMES IT’S SLEIGHT OF HAND. AND SOMETIMES THE ENTRANCE IS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE REST OF THE FOREST. THE MISSING PEOPLE OF THE MOUNTAINS ARE FOUND IN THESE HOLES. DO NOT FORGET THAT EVERY MINE IS A GRAVESITE
ACT FOUR THE GATE IS OPEN GO THROUGH IT
________
Other news from the end of the summer:
The Castle of the Cormorants is currently on view at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Many thanks to the museum and the jurors for selecting this work for a Juror’s Choice Award.
The Old Sulphur Mine is on view at SRO Gallery in Lubbock, Texas. Thank you to curators Joshua Mokry and Matthew Mishevski for including me in this group show.
Some work from Karst is on view at the Scarab Club in Detroit, Michigan for SPE’s Midwest Chapter conference.
The Grotto: Hybrid is on view at the Clara M. Eagle Gallery in Murray, Kentucky, as part of their Magic Silver Show through Oct 14th.
I will be running a silver gelatin printing demo during UW-Madison’s Open Studio Day at 1pm on Saturday, October 25 - hope to see any Madison locals who are interested in learning how to print!
Very excited to announce that my work was included in the 2025 Photolucida’s Critical Mass Top 200, and I was named as one of Lenscratch’s Top 25 To Watch for their 2025 Student Prize.
I will be chairing a panel titled Photography as Invocation: Mysticism, Gender, and the Act of Self-Authorization at the Society for Photographic Education’s national conference in Atlanta, GA in March 2026. The selected panelists for this session are Nadia Sablin, Olivia Johnston, Kelsey Sucena, and Lily LaGrange. so so excited to have a conversation with these artists!
Recent work has been published in Zone Magazine’s 4th collective issue, ZIVNE, and in Wych Elm Press’s zine On the Edge of Town. Copies of these publications are still available!
Excited to be invited to a two week residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. I’ll be there Jan 5-16, 2026 - if you’re in the area, holler at me :)
Karst blankets are still available! Check them out here:
Late summer playlist:
i love you + talk soon,
yours,
n