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Nov. 25, 2005
See a little light magic
Avant-garde photo technique shines at the Zack.
BAILA LAZARUS
Look to the centre of “Valerie #1” to discover a disco
ball; step back from the iris to experience the effect of a flower
metamorphosing into a bird; move in close to the Hydra series and
discover web-like leaves.
While this may sound like an educational afternoon at Science World
(oops! Telus Sphere), it’s actually what can be experienced
at Le Jardin Intime, the new exhibit at the Sidney and Gertrude
Zack Gallery. It’s a novel show of Mia Weinberg’s camera-less
artwork that pushes the envelope merging technology and art.
Weinberg’s reputation is well-known at the gallery from her
previous series of photograms – prints formed, without a camera,
by putting an object in the glass of a projector and shining light
through to expose photographic paper.
In her latest exhibit, however, Weinberg has sidestepped even this
traditional mechanism. Moving from her previous topic-de-jour –
insects – Weinberg now focuses her attention on flowers. In
a thoroughly avant-garde use of the ubiquitous office scanner, Weinberg
places blossoms directly on the plate glass, shines light through
the objects and scans them onto her iBook as electronic files. Scanning
at an extremely high resolution, she then blows up the image to
reveal the details of its natural formation. But that’s only
the beginning.
“Once you have scanned the object, that’s only the first
part,” said Weinberg. “Then you have to see what the artwork
in the piece is.” She must decide how to crop the image and
what to do about the color. Working in Photoshop, Weinberg adjusts
the color until it “feels just right.” Although the powerful
program would allow Weinberg to manipulate the computer files in
hundreds of different ways, she limits the use primarily to adjusting
the overall hue, in addition to using a few tools.
“I don’t know a fraction of what Photoshop can do and
I don’t want to,” Weinberg explained. “I don’t
want to make things more complicated.”
The results of this two-step process are astounding. Colors range
from subtle, relaxing hues of blue to psychedelic palettes. Textures
make the surfaces look like fur or even glass. Flowers can be seen
in their entirety, showing the beauty of the whole, or blown up
so their identification is almost impossible.
“I have a background in physical sciences, but not biological
sciences, so I’m always surprised at the details,” Weinberg
said, pointing out the intricate little cilia at the edge of a leaf
– a trait that would be invisible to the human eye, but becomes
apparent once enlarged.
Weinberg is also appreciative of the fact that enlarging the images
changes the flowers themselves, to the point where people can see
other images in the artwork.
In “Fée Bleue,” for example, the way the light
reflects off the curves of the petals creates the effect of a candle
shining through delicate blue glass; and the leaves in “Hydra”
look like dozens of insect wings frozen immobile in ice. The effect
is remarkable and often unseen by Weinberg herself.
“That’s why I like hearing other people’s comments,”
said Weinberg. “For me, it’s harder to see those aspects
– like dancing figures or glass.”
Besides the numerous hours she devotes to her chefs d’oeuvre,
Weinberg also works as an art consultant for D’or Art, which
helps companies furnish their offices with original artwork.
Le Jardin Intime runs until Dec. 12 at the Jewish Community Centre
of Greater Vancouver, 950 West 41st Ave. For more information, contact
Reisa Schneider at 604-257-5111, ext. 244, or e-mail [email protected].
For more information on Weinberg’s art, visit www.miaweinberg.ca.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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