January 13, 2024 through February 07, 2024
Photography Happens • Sarah Abbott & Rachel Wolf
Photography Happens is a collaborative exhibition by Sarah Abbott and Rachel Wolf that explores the ways in which photography has profoundly inspired two individual practices. This exhibition showcases two artists’ very different approaches to their making of photographs, but punctuates their interests in parallel themes of fragmentation, tension between subject and object, disruption on the photographic plane, and concepts of the everyday and perception. Together, Abbott and Wolf engage in a dialogue that transcends the ordinary and challenges the conventional.
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Sarah Abbott (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Portland Oregon. She earned her BA in Studio Arts with a minor in Psychology from San Francisco State University, and her MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Together with three MFA colleagues, she co-founded FO(u)RT Collective, an interdisciplinary art collective dedicated to collaboration, critical discourse, and collective exhibitions.
Abbott’s art practice is emphatically centered around photography and the medium’s ability to promote pleasure in seeing everyday surroundings in new ways. Domestic subjects, scenes and situations are captured with an eager and exploratory lens, printed, and oftentimes manipulated. Using photography in tandem with mediums such as collage, sculpture, bookbinding, sewing and embroidery, she experiments with the surface of the printed image to explore what happens when subject and content differ and inject complexity in seemingly simple images of everyday subjects. Abbott currently exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally.
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Rachel Wolf (she/her) is a professional photographer specializing in camera-less photography, alternative/antique processes, and the creation of immersive environments through light-based installations. Born and raised in Alaska, Wolf’s work is profoundly shaped by the interplay of light and its absence in her surroundings. Her direct encounters with the aurora borealis fueled a deep appreciation for the transcendent qualities of light, serving as both muse and focal point in her artistic practice.
As an educator and speaker, Wolf delights in inspiring others by sharing her passion for light and photography. She champions the collaborative nature of art and its potential for community-building. Wolf is a co-founder of FO(u)RT Collective, a collaborative multi-disciplinary arts group dedicated to critical discourse and creating, curating, and organizing exhibitions and events. Additionally, as an engaged member of The Guild at LightBox Photographic Gallery, Wolf actively contributes to the group’s mission of cultivating an appreciation for diverse photography processes through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative endeavors.
Wolf’s work has garnered recognition both nationally and internationally, with exhibitions spanning Germany, Hungary, Canada, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Portland. Her photographs are featured in public and private collections. A graduate of Hampshire College (BA) and Pacific Northwest College of Art (MFA), Wolf currently enjoys her creative pursuits in her Portland, OR darkroom.