When Susan Worsham was just eighteen her brother took his own life after severing his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident. As a young girl she had already lost her father to a heart attack, and finally in 2004, she lost her mother as well. In the words of Worsham, "Shortly after my mother passed I came across a set of antique veterinary slides. They were some of the most interesting things that I had ever seen. I framed ninety of them in a long wooden frame resembling the shape of the slide itself. It was the first piece of art that I made after my mother died. I called the piece a watercolor because of the collection of pastel colors, but it was also a sort of poem when you got close and read the titles ... Rabbit's Lung, Fowl's Spleen, and even Human Umbilical Cord. They seemed to hold beauty and death at the same time." Worsham went on to photograph her old childhood home as well as her oldest neighbor, Margaret Daniel. Margaret is one of the last remaining threads from Worsham's childhood and was the last person to see her brother alive. She made him her homemade bread, and he finished the whole loaf before he shot himself. The story came full circle one day when Margaret brought out her dissection kit and microscope slides. She had been a biology teacher and was holding on to the same sort of slides that fascinated Worsham. Margaret's microscope and slides have since become a metaphor for Worsham's desire to look deeper into the landscape of her childhood-from the flora and fauna to the feelings, Margaret calls it "blood work.' All together, the photographs and accompaniments in Bittersweet/Bloodwork speak of the poetry of childhood, nature, discovery, love, and loss. "I can remember one particular time when I visited Margaret," says Worsham. "I looked out of her large picture window and saw what looked like a nest or hammock of small red berries draped between the winter trees. I asked Margaret what it was. She answered, 'Why, that's bittersweet. Bittersweet on Bostwick Lane.'" This catalogue includes an essay by Shane Lavalette.

Contact Sheet 168: Bittersweet/Bloodwork

Arts & Photography

Light Work

Susan Worsham

Shane Lavalette

Photography & Video

Raymond Meeks work in photography is an extension of his life and family. It stays with viewers because of this inherent honesty and his way of uncovering simple beauty in the things around him. Since 2000, Meeks has produced over twenty publications, of which twelve have been self-published and distributed. Many of Meeks books can be difficult to find, yet to view any one book will be a memorable, emotional experience for most. For this exhibition at Light Work, we are lucky to exhibit more than fifteen books, including his Orchard collaboration with other artists. This catalogue includes a conversation between Raymond Meeks and Light Works director Shane Lavalette.

Contact Sheet 179: Raymond Meeks

RAYMOND MEEKS

Letha Wilsons photographic, sculptural work begins as an exploration into our understanding of landscape. By alluding to conventions of romanticism and mythology, and expanding the possibilities of interpretation through abstraction, Wilson exposes the photographs inability to truly contain the place it represents. Her images of the American Westvast canyons, desert plants, and skyare formed into sculptural objects that utilize the physical space of the gallery. At times embedded into walls, floors, and ceilings, even wrapping around (or through) architectural details, her inventive and playful approach to installation informs the tactile experience of her work. Wilson intervenes the static image by folding, distorting, and bending iconic landscapes into complex forms that elicit the sheer weight and beauty of the sublime. Wilson spent the month of February 2015 as an Artist-in-Residence at Light Work in Syracuse, where she produced a selection of new works for the exhibition Sight Specific (March 17 July 18, 2015). This catalogue includes an essay by Light Works director Shane Lavalette.

Contact Sheet 181: Letha Wilson

Letha Wilson

Shane Lavalette was commissioned by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to create a new series of photographs for their 2012 exhibition, Picturing the South. Lavalette's monograph, One Sun, One Shadow, is an extension of this body of work. Native to the Northeast, it was primarily through traditional music the sounds of old time, blues, and gospel that Lavalette had formed a relationship with the South. With that in mind, the region s rich musical history became the natural entry point for this project and the resulting photographs. Moved by the themes and stories past down in songs, Lavalette let the music itself carry the pictures. One Sun, One Shadow includes a text by artist and poet Tim Davis.

One Sun, One Shadow

Tim Davis

Lavalette

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shane Lavalette. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shane Lavalette

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shane Lavalette. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Contact Sheet 168: Bittersweet/Bloodwork

Contact Sheet 179: Raymond Meeks

Contact Sheet 181: Letha Wilson

One Sun, One Shadow