Artist Statement
This ongoing body of work is an exploration of the peripheral, the insignificant and sometimes monumental spaces. I’m drawn to intersections of public and private, natural vs. the built environment, literal and metaphorical boundaries that offer protection as well as isolation. Acknowledging that place suggests an experiential encounter and space points to the unknown, these images invoke the dichotomy of an intimate encounter against the distanced backdrop of foreign observation. They are, in one sense, more about the act of looking than a narrative about place. They operate within a perpetually passing moment–ambiguous fragments of the material world.
Process Statement
I chose the title to draw parallels between the concept of differentiated natures, with references to first nature, following natural laws of instinct, and second nature, learned cultural cues and behaviors. In some sense, I am searching for an idealized landscape on these islands that is reflective of the garden: highly manipulated, tightly controlled and cultivated; offering a mediated interaction with the natural world while contextualizing it within a broader topographical and conceptual framework. Referring simultaneously to the manipulation of nature while acknowledging the inherent limitations of the monocular view through the lens, these images are rendered with the knowledge that they transform and construct their own version of reality.
Martina Shenal is an Associate Professor of Art in the Photography division at The University of Arizona. She earned her MFA from Arizona State University and a BFA from The Ohio State University.
How to use our image viewer
Click on any of the thumbnail images to launch the viewer. You can then navigate forward and backward within the portfolio by clicking the left or right side of the enlarged image. Click the add to collection checkbox to automatically add an image to your collection. Image tags or search engine keywords appear below the collections' checkbox and each word or phrase is a link to potentially more image matches.