I was caught completely off guard the weekend of the opening reception of the 'Distracted Abstraction' exhibition at the Metchosin ArtPod. My piece, Shift, was awarded Juror’s Choice at the opening. My mind was blown.

Walking into a show titled 'Distracted Abstraction', you expect to see a room dominated by abstract paintings, and it certainly was. As one of the few photographic works in the room, I didn’t expect to walk away with an award of any kind, but a juror's choice? Amazing. It is incredibly validating to see a historic, labor-intensive process like wet plate collodion recognized in a contemporary art space like the Metchosin ArtPod.

With 'Shift', I wanted to push past the traditional, static likenesses usually associated with 19th-century portraiture. By utilizing the transparency of hand-poured glass ambrotypes and suspending multiple plates inside a deep shadow box, the portrait becomes a three-dimensional object. The portraits are intentionally stacked so that as you move around the piece, the alignment changes, edges blur, structures loosen, and the face alters expression based on your angle of view.

Here is what the exhibition juror had to say about the work:

"This piece shifts between realism and abstraction magically with floating fragmented faces behind glass, that simultaneously look trapped and liberated. I was struck by how the work comes alive with the way the face changes expression while looking at it from different angles. It has that ethereal quality, like old photographs do, but with a modern twist of being more like a hologram. I chose this piece because it encapsulates the theme of the show so perfectly, and it’s stunning!!" - Sheryl Fisher, mixed media artist

For me, the win confirms that photography doesn't have to just be a flat, literal record of a moment. By treating the medium sculpturally, it can occupy that "in-between" space where realism begins to fragment into intuition.

The Distracted Abstraction show runs until Sunday June 28th, so if you are out in Metchosin, do drop in and see the work in person. The physical depth of the glass is something that a flat screen simply cannot replicate.

Visit the 'Distracted Abstraction' on-line gallery here: https://apabstraction.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery

View my statement here:
https://apabstraction.artcall.org/submissions/qr-view/766315

View my ArtPod artist profile here:https://apabstraction.artcall.org/pages/participating-artists/181487-ken-miner