Grace Weston
June 13 – August 13, 2017
Reception June 13, 2017 6:30 - 8:00
Talk at 6:30 followed by reception.
Grace Weston creates narrative photography in her studio with staged vignettes that address psychological themes.
“The Long Night” and “Neo Noir” by Grace Weston are featured in the Griffin Museum’s Atelier Gallery at the Stoneham Theatre from June 13th through August 13th, 2017. The opening reception will take place on June 13, 2017 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm. Weston will be giving a talk at the reception at 6:30pm.
“As an artist working in the genre of staged photography,” Weston notes, “I construct, light, and photograph miniature, staged vignettes in my studio to address the questions and contradictions of life, both large and small. Like other photographers who have staged their scenes, I am attracted to the open possibilities the “blank canvas” offers, using the camera to construct and express my narratives.” In the series, “The Long Night,” Weston’s use of isolated figures, directed studio lighting, and selective focus points to the nostalgic genres of film noir and 1930s spy films. Although there may not be humans depicted in her photographs, “…the human psyche is undeniably at the center of [her] work.”
A 2015 Artist Trust Fellowship Award recipient (Washington), Grace was nominated in both 2014 and 2012 for Portland Art Museum’s Contemporary Northwest Art Awards (Oregon). In 2012, her work was received with acclaim in her first European solo show at Paci Contemporary in Brescia, Italy. Grace received honorable mentions in the International Kontinent Awards 2013 and Center Forward 2013. She was a finalist in PhotoEspana’s Descubrimientos 2009 (Spain) and one of the Whatcom Museum 2008 Photography Biennial’s “Nine to Watch” (Washington). The Oregon Arts Commission honored Grace with an Individual Artist’s Fellowship in 2006. Public collections include those of the Portland Art Museum, University of Oregon, Seattle Public Utilities Portable Artworks Collection, Photographic Center Northwest, Portland Community College, 4 Culture King County, and the City of Seattle. She has exhibited widely in the United States, as well as in Europe and Scandinavia. Her work has been featured in print magazines in Italy, Spain, China, and the Netherlands, as well as on many international online magazines. Grace’s work is included in the book Microworlds, published in 2011 by Laurence King Publishing (UK).
Grace has also been commissioned to create her unique style of staged narrative photography in the editorial world, illustrating writings in “O the Oprah Magazine” and “Discover Magazine”, and creating the cover imagery for CDs, books and several city magazines, including “Portland Monthly”, “Seattle Metropolitan”, “Pittsburgh Magazine”, and Seattle’s weekly paper “The Stranger”.
Originally from New Jersey, Grace has lived most of her life on the West Coast, currently residing in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and biggest cheerleader, architect Michael Payne, and their two cats, who remain indifferent.
Grace Weston is represented by wall space gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
