Statement
Memento Vivere- Remember to Live

My recent work expands an ongoing investigation of the interaction of memory, the passage of time, and of identity. I am keenly interested in how memory forms our sense of being and how that can be affected by the contradictions that the past and the present pose. In the act of remembering there is a point where reality and the interpretation of reality cross, and it’s that intersection that I wish to explore.

As a visual artist, I have found the qualities of photography, darkroom manipulation, and the malleability of paint to be uniquely sympathetic to this search. They allow me to intercede in the moment that a fixed image presents, juxtaposing within it a deeply subjective view of reality, formed in the shadow of remembrance.

This series is personal and explores my memories of my brother- searching for that intersection between the memory of him visually and the memory of him viscerally. My process involves a push and a pull rhythm- fluctuating between the photographic act, which creates an emotional distance with the camera as a barrier, and an intimate physical process (printing and painting the image), which connects me even closer to his memory in a tangible way.

In the series Memento Vivere, I am presenting a solitary protagonist in a narrative that plays out across the series. Various objects and symbols are combined with the figure portraying conceptual themes of memory, a sense of being, loss, identity, empathy, and the passage of time evoking an intimate visual language echoing personal dreams and childhood memories.  – MM

Bio
Born in Monterey California, Molly McCall was surrounded by infamous photographers and the West Coast Landscape tradition. With a family influence in clothing, she began her creative career designing her own label and selling to numerous specialty boutiques including Henri Bendel in New York, Fred Segal in Los Angeles, and Nordstrom, where she was awarded their most favored designer in California.

Molly’s earliest influence on art making came from her great grandfather, an illustrator for the New York Times, and grandfather, a professional watercolorist in Southern California. She started painting and photography at an early age, and later attended Laguna Beach School of Art. After nearly two decades as a designer in the fashion industry, Molly returned to painting and darkroom photography.
Molly McCall’s work has been recognized with several awards including the Abstract Art Award by the Julia M. Cameron Awards for Women Photographers, as well as Honorable Mention awards for her work represented at the 5^th Barcelona Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary, Best in Show Award from the Colorado Photographic Art Center, the EMERGE Award from the Midwest Center for Photography, and the Griffin Museum of Photography Solo Show Award. Several print publications have also featured her work including Architectural Digest Magazine, Diffusion Magazine, and The Hand Magazine. Recent exhibitions across the US include the Los Angeles Center for Photography, Griffin Museum of Photography, Midwest Center for Photography, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Center of Fine Art Photography, the Martin Museum of Art, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Houston Center for Photography, SohoPhoto, the Center for Photographic Art, and the Museum of the Big Bend. Her work has recently been exhibited Internationally in shows in Spain and United Kingdom.  Molly resides in Carmel Valley California with her husband Gordon and their German Shorthaired Pointers.

View Molly McCall’s website.