Paloma Dooley was born and raised in New York. She earned a BA in photography from Bard College in 2015. In 2016, she completed a monthlong residency at the Vermont Studio Center. Her recent work has been featured on new photography platforms such as Der Greif, Aint-Bad, Paper Journal, and others. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
What it Feels Like to be a Beautiful Rectangle
Sometimes when I’m in a museum or gallery, and I see framed paintings, drawings, photographs on the wall, all I can think is: why are some rectangles so special and important, and others not at all? Are there not many other rectangles out in the world that are worthy of our lauding and attention? In “What it Feels like to be a Beautiful Rectangle,” I set out to find accidental and on-purpose works of art, and I delight in the power of being able to re-contextualize objects by photographing them and placing them alongside one another.
It is powerful to be able to go out into the world and put a frame around a certain grouping of items, a certain space, or even a person. When I photograph, I am conscious of using the frame to create—between objects—relationships and spaces that had not previously existed. Photography is akin to a sort of ownership. Photography is a way to cut to the core of something and reveal the ecstatic kernel of life inside, no matter how tiny. I like being able to re-present representation and investigate what it means for something to be on display in the world, or what it means for something to be painted or drawn. Above all, I am interested in the transformative power of attention: what happens to something when we look at it, draw it, photograph it? Does it become important? How important is important enough? What does it feel like to be a beautiful rectangle, on the wall of a special cube, in an important city?
To view more of Paloma Dooley’s work please visit their website.