Ms. Pochron moved to New York in 1987 to study at Pratt Institute. She had her first solo exhibition at Peter Madero Gallery in 1996. Her last solo exhibition, Umami, was as in 2008 at Safe-T Gallery in Dumbo Brooklyn. Selected works from Umami are also included in Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography By Susan Bright published in 2010. In 2013 she presented an artist lecture on her work at the Center for Alternative Processes. She had notable works in Coming Together; Surviving Sandy, 1 Year at the Dedalus Foundation in 2013. Her work was included in Her Wherever, an exhibition at Halsey Mckay Gallery curated by Sara Greenberger Rafferty and Sara VanDerBeek in the fall of 2016.
Works of an Invocation
What stories does a color tell? Is there truth, fiction or maybe a hue of poetry written within the blending of a tonal range? The colors in my photographs are made in the darkroom using just light, emulsion and my emotion. I photograph theses swatches of color so that they can become backgrounds, foregrounds as well as the subject of my photographs. These images contain bits of myself photographed and physicality ripped, stacked, arranged to be photographer again and again. All of this to evoke a memory of what it tasted like all those years before. Pieces of my body spanning 25 years layered together with images of my current self to understand history, or to possibly attempt to remake history? The studio creates a space to face loss as well as the future. It is there I delve into the depths of mourning to find joy through light, my body and the power of color to arouse an instinctive response from my viewer.
This work is shot on film in studio with a large format camera. The colored backgrounds and colored bits are photographic prints I make in an analogue color darkroom by exposing light sensitive paper with filtered light. By doing this I create the perfect balance of colors and color combinations for each still life. I collage objects, photographed objects, as well as prints and Polaroid’s from my archive. The end product is an analogue photographic print that I make in a darkroom.
To view more of Julie Pochron’s work please visit their website.