Art gallery features memory photo exhibit

Courtesy Photo
This piece by Mary Kathyn Wimberly, titled “Glance,” is one of the pieces that will be on exhibit at the Croft Art Gallery throughout September.

By Hayley Gibson
Reporter

How much reality does a vague childhood memory retain, and how much is fabricated over time? In their exhibition, photographers Leah Gose and Mary Kathryn Wimberly seek to capture the fragments of our memories as we remember them.

Gose and Wimberly’s two-person exhibition of alternative processed photographs opened to the general public with an opening reception on Friday.

The photographs will be on display and can be purchased at Croft Art Gallery until Sept. 28.

The two, combined Wimberly’s “Know and Recall” project and Gose’s “The Sum of Personal Histories” to form their collection “Capricious Notions of Recollection.”

Wimberly said the collection is all about how the mind processes and experiences memories, whether that may be a family experience or a recollection of being in a particular place.

“I hope people will think about things they’ve taken for granted and examine the preciousness of being able to recall memories,” Wimberly said.

The two photographers met in graduate school at Texas Woman’s College, where they both earned their masters of fine arts in photography.

After some conversations about their individual work, they realized there were a lot of overlapping ideas of memory and history in their photography.

Tanner Freeman, Manager of the Croft Art Gallery, described the collection as very “Americana” and “whimsical,” in addition to maintaining two very cohesive bodies of work that fit well together.

“It’s like seeing photography break from its frame and step out,” Freeman said.

The photographs combine both old and new pictures using a solvent transfer method, achieved by printing fragments of photographs in small sections and transferring them onto specialty paper.

The photos are then enhanced with a colored pencil to create a ghostly, nostalgic appearance.

Croft Art Gallery has been located in downtown Waco for 3 years and has hosted a variety of artists both locally and regionally. Wimberly and Gose’s prints are sold from $400-600.

The “Capricious Notions of Recollection” fits perfectly with the unique artwork that Croft Art Gallery chooses from local artists who push the limits of art to create unique pieces of work.

Wimberly and Gose live and work in Dallas and show their work around the country.

Wimberly is currently an adjunct instructor of photography at various Dallas universities and colleges.

Croft Art Gallery is located at 712 Austin Avenue in downtown Waco.