Artist's Statement

Joyce Ernst

The Centering project began after I had an unexplainable heart attack. The images were created as an antidote to the anxiety, uncertainty and fear I had experienced. They were born out of a new relationship with my own life, a deep desire to be in the natural world in real time, open and vulnerable and full of wonder.

These landscape images are about finding joy in the space between two opposites. The photographs in Centering look and feel effortless but at the same time seem equivocal. They are at once controlled and buoyant, uncomplicated yet engaging, still and moving, orderly yet still imbued with emotion.

Most people are uncomfortable with unpredictability and the unknown. They crave certainty and clarity in a world that increasingly offers confusion and chaos. The Centering project photographs were created as both an acknowledgement and a salve for this discomfort.

The photographs in Centering are 26 x 26 archival pigment prints framed out to 32 x 32 pieces.