PLENTY: Davy from Professor Linn Underhill’s Close to Home exhibition.
Associate Professor of Art and Art History Linn Underhill is currently featuring her photography in an exhibition titled Close to Home, on view at the Clifford Gallery until April 4.
During the opening reception, Underhill candidly opened up about her personal struggles with the art of photography, her family history, and her search for her own identity.
“Photography helps me figure out my place in the world,” she said.
One of the most momentous points in Underhill’s journey with photography was when she visited the childhood home of her father. He had died when Underhill was 12 years old, and she went to Sonoma County, Calif., 40 years later to search for traces of him.
Underhill had been struggling with using a view camera, but realized that “suddenly, the camera was no longer my enemy.” Rather than forcing a perfect image, she said, “I [just] wanted to find some evidence of my father.” Two Polaroid pictures that she took of his ranch introduce the viewer to the exhibition.
The photographs in Close to Home are black-and-white as well as color. There are several series, including portraits of her neighbors that line a wall. Others emphasize nature and the changing of seasons. “One Year,” for example, delineates the passage of time through the course of a year by marking the seasons.
Although distinct in their own way, each collection captures the beauty, and complexity, of everyday life — from scenic landscapes, to family gatherings, to a path mowed out of the grass in her 8-acre field.
“I have always been interested in photographs as a narrative,” Underhill said.
This exhibition deviates from her previous work — such as the Cosmic Dominatrix series, which relied heavily on the use of props, costuming, and a studio-controlled environment.
In Close to Home, Underhill explores the world outside the studio, and challenges the viewer to question how one experiences the passage of time and space.