TORRANCE YORK

Common Ground

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Functional Ground

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Works by Torrance York range from $900-$2,200.

Common Ground Series

"Can we connect to the past and future by way of image-making? I am inspired by a perceived connection to the history and future of experiences lived on the shared common ground of public parks and gardens.

I title my landscapes with the GPS coordinates from which each photograph was taken. The images, anchored by the data of longitude and latitude, are my subjective response to that specific location and time. Picturing one of a myriad of possible views from that point, the images emphasize the unique experience of person and place. In turn, the coordinates and images chart my individual journey in these public places. Locations represented here include the Tuileries in Paris and Waveny and Irwin parks in New Canaan, CT."

Torrance York

Near and Far

In her 2016 new work, “Near & Far”—which includes images work from Paris, France and areas of Connecticut, USA, Torrance York captures close up details found in the context of public spaces, often photographed from ground level and using a narrow depth of field. In this way the viewer is visually drawn into the depicted scene and observes a different perspective than seen at eye-level. Near elements are juxtaposed with distant ones and the picture space is manipulated by what the artist chooses to place in sharp focus versus what falls into a soft blur. York offers a representation of her experience in each photographed environment and the value it holds for her.

Included in the exhibition is a suite of four large images taken at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris.  The photographs have blue skies with the colorful distant flowers forming geometric shapes behind crisp green grasses. In one, a background tree plays a leading role as it cascades forward onto a horizontal display of colorful plantings.  A centerpiece of the exhibit is a 44 x 44 inch Fall scene taken in New Canaan’s Waveny Park showing tall grasses towering above distant green trees, a soft orange leaf dominating the foreground.

Beginning with her Functional Ground series and over the past 15 years, York has titled her landscapes with the GPS coordinates from which each image was taken. She is drawn to the systematic nature of the GPS technology. However, the images that are anchored by the longitude and latitude are her subjective response to that specific place and point in time. In turn, the number and image serve as diaristic markers of her photographic journey.

York’s Functional Ground series presents a portrait of a place—a Hudson Valley dairy farm, horse farm and the roads and fields surrounding them. Seven images from this series complete the exhibit as they explore the microcosm within the ecosystem of this crossroads. 

Functional Ground series

At the crossroads of Gretna and Melville sits a dairy farm. In the series Functional Ground, the artist explores the visual terrain of this working farm and the surrounding roads and fields. Shooting with a shallow depth of field and often at ground level, these images draw the viewer’s attention to the specific details of the scene—to the microcosm within this ecosystem. 

Science and technology have given us new ways to catalog our world and our whereabouts. Each image in this series is titled with the date and the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of the point from which it was photographed. Using this data emphasizes the connection between the interpreted image and the physical source. While the images show a natural environment marked by human use, the GPS coordinates refer to the artist’s tracks as she photographs this environment. 

York is drawn to the systematic nature of the GPS technology. However, the images that are anchored by the longitude and latitude are her subjective response to that specific place and point in time. Each coordinate, simple in number, in fact represents a living environment with its own character and narrative. With the GPS coordinates providing a skeleton, these images create a portrait of a place.

about

Torrance York, an artist and educator, earned an MFA in photography from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA from Yale.

In 2010 York was awarded a Connecticut Artist Fellowship grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism. She has exhibited in solos shows at Littlejohn Contemporary and Silvermine Galleries in New Canaan, CT, ROOM in Greenwich, CT, the New Canaan Library, and Thos. Moser in New York City, among others. She was one of twelve artists included in the regional Radius: Emerging Artists 2007 exhibition co-organized by the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists. Other group shows have included: Waveny – Now and Then at the New Canaan Historical Socitey (20i7), Photography Now 2006 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, Topos: Brooklyn at the Nelson Hancock Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, Land-marks at 22 Haviland Street Gallery in South Norwalk, CT and Environmental Visions: Beauty and Fragility at the Haskins Laboratory Galleries in New Haven, CT. As the winner of the IMAGES 2013 photography exhibition at the Fairfield Museum and History Center she exhibited her portrait work, Traces, at Southport Galleries in Southport, CT.

York serves on the Board of the Educational Video Center in NYC where she formerly taught documentary video. She is an Artist Guild Member of Silvermine Arts Center. Her photography is represented in New York by Littlejohn Contemporary.