West’s work reimagines her earlier series of photographs of Dahlonega, GA (the artist’s hometown) through a reorientation of format and painting layers of impressionistic brushstrokes. The interplay of the glossy photograph and texture of paint creates a wholly new experience of subject and ground, and results in fantastical compositions that blur distinction between photography and painting.
Utilizing inventive cameras he designed and built himself, Chiara shoots directly onto positive color photographic paper, leaving behind visible traces of his process. The artist was invited by the San Francisco Arts Commission in 2022 to document the redevelopment taking shape on nearby Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands, and the exhibition focuses on works from this new series. His images draw our attention to shifting elements of the landscape and tell a thoughtful, complex story about the changing urban terrain.
Image: Facing another way, where I am, 2024 © Angela West



