Large Clearing III 1982

Curator: This is "Large Clearing III," a photographic print with graphite made in 1982 by Ward L. Davenny. What are your first thoughts? Editor: Brooding. And somber. It’s a very monochromatic work, verging on the edge of legibility in places. The trees create these dense, vertical lines. It feels like standing at the edge of something unknown. Curator: Indeed. Considering that Davenny was also known for his work in construction, I can't help but think about the construction of the image itself. Look at how he uses the graphite; it seems almost like he is building up layers to create texture, to imply the density of the undergrowth. Editor: That layering evokes something primal for me. The limited visibility, combined with the symbolic weight of the forest – historically a place of trials, secrets, and the unconscious— conjures very powerful feelings of anticipation or dread. Do you think there is a reading here, considering that 1982 was right at the onset of the AIDS crisis? Curator: That is a great perspective to consider given how images become deeply interwoven with historical experiences. I’m also thinking of the interplay between the print and the graphite here. Was the photograph printed first? How much did he intervene after to build up and subtract, thereby working towards some representational strategy of "nature?" The work isn’t solely photographic; it becomes about the hand of the artist reshaping mechanical reproduction. Editor: The human touch asserting itself, you're right. And look at the clearing, how that bright open space punctuates all that heavy darkness. Perhaps a symbol of hope or possibility? Or maybe, conversely, it's vulnerability—exposure within a potentially hostile environment. It can depend on our projection, but it seems to me to play with our notions of refuge and threat. Curator: Absolutely, and by intervening with his hand, layering graphite, and complicating the legibility of the work, I feel that Davenny compels the viewer to become far more implicated in that very construction. It requires sustained, close looking, which encourages engagement in its making. Editor: The way we ourselves create meaning, project our inner narratives onto the image, become a crucial aspect of its life. A landscape infused with symbolic potential, activated by our own lived experience. I now have a better sense of this haunting image. Thank you for these illuminating observations. Curator: And thank you, for directing our awareness toward these enduring archetypes of shadow and light, of shelter and openness, within the photographic landscape.