ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
I initially traveled to Death Valley National Park in California each year as a way to explore a beautiful, often inhospitable landscape. However, after a few years of annual sojourns to the desert, it became clear that I was drawn to barren landscapes. They were exquisitely designed environments where I could be utterly alone, with no human sounds to distract me. I had lost both my parents, and the land became a metaphor for my loss.
Today, the desert is my second home. While hiking, I ponder the marks humans make—those that are temporary (footsteps in the sand), those that are designed to be useful (trailhead signs), and those that destroy (graffiti on petroglyphs, vandalism). I feel vulnerable and insignificant with my backpack and water, yet cognizant that I can do much harm if I choose.
The desert is a place where loss is evident even while life continues to adapt and survive. Walking explores the fragility of life as I see it while making my way through barren landscapes. I’m thinking about the literal and metaphorical evidence that we leave behind.
ABOUT NANCY FLOYD:
Nancy Floyd interests include the aging female body, the passage of time, barren landscapes, and trees. She uses photography, video, and mixed-media to address the ways in which lens-based media can connect deeply with experience and memory.
Floyd has received numerous grants and awards including a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2019 International Center of Photography / GOST Books First Photo Book Award and a 2018 Aaron Siskind Photography Fellowship. In 2021, Floyd’s 39-year self-portrait series, Weathering Time, was published by ICP/GOST. The book was longlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, London/Frankfurt and shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation First PhotoBook Award, New York/Paris.
Floyd’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues including The High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA), The Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, IL), PhEST International Photography Festival (Monopoli, Italy); Blue Sky Gallery (Portland, OR); CUE Art Foundation (NYC); and Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum (San Antonio, TX).
Floyd’s artwork is in the collection of the Center for Creative Photography (Tucson, AZ), the High Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Lightwork (Syracuse, NY), and in numerous private collections.
Floyd holds a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA from Columbia College Chicago, and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. She is Emerita Professor in the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University in Atlanta and lives in Bend, Oregon. www.nancyfloyd.com
