Reece
Museum Exhibition - ETSU
Johnson City Press, January 2004
Taken from: The Arts - Reece Museum preserves history, educates with art
By
Allison Alfonso
Press
Staff Writer
The
Carroll Reece Museum has three shows on display through February that reveal
the diverse roles it fills as collector, educator and historian.
Robert
Miller’s photographic series, including “Death of A Church” and
“Heartwood,” are done in silver gelatin print format with a large-format
field camera. His printing process, exhibit materials reveal, involves
using a process called unsharp masking, which creates a soft, fuzzy negative
of the original, and printing it with the original negative. They are then
hand-toned.
“Death
of A Church” is a stark and touching documentary study of the deteriorating
Cannel City (Ky.) Union Church. The first photograph presents a somewhat
respectable exterior. The remainder of the series presents dust and dirt-covered
pews, floors, windows, peeling paint, building materials, an organ and
lights, whose presences speak of the life now missing. The series is not
eerie, but haunting.
“Flaking
Ceiling” presents a long, aisle view of pews, a collapsing ceiling, a quiet
organ and preacher’s pulpit. The long view captures the movement of parishioners
toward their seats and the gaze toward the preacher.
“Wall
with Three Windows” shows debris and dust revealed in the light coming
through windows and concealed in the darkness surrounding them. The vitality
outside is portrayed in the trees, bushes and winding road that are shown
through the windows.
The
series “Heartwood” is a study of patterns in, and the uses for,
wood. These are commanding compositions whose patterns, contrasts and textures
demand attention. But they, like Miller’s other works, offer many themes.
“Rusty
Outhouse Hinge Cannel City, Kentucky” is a close-up shot of a hinge connecting
two pieces of wood. The hinge shines like a jewel. Human ingenuity and
creativity are suggested.
“Jagged
Barn Wood Cades Cove, Tennessee” portrays layers of rotting wood in whose
lined surfaces can be seen initials. It speaks of time, working and history.
It’s
a show from which one can’t walk away unmoved.