Microcosm-Macrocosm 

Suliman Abdullah | Lynda Andrews-Barry | Gary Anthes | Lisa Battle | Bob Burgess | Suzanne Goldberg | Harriet Lesser | Jo Levine | Beverly Logan | Steven Marks | Susan Raines

Curated by Carolee Jakes

Wednesday, October 25th through Saturday, November 18th, 2023

Visual artists tell stories. Some stories are clear to the viewer: a portrait, a landscape, a still life. Other stories are abstract with color, shape and form directing viewers to new experiences. All come from the artists’ perspectives on the world.  

“Microcosm-Macrocosm” is an exhibition in which artists examine their work from their story-telling perspective. Do they see the world in a single leaf or in an overview of a forest? Do they look deep or wide to see the universe?  Do they work large or small? Like the artists, viewers of this show have their own perspectives. Yet, as they experience each work of art, how do they expand or contract their way of seeing? 

This exhibition invites artists and viewers to look beyond their usual perspectives and welcome seeing the other side of the coin. -Beverly Logan

Suliman Abdullah

My artistic journey delves into the intricate relationship between the Microcosm and the Macrocosm. In a world where visual artists serve as storytellers, my exploration of this theme began during a visit to the iconic MoMA museum in New York. Here, I was profoundly captivated by a sculpted masterpiece and equally fascinated by the diverse ways people interacted with it. What intrigued me most was the realization that these interactions themselves could be regarded as an art form. This revelation became the cornerstone of my creative pursuit. I aspired to convey how the act of people engaging with art could transcend mere observation and become a creative expression in its own right. 

 As a photographer, I have always been bound by the confines of the rectangular frame within which images are typically produced. In my quest to expand these boundaries and bring forth the concept of Microcosm-Macrocosm, I turned to the art of photomontage. Through meticulous collage techniques, I aimed to breathe depth and texture into my compositions, providing viewers with a multidimensional perspective of the profound interplay between the micro and the macro. 

 My work seeks to blur the lines between observer and observed, artist and audience, reminding us that within the intricate tapestry of existence, every interaction, every moment, and every perspective can be a work of art in its own right. In this fusion of visual storytelling and the reimagining of photographic boundaries, I hope to awaken a deeper appreciation for the limitless creativity inherent in the world around us.

Iwan Bagus

Nature Human 1 & 2 are personal meditations on the inner landscape of the mind and the connections between the past, present and future. The relationship between a person and nature/the universe might also be unconsciously transfigured into the relationship between space and time.

Lynda Andrews-Barry

In my body of work, I endeavor to bridge the intricate balance between the  microcosm and macrocosm, using vibrant and saturated colors as my  medium of expression. Each photograph is a visual ode to the profound  connection that exists between the infinitesimal details and the vast  expanses that compose our world. 

Through this interplay of micro and macro, I aim to illuminate the inherent  harmony that exists within our world. The saturated colors serve as a  unifying force, allowing for the seamless integration of the smallest, most  delicate details with the grandest, most awe-inspiring vistas. Ultimately, my work seeks to inspire a renewed appreciation for the intricate  beauty that surrounds us on both the minuscule and cosmic scale. Through  the amplification of color, I invite the viewer to embark on a visual journey,  where they can discover the profound interconnectedness that binds the  microcosm and macrocosm, reminding us that within each intricate detail  lies a reflection of the universe at large.

Gary Anthes

Women and girls in shades of pink: tiny islands of peace and beauty in a complex and troubling world.

Lisa Battle

This collection of abstract photographs celebrates the patterns, textures, and colors of weathered sandstone rocks standing the test of time on the coast of Scotland facing the north sea. Each image captures a close-up microcosm of the vast, rugged coastline: secret miniature worlds in which lichen grow in elegant patterns clinging to the very rocks they are eroding, and small pools of seawater trapped by the receding tides create temporary habitats for sea plants and creatures. The rock continually wears away, exposing new layers, reminding the viewer that the scene is at once ancient and fleeting. This exploration into the microcosm of the rocky coast serves as a reminder of the wonder and mystery of our macro universe in which only change is eternal.

Bob Burgess

“Surrounded by the vastness of views, be it a landscape or a roadside, my challenge is to find an element of the whole that speaks to me. I notice the macro and work to see the micro.”

“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” -Anaïs Nin

Suzanne Goldberg

Harriet Lesser

Waking up in the morning, standing next to the bed, I see the story of the “night journey” in the duvet. My point of view--the familiar–becomes blanketed by change, layer by layer. I use my camera, stepping back and forward, using layers of transfer film to complete a story of ghost images. It is a process of catching time in the midst of constant change.

Jo Levine

“My photography tends to favor the microcosm. While many photographers concentrate on the big picture, my eye has always been drawn to the details of a scene. Focusing on part of a larger image can create something new and different out of what would otherwise be an unremarkable photo – in this case, transforming ordinary street trees into abstract designs created by their roots and bark.”

Beverly Logan

What We See

Beverly Logan’s work addresses an increasingly troubling twenty-first century question: what can we believe?

 Are we so overwhelmed with fake news, artificial intelligence and social media that we can no longer decide what is real? 

 Logan’s work interacts with this dilemma by offering images that at first appear straightforward, yet, something is off.  Microcosm and Macrocosm merge: a large window displays nightfall outside a brightly lit cafe; a vast meadow juts up against a village sidewalk; a figure two stories tall stands against a building on a city street.

 By combining fragments of photographs Logan has taken over the past forty years, she creates stories that although based on reality are not. Moreover, once the composites become etched in our memories the conundrum of what is real and what isn’t persists. 

 Logan invites you to take the time to first look at the images and then to see them.

Steven Marks

Dream Streets

These pictures, drawn from my current book project Dream Streets, are singular moments, snatched from time, that share a glimpse of the Eternal. Through their narrative resonances, they offer a visual means to bridge the metaphysical chasm between the two cosmos, micro and macro. By exploring public places and quotidian life (ie, yours and mine), the uncanny connections between people, both friends and strangers, I search for the visual surprise, how a particular photographic intersection of space and time, when placed in the proper context, can tell a much bigger, and more emotional, story. Put another way, I believe concrete and particular combinations of subject matter, light, color, space, gesture, and movement have the power to project the universal. Pictures may be hard and realistic, or abstract and surreal. In either case, the successful ones reveal the essence of things, in all their beauty, grace, and mystery.

“These fragments I have shored against my ruin.”

- T. S. Eliot

Susan Raines

These black and white portraits were taken over a period of years. Some were for publication in newspapers and magazines and some were part of an ongoing portrait series of family and friends.