J. JOHN PRIOLA

Natural Light/Symbiosis (working statement/press release)

This exhibition features work made in 2022 from natural occurrences and natural disasters; and coincides with the release of Priola’s new monograph Natural Light, published by Kehrer Verlag.

Priola continues his love of beauty and the act of seeing/looking into the natural world through innate happenings or natural disasters. This new work is about renewal, existence, and perseverance in the ever-growing human effect on nature. In a small, yet revealing way, the aftermath of two devastating California wildfires is one source. In Trunks, the images from the Dixie fire in 2021 reveal detailed and haunting beauty from the wreckage and debris; while an image from the 2018 Camp Fire speaks to recovery and survival in the age of the Anthropocene. Even though the geographic locations are a small region, it has broad implications. Mistletoe is found in the US, Canada, Mexico, and some parts of Europe. Windsor and Sebastopol California are locations for Priola.

The debate around whether or not forms of lichen harm, or even kill, the tree it finds as a host and grows on is inspiring for Priola. Is it stealing the nutrients, weighing down the branches, and blocking the light essential to the life of the host plant? It’s an evergreen shrub that is semi-parasitic on other plants. Instead of producing roots in the ground, mistletoe sends out root-like structures into tree branches and steals water and nutrients. Priola observes these natural, lovely, and sometimes creepy ways. As Priola says, “the images of trees draw the viewer in with their familiarity and structural beauty but if the undertow takes hold, meaning is delivered”. Perception is poignant, evoking the mysterious nature of these observations. Photography is magic, deceptively acting as a document -- but is personal, political and intangible at times. 

Natural Light is twofold – referring to natural light as an essential element to life and growth, and also referring to the natural light in which Priola has photographed these images. There is a precision in using natural light; finding the fleeting and shifting moments granting the fullness, richness and vulnerability that is allowed to be expressed in his images.