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A non-profit dedicated to cultural diversity in photography. |
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| EN FOCO | Photographers | |
 © Bonnie Portelance Abyss, 2004  Bonnie Portelance Mistrust, 2004  Bonnie Portelance Phoenix, 2003 |
Bonnie Portelance Born: 1965 Resides: New York City Heritage: The Woodland Metis and Ojibwa tribes Selected Exhibitions: En Foco at Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos, Bronx, NY Gallery 928 The Denise Bibro Gallery The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City The Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, NJ The Gallery in Washington, DC Art Center of Sarasota in Sarasota, FL ARC Gallery in Chicaco, IL Several shows in Korea, Canada and France. Permanent collections: The Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ A.T. Still University, Arizona Education: Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, 1995 Awards: En Foco’s 2004 New Works Photography Awards The Gladys B. Blum Memorial Award in 2001 Publications: Nueva Luz, Volume 10#2 (2005) “The first significant imagery I remember were my X-rays. The play of light, texture and shape gripped me, although a quick glimpse was all that was ever permitted. They were viewed under extreme vulnerability, anxiety, pain and fear. This left me with a distorted memory of what should have been merely a precise photographic image. Twenty years and several hundred X-rays later, I remain captivated by these ghostlike images of our inner selves and of the paradox they portray – the paradox of the unstoppable exposure of frailty against raw and enduring strength. They propose obstacles to overcome and emotions not yet realized. This is where this series, Wavelengths of Light, begins its journey. By recording the condition of one’s physical being with precision, the films expose solely corporal issues, which the mind must then contemplate and reconcile, revealing the peripheral relationship of the physical self to the emotional self. Coupling the photographic concern for light with the X-ray’s revelation of the body’s condition through light, Wavelengths of Light presents a literal and figurative illumination of the body. This series utilizes the ephemeral nature of the X-ray film to explore the ethereal nature of its imagery. Each piece resists and transforms the medical field’s purely diagnostic use of these films to create works that reveal psychological elements the X-rays themselves cannot. These are portraits stripped of flesh, leaving only echoes of the actual physical person, yet revealing a tangible understanding of the psyche.” |
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