F L O T S A M  &  J E T S A M

Photographs by Karen Bell
Alliance Gallery 37 Main St.
Narrowsburg, NY
Reception: Friday, August 15   7-9 PM

“For several years I have been
exploring natural curiosities—dead birds, feathers, insects, reeds, twisted vines, shards of ice—as discovered and photographed during my many
wanderings, or gathered and brought back to my studio where they get incorporated into my life and sometimes into images,” explains Bell.
Bell lives in New York City, but spends a good deal of time exploring nature both in the 
Upper Delaware River region and at the VCCA which is nestled in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. www.vcca.com

“Through my collections of feathers, leaves, insects, seed hulls, and other biological curiosities, I aspire to freeze the lens of time as objects reveal themselves in their (frequently) decaying splendor,” she says. “Chance and design converge in the creation of these portraits of our natural world.”

Bell photographs what she encounters in the natural world and also creates still-lifes in the studio. “Being a constant collector of flotsam and jetsam, I now find myself able to utilize the varied objects I collect into my image making, whether photographing in situ, on a surface, or using a scanner as a recording device.” www.karenbellphoto2.blogspot.com

The exhibit is sponsored by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the Arts Council for Sullivan County, NY, and is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the

support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. There will be a reception on Friday, August 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. www.delawarevalleyartsalliance.org.