“[in my work] I like to think about how preservation, as well as the deteriorating image, can reflect our experience with memory”
— Kayla Holdgreve, Visual artist
Kayla Holdgreve is a visual artist living and creating in Columbus. Her work, Geraldine at the Lake, is a vinyl graphic installation with anthotype prints. This work, along with the work of 25 other artists, is on view in ImageOhio an annual exhibition of lens-based work, at the Shot Tower Gallery on the Fort Hayes campus until Dec. 9, 2022.
Lynette: Your work in ImageOhio is visually stunning and makes quite an impact; tell me more about it.
Kayla: Geraldine at the Lake is part of a larger body of work titled a bushel and a peck which investigates generational memory through the use of the landscape as a visual narrative. Throughout the work, I use materials that are both archival and non-archival – the non-archival prints being anthotypes. The anthotypes were created using butterfly peaflower and exposed for over five days in the sun, therefore leaving them to fade, and eventually disappearing. By using non-archival materials alongside archival photographic images, I like to think about how preservation as well as the deteriorating image can reflect our experience with memory.
Lynette: Can you share some of your process for creating work?
Kayla: When creating work, it’s important for me to use both archival and non-archival materials to speak to the photographic image and process, as well as our experience with memory. As the family archivist, I’ve spent years digitizing our family photographs, trying to preserve the images as best I can, and yet I know the images won’t last forever. I love to think about this while I’m working with the image, thinking about the stories told alongside them, and trying to connect with the people held within the frames. For me, this is where process and material comes in and the ways I reinterpret these images is important for me to further my concept of connection to the figures, storytelling and the importance of place all while the images fade, along with the memories.
Lynette: How does your work relate to this year’s theme, A Changing World?
Kayla: My work interprets this theme in both concept and process. This body of work explores ideas of how our experience with memory can change and be altered based on personal experiences and how we move throughout the world. The process I work with is a traditional process called anthotypes. This process uses natural pigments to create images and because of the instability of this material the images will continue to change and fade over time.
ImageOhio is on display at the Shot Tower Gallery through Dec. 9, 2022. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Thursday, 3-5 p.m. and by appointment. To learn more, visit roygbivgallery.com/imageohio-exhibition.
Columbus Makes Art Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting and advancing the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. The column is a project of the Art Makes Columbus campaign, telling the inspiring stories of the people and organizations who create Columbus art. Learn more about local artists, organizations, public art and events at ColumbusMakesArt.com.