Drawing a historical connection between painting en plein air and the post studio exemplar, I began photographing a Monet-inspired garden at the Norton Simon Museum in 2006. At the time, I was interested in the garden’s status as both a meticulously reconstructed fantasy, and as a seminal site for creative inspiration.
The large-scale photographs that became my series “Giverny: Pasadena” examines a complex genealogy, tracing the development of late-Impressionist painting from its presumed inception in Monet’s garden to its eventual canonization in well-endowed cultural institutions.
No title (from the series “Giverny: Pasadena”), 2007
48” x 60” type-c print
No title (from the series “Giverny: Pasadena”), 2007
48” x 60” type-c print
No title (from the series “Giverny: Pasadena”), 2007
48” x 60” type-c print
No title (from the series “Giverny: Pasadena”), 2007
48” x 60” type-c print
No title (from the series “Giverny: Pasadena”), 2007
48” x 60” type-c print
No title (“List of Trees at Carmelita”, 1928. Charles Francis Saunders), 2007
11” x 8 ½” photocopy
Regarding Norton Simon’s Legacy, 2007
10” x 8” type-c contact print