Kalliope Amorphous: Resurrecting Ophelia January 25th-February 19th

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan 05, 2010 -
Kalliope Amorphous will present an installation of photographs from her Resurrecting Ophelia series, a compilation of self portraits exploring the archetype of Ophelia.

Amorphous’s photographic renderings of Ophelia are a journey through a dreamy, womb-like atmosphere where the boundaries between sheer horror and ethereal beauty are often blurred. Kalliope says her interpretation “focuses on Ophelia’s resurrection and her search for answers.” In these images, created not underwater but through the use of in-camera techniques, Amorphous has created various visual interpretations of the character while maintaining a cohesive poetic theme. For the artist, these images represent both the demanding and the contemplative ghost who is simultaneously flowing and frozen in time. In this series of haunting photographs, Amorphous aims to “give strength and voice to Ophelia’s perceived madness and dispossession. She is the confrontational ghost of the alienated soul. On another level, I am also playing with the idea of water as both womb and tomb. That is, the element of water as it relates to birth, death and regression. I am working through personal ideas of isolation and alienation in this images, but ultimately the viewer may take something from them that is entirely different.”

Kalliope Amorphous works with the self-portrait in various series, using her own face and body as a canvas. Her work ranges from interpretations of pre-existing iconography to compositions meant purely to provoke and challenge perceptions. Self-taught in photography, she takes an intuitive approach to composition and lighting and works without the aid of professional lighting or studio equipment. Kalliope says of her work, “I am not a photographer or a narcissist, but a performance artist with a camera. I want to push the boundaries of what I define as self and other by playing with ideas of identity, gender, archetype and the myriad ways in which they can be represented.” She typifies a new wave of largely self-taught artists who work independently of establishment art schools, public institutions, and mainstream movements in art, and who are becoming widely known as unique and independent artists, -primarily through the Internet. She has exhibited her work throughout the United States and Europe.

Resurrecting Ophelia will be on exhibition January 25th through February 19th with an opening reception on January 27th from 4-6pm.