The Art Alliance of Idyllwild’s 2012 Artist of the Year, Kathy Harmon-Luber, will exhibit her newest collection of fine art photographs, “Impending Peace,” at Artspresso Art Gallery. The opening reception is from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at 54380 North Circle Drive. The exhibit runs though August.
Of “Impending Peace,” Harmon-Luber said, “In the days following the November 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris, like most people, I struggled to make sense of the killings. A couple weeks later, my husband and I had a few days of respite at the shore. Looking out to sea for answers, I began to feel, in the words of William Butler Yeats, ‘Peace comes dropping slow …’ And I leaned into it. And it took hold of my heart. And the sunset became brilliant … the light on the ocean changed rapidly … and the idea for this evocative portfolio of photographs was born.
“Inspired by the tranquility of the sea, I began turning the notion around on its head: instead of ‘impending war,’ what would ‘impending peace’ feel like? Actually, it felt like this very moment, listening to the crashing waves, enveloped in beauty, finding the still point within. I picked up my camera and as I captured the light, with every shot I breathed in the beauty of the seascape and exhaled a whisper of love and peace to our fragile world and every soul… for we are all one.
“My eager hope is that these contemplative, atmospheric images help to launch a revolution of peace, led by peace warriors the world over. If every heart finds deep peace, that — like the millions of water droplets that form an ocean wave — will wash over our war-weary world.”
Every ethereal image is created in the camera, in natural sunlight, in the colors of that fleeting moment — no digital enhancement. The images are printed on fine metallic photographic paper, which gives them their luminous, vibrant, and distinctive quality.
Harmon-Luber’s photographs have been exhibited at the Directors Guild of America (Los Angeles); Patricia Corriea Gallery (Santa Monica); David Lawrence Gallery (Beverly Hills); Gallery 825/Los Angeles Art Association (Los Angeles); Palm Springs Desert Museum; San Bernardino Museum of Fine Art; Barnsdall Municipal Art Gallery (Los Angeles); Runnels Gallery (New Mexico); Museum of Anthropology; University of Southern California History Department; Tartt Gallery (Washington, DC); Hollywood Digital Studios; Studio 525 (Santa Monica); Thames Gallery (Memphis, TN); the California State Capitol, Rosenthal Gallery (NM); Hubbard Museum (NM), Idyllwild Arts’ Parks Exhibition Gallery, Skye Gallery and Courtyard Gallery (Idyllwild); and many more.
Her work has been recognized with many blue ribbons from the AAI, and also by the Media Access Awards, Public Relations Society of America, Best of Photography Magazine, New Mexico Photographer Magazine, Life Images Magazine, the Washington Post, “Best of Show” at the Museum of Anthropology and more.