Gallery Carte Blanche presents WaterLand, a solo exhibition by Donna J. Wan. Water has always been an important theme in art – both as a vital element for humans and the planet and as a sacred symbol of purity. Water covers 71 percent and 140 million square miles of the Earth’s surface. It is a source of life, food, beauty and recreation, and the center of rising environmental concerns. We all use water – in our homes, at work, at play, and in our industries – and we are all part of and responsible for its condition and future. As water becomes a scarce resource, it threatens to change almost every aspect of our lives.
Through her photographs, Donna J. Wan doesn’t try to make a political statement about humankind’s impact on the environment. She observes and reports what she sees about how people experience and are affected by water. Our footprints on the landscape are unmistakably visible in her work, but her photographs invite us to reflect on how our perceptions and identities are shaped by the land and the water surrounding it. More than beautiful sceneries, her work highlights the different ways in which we experience and interact with water in the landscape – for recreation, function, or contemplation. She shows us that water can be a source of enjoyment, peace, awe, and even fear. But, because humankind continues to squander and pollute it, her photographs also inevitably question what is at stake if we continue to alter the landscape and the role of water in it. At our current pace of development and water usage, will scenes like the ones captured in her photographs soon become visions of the past?
Donna J. Wan was born in Taiwan and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. After receiving a BA in economics from Stanford University and working in the corporate world for a few years, Donna decided to pursue her love for art, and completed a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2008. Having grown up in New York City, she only recently developed an interest in the natural world.
Donna’s landscape photographs reflect a continual search for her to understand and express how perceptions and identities are shaped by the landscapes that surround us. She takes photographs in both the United States and Asia and in both the natural and built environments.
Donna J. Wan – WaterLand
February 15 – March 27, 2013
Gallery Carte Blanche
973 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA, 94110
USA
