Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present Flowers, Trees and Transformations, photographs by Lucille Tortora at 121 Main Street in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition will run from October 7 through October  30, 2023.  The opening for the show will be on Friday October 13, 2023 from 5-8pm.

The majority of Lucille’s Tortora’s photography consists of recognizable images that border on abstraction. Tortora describes her work as  “ transformations inspired by the cubist concept of revealing an object from different points of view. While I am interested in the individual photographs, it is in their reconstruction that I focus.” In fact, her choice of mostly working in black and white reinforces this vision; ”I SEE in black and white…..With black and white you are already  abstracted.” 

Tortora’s work is the result of a multi step process that integrally links photographing of images, editing the initial results and work in the darkroom. Her method in making this series starts by taking photographs of different motifs. She uses a Hasselblad camera that produces square negatives which are larger than those taken with a 35mm SLR. This is important because she ultimately enlarges her negatives quite a bit and the larger negative gives her more control of the focus and detail of the negative as it is enlarged. In the darkroom the first thing Tortora does is to make numerous contact sheets which are then cut up and reconstructed into new images by being reassembled into potential compositions. She then goes back into the darkroom to create the final print based on those collaged studies from her contact sheets. Tortora’s transformation of her imagery can take many different paths. For instance, she make take  one image turning it so that it can be experienced from different angles. In others she may alter the focus of the image making the subject less legible in varying degrees or combine negative and positive images in one print.

The imagery in this show consists of flowers and trees found locally around Tortora’s home and studio. They are common plants, not unlike those anyone could see on a daily walk. What is not common is Tortora’s working procedure that transforms those images into into something more than their source. This work is compositionally dynamic with a tonal range that provides both depth while accentuating shape and creating movement through out. These are photographs that can be appreciated on different levels and offer an endless and rewarding experience.

Buster Levi Gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 12-5 pm. 

For more information: busterlevigallery.com.

lucilletortora.com