Alaska Positive 2012 | Juror's Statement
I gravitated toward works that challenge common representations of Alaska—images that gave me a whole new appreciation for the contemporary Alaskan experience. After assessing the initial impact of each photograph, I sought work that demonstrated a strong synthesis between content and form. In other words, I looked for subject matter that revealed something new or surprising, or engaged with a historical legacy of similar imagery. I also took into account formal concerns, such as composition, technical execution, and print quality. Finally, I considered the overall cohesiveness of the show. I deliberated on sequencing the images in order to convey the most interesting exhibition narrative. It is through this arrangement process that I expressed my own artistic voice.
The Juror’s Choice Award was granted to Loren Holmes for his photograph, Butchering the Whale. For me, his image seems to transform a severed whale carcass into a monumental, beating heart. Three men flank the central mound of super-saturated, red flesh. One of them smokes a cigarette while driving an ATV whose hue perfectly matches the bloody, abstracted carcass. This scene, which may seem strange to outsiders, is symmetrically framed under a full rainbow- -a very familiar and universal phenomenon. The formal precision with which Holmes executed this unsettling yet beautiful image left a lasting impression on me.
I feel incredibly honored to have been invited by the Alaska State Museum to jury Alaska Positive 2012. I presented my work in both Juneau and Anchorage and was greeted with nothing but hospitality and kindness. Moreover, during my brief visit, I encountered a bear, a bull moose, and a glacier! Thank you, Alaska.
Holly Andres
November 2, 2012
