Caitlyn Soldan - Desertscapes : Altered Views of New Mexico

Desertscapes : Altered Views of New Mexico is a solo exhibition with Santa Fe photo-based artist Caitlyn Soldan which explores various approaches to iconic views in New Mexico landscapes. Included in the exhibit are variations of Pedernal Mesa, Shiprock, and the Taos Gorge. Just as Pedernal Mesa was a great inspiration to Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and served as a major muse for her at Ghost Ranch where she had her studio, Caitlyn too is moved by the unique New Mexico desert land. Soldan creates landscape studies in various photographic processes that yield unique one-of-a-kind prints which each represent the different emotional qualities in nature. By virtue of repetition with the subject matter, the artist seeks to honor the subject which inspires and motivates her.

Caitlyn says of the work: “This project involves taking iconic scenes in the landscape and deconstructing them using experimental darkroom techniques. I have been photographing geological formations and mountain ranges near my home in New Mexico and using alternative gelatin silver processes such as mordançage, chromoskedasic sabattier, lumen printing, chemigram/chemical painting and solarization on these images. I am interested in exploring what happens to memories when a familiar scene is altered.”