Jim Ferguson —Reconstructed Space

An anonymous LensCulture reviewer stated of Reconstructed Space “you have a kind of 'mechanism' that disturbs our sense of place and time, leading to a feeling of the uncanny, thinking that we might know these spaces, but cannot ever”. This statement resonates with me because the sense of place and time are unimportant to me. The locations are ambiguous. The subjects are both familiar and elusive.

Born cross-eyed, corrective surgery at two years old left me with no depth perception. I shoot intuitively reacting to spaces where I can apply my photographic vision which is impacted by my altered sense of depth perception. I set out to create images in a formal way with a strong sense of flatness, compression, form and poetic movement. I don’t shoot thematic or project based, nor do I target any particular subjects.

Reconstructed Space is an ongoing series of in-camera images spanning years and continents; continuing to this day. It evolved out of more literal and landscape photography I had done in the past. Embedded in my artistic DNA is my aesthetic proclivity towards surrealism, abstract expressionism, minimalism, post-painterly abstraction, and just generally mid-twentieth century modern art. Photography allows me to share the influence of artists from these periods. I approach my photography with a strong graphic intent, an interest in abstraction, a desire to compress spaces, an attraction to capturing tactical surfaces; and I merge as many of these elements as possible into a single image. While much of the work has a disorienting effect, my goal is to share images that are both enigmatic and engaging.

I like to classify myself not as an emerging artist but as a “reemerging” artist. I have a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After getting my BFA, I started showing and selling my work. With three galleries representing my work, they helped me land in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Museo Nacional de Antropologia- Mexico, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and numerous private collections. Then, I took an extended leave of absence from showing but not photographing.

Since “reemerging” at Filter Review 2017 I’ve had a number of successes. I was in an exhibition at Catherine Edelman Gallery with six other artists and am represented in their Chicago Project. I’ve been included in exhibitions curated by April Watson, Elizabeth Houston, Douglas Beasley and Robert Klein. I’ve also had a One Person exhibition at Workspace Gallery, and was select for the Top 200 in Critical Mass.

For more information, please contact Jim Ferguson at: jim@jimfphoto.com or visit: jimfphoto.com
Interview with Jim Ferguson here