Reality is placed in the service of art in the photomontages of Anna Topled. Actual plant forms on treated surfaces become part of a painting. The boundaries between reality and art coalesce and become permeable. One augments the other. Are we viewing treated photographs? It appears the forces of nature have become artistic objects, and they become more believable, more impactful. We have become used to enhanced photographs, to realism and hyper-realism, but here the use of real objects on a painted surface connects us to the world, but not the world as we know it. It is a new world, an augmented world, an artistic world.
When thorn stalks are shown in bold relief against a painted surface, the play of light and shadow is full of contrast. Photography adds depth to the image, rather than limiting the artwork. The blurred thorn at the face of the camera lens, the dark blue shadow of the thistle, become color pigment stains for the viewer. There is a strong grasp of composition and an upward movement. When the dry branches are placed on an ochre surface covering it completely, the spaces between, as in sculpture, take on a special role no less important than the branches themselves. In another work, the osprey-like spray of the plant against a macro lens presents an exciting outward movement in all directions. We enter with trepidation buoyed by the airy splay. The rambling weed against a green moldy wall has a strong sense of downward movement that is frightening. We feel the branch tendrils anchored on the pavement attacking the wall. We feel the wetness of the wall and the branch, even as the off-center composition commands our attention. An image of a delicate white flower against a Japanese pink background is unsurpassed in beauty.
Batsheva Goldman-Ida
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