Sarah Frederick Wolken’s BFA thesis exhibition was originally scheduled from April 13–17 in the Isabelle Percy West Gallery on CCA’s Oakland campus. Due to the Bay Area’s COVID-19 shelter-in-place order, we are sharing work by Sarah and other graduating students on CCA’s website and social media channels. 

Artwork by Sarah Frederick Wolken will be featured on CCA's official social media channels, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, starting April 30 at 5pm PDT.

ARTIST STATEMENT

While researching the history of quantum physics alongside the history of photography, I found pedagogical parallels between the two. I also found myself perplexed by the ambiguous concepts of truth and knowing. How do we know what we know? Do we know something because our eyes tell us it is real, or because we experience it in our bodies? Or is it because a mathematical equation proves it to us? What constitutes truth? And for that matter, what if two truths contradict each other directly? In [my thesis work, General Relativity], I reinforce the notion that what appears to be a dichotomy of experience, reveals in actuality an intertwined reality. Truth is a multifaceted operation of experience, sensory input, and perspective. Contradictions, photographically held in relation with equal presentation can form a wholeness and a new truth. 

By capturing images of gravity in action, I place two fundamental theories of quantum physics, “Theory of General Relativity,” and “Theory of multiple Worlds” in dialogue with the evolution of scientific theory in which photography is rooted. In my photographs, the depiction of gravitational pull is enacted upon various objects and substances. Some are stilled midair, while others suspend motion in a variety of modes, the mechanics of the camera defying gravity and inviting examination of belief. 

In General Relativity, five double sided frames hang suspended from the ceiling, allowing the viewer to circumambulate through the frames, forming a multitude of experiential visual relationships. I question visual perception, object perception, and objective truth through selected archetypal subject matter and manipulated formal elements. My photographic sculptures engage with the physical space, demanding a phenomenological encounter with the viewer. Their suspension from the ceiling, and double sided nature reflect the theories of Multiple Worlds, and General Rule of Relativity in Quantum Physics. This series defies common assumptions of orientation, through diptychs relaying occurrences that exist in opposition to one another. Through these photo sculptures, the viewer is invited to engage in a visual and spatial dialogue between the interconnected themes of suspension of gravitational force and the illusion of photography.

BIO

Sarah Frederick Wolken was raised both in the Bay Area and in New England. She studied Contemporary Dance and Gender Studies prior to studying photography at California College of the Arts. Wolken’s installation based photographic sculptures engage with the physical space in three dimensions and conceptually engage with the context in which they are viewed. Her work is propelled by a curiosity in the physical properties of nature and perception, and draw inspiration from theories of Metacognition, Quantum Physics, and choreography.

Right: Sarah Frederick Wolken, Glove for Glove, 2020. Vinyl print, 60 x 40 inches.

To view more work by Sarah Frederick Wolken, visit sarahfrederickwolkenphotography.com or follow @sensual_wrld on Instagram.