This work came about in response to an opportunity to use the Vault Gallery at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. This gallery is very long and narrow room of rough cement walls marred by electrical boxes leading to a ceiling filled with pipes and wires. The doorway is trimmed in steel plates that hold a thick steel door, a remnant from when the room was used to store munitions. One could easily imagine torture scenes from horror movies filmed in this room. I sized an image of a shy boy peeking in from the edge of the photographic frame to fit about 40 different vintage frames. Each image received a different “projection,” a visual element obscuring its identity.

I was frequently asked if it was a self portrait, in the viewer’s imagination, the image of the boy was passable for a childhood photo of myself, and perhaps the different layers of screening over the portraits reminded friends of how I tend to deflect attention.

christopher@russellarchive.com
Inquiries: Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles
(c) Christopher Russell
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