Kristin Allmer

Time And Place, 2011

"Time And Place" began with the idea of approaching the traditional concept of landscape photography differently, by creating “-scapes” that suggest a dream-like abstraction of subjects within the artist’s environment.

After shooting elements of the world around her, in her home and while travelling, Kristin underwent the process of piecing images together, juxtaposing forms to create new “-scapes”. All of the photographs are composed of subjects that exist in the observable world, but have been united in a way that resemble foggy memories, half-remembered and seemingly illogical. However, the artist has chosen to tie them together with a common theme, illuminating the idea of a collective unconscious and the shared history of earthly existence among humans, plants, and animals. By merging vestiges of the past with images of a thriving present, different stages of time and place are depicted, conveying a repeating series of beginnings and ends.

Microscapes, 2012

Still focusing on the idea of “-scapes”, "Microscapes" is a more in-depth series—a process-driven, active examination of microscopic material (mostly biological) through the subjective lens of personal experience and layperson’s knowledge of anatomical biology.

An important restriction in creating this series was that the artist had to encounter the specimen with no prior understanding of biological structures and functions, so as to experience them with an open mind and to candidly view them as foreign worlds.

What ensued was a journey through new territories, revealing visual similarities to topographical maps, geographies of Earth and other terrestrial planets.

This process of exploration enabled a contemplation of the artist’s relationship to everything around her— all the substances she is made of, how they are the same basic elements as those existing throughout the known universe, and how they are all under the same blanket of influence of gravity.

By utilizing photography as a means of entry into a new subject, a significant amount of time was spent contemplating forms and the personal meaning of those forms by drawing on memories, past events, dreams, and all existing knowledge that shapes the artist’s own sense of identity.

She also became deeply engaged with the idea of viewing internal microscopic material of the human body as something so large and abstract that it could be considered a place; a destination one could conceivably go to and inhabit. ‘Could I walk around here? Could I swim there? What would it feel like to float around in that atmosphere?’ Such were questions driving the creative intent of the images, and such are questions to continue to consider as a viewer.

The titles of the images reflect the subjective cognition tapped into by the processes of exploration and examination. Though the images are representational and no alterations to the structure of the content have been made, they are abstract enough to invoke variable meanings, which are apt to change with the viewer’s physical and mental preoccupations, new knowledge acquired, relationships, and personal history.

Terra Australis, 2014

Ancient Icelandic sagas tell of seafaring Vikings who may have used “sunstone”, a form of the mineral calcite, as a marine navigational tool for locating the position of the sun in an overcast sky.

This series bears the name given to present-day Antarctica before the continent was ever actually visited. Though its presence was merely theoretical for hundreds of years, it was nevertheless depicted on many world maps.

“Terra Australis” was largely created using blocks of calcite as lenses through which to capture unforeseen vistas via the distortion of sunlight and subject through the fractured layers. Other translucent minerals and glass were also used as lenses and subjects to achieve earthy, ethereal atmospheres; believable places with natural elements—water, dirt, icy plateaus, oceanic depth and movement, and even cloud forms.

Inspired by accounts of early Antarctic exploration, the images in this body of work function as impressions of the artist’s perception of what it would be like to navigate the Antarctic environs for the first time. The light-distorting nature of the minerals used as lenses is representative of the optical phenomenon and ghostly mirages often encountered in this polar region.

Theoretical Sculptures, 2013-

“Theoretical Sculptures” is an on-going study in form and composition, wherein the photographer thinks like a sculptor by composing a variety of found and handmade objects within a space, and then as a photographer again by making aesthetic framing choices.

This collection of images differs greatly from the other series, as it emphasizes a distance between photographer and subject, and focuses on object instead of environment.