Safe
For Safe, Sandra-Lee Phipps’ first exhibition at whitespace gallery and in Atlanta, Phipps presents two series of photographs that deal with the quest for safety in our cultural environment of fear. These works are set in the untamed forests and rural farmlands of Maine, a place of personal reflection and security for Phipps.
Interweaving archetypal images with a symbolic color of power, protection and danger – orange, Phipps explores the fragile sense of self, self-preservation and her role as an artist within this expansive landscape.
“[I]nside the word emergency is emerge; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.” – Rebecca Solnit
In the second set of works, two figures emerge and a tension is revealed between what is known and unknown in times of transition. Though identical, the young girls wear colors signifying their difference, but also their bond – orange and blue. Wearing complementary colors, though visual opposites, the figures are intrinsically bound together.