Klea McKenna: Slow Burn

-through May 2010

To re-visit our conversation with Klea McKenna please click here.

In San Fran: Klea McKenna Opening @ Rayko

SLOW BURN [recent experiments]
by Klea McKenna
Reception: Sunday April 25th, 4- 6 pm

Rayko Photo Center
428 Third Street (at Harrison St)
San Francisco, CA 94107

Exhibition dates: April 25th - May 30th 2010

A Conversation with Klea McKenna

Klea McKenna produces beautiful images that convey a direct message about the earth and nature, something that many of us have lost connection with. I find her work refreshing because of its earthy essence. It makes me want to get out of the city and explore the grounds nature has provided. She is rooted in the process of art-making and reminds us all of what is really important: life, family, health, love and nature. We are pleased to present this interview with Klea McKenna.

23 Flies Collected From Home © Klea McKenna

Flight Patterns © Klea McKenna

Nymphoto: Tell us a little about yourself.

Klea McKenna: I grew up in rural Northern California and Hawaii in a very, shall we say “bohemian” family. It’s strange because I grew up in very rural places, small towns, but despite the local culture, my parents instilled in me a thirst for the big, complicated world out there. I love to experience unfamiliar places. I’ve lived in a few different countries, working, drifting, but I struggle with it because I also think that putting down roots and investing your self in a particular location and community is really important. I guess the idea of place, of being placed, is relevant for me right now; I think about it a lot. I currently live in San Francisco, and am finishing my MFA here, which is right for the moment.

Taxonomy of my brother's garden © Klea McKenna

West of the highway, our side of the river © Klea McKenna

NP: How did you discover photography?

KM: I came to photography around age 13. I had always done creative things - art and dance, but then photography just took hold of me. Sometimes, I feel frustrated that it never occurred to me, to actually think it through and make a choice about what I would do. I just kept making photographs as though it was the only possibility, and photography may not be the wisest career choice. Mostly, I just feel grateful that I never floundered, that I always knew what I wanted. I’ve been very lucky that way.

Untitled (pool) © Klea McKenna

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

KM: My most generative projects seem to come from found material, whether it is actual physical material (as it was in The Butterfly Hunter), or just people’s stories and lives. I think there is a part of me that always wants to collaborate in some way, to be an interpreter rather than a maker. I think that the medium of photography is really suited to this. Making a photograph is almost always, in some way, a collaborative act. I am consistently inspired by people’s relationship to nature, I mean that in the broadest sense, it seems to be the thread that runs through all my work.

Untitled © Klea McKenna

NP: How do your projects come about?

KM: In different ways, sometimes I plot and plan for months or years in advance. I have a sort of index in my mind of possible future projects. Of course many of these will get ditched along the way. Occasionally, they come in a flash with a kind of ruthless urgency, and those are the good ones. For me, the struggle isn’t in coming up with ideas, but rather in manifesting them and in being open to detours and changes. It can be hard to let go of that initial vision and let the work lead you. I do always work in projects though; I compartmentalize things more than I’d like to. I think excessive schooling has reinforced that.

Untitled © Klea McKenna

Untitled © Klea McKenna

NP: What's next?

KM: I’ve been making work lately that has been largely constructed, or more about making than about looking, and I’d like to go back to looking for a while. I’m really interested in the way people adapt when they are uprooted, and that’s happening to so many people right now because of our current economic situation. I think that this shift makes us relate to place and nature in unlikely ways. This becomes visible in the summertime because we inhabit space differently when the weather is warm, so I am looking forward to summer.

Untitled © Klea McKenna

NP: Thank You!!


Too see more of Klea's work, please visit www.kleamckenna.com

Klea McKenna Exhibitions

© Klea McKenna

Klea McKenna is having her thesis exhibition this week and is also participating in the upcoming Nymphoto Conversations show opening this Wednesday, May 6 at Sasha Wolf Gallery.

MFA Exhibition
Reception May 7th, 6 - 9pm
May 7th - 16th, 2009
@ California College of the Arts,
1111 8th St, San Francisco
info: http://sites.cca.edu/gradthesisevents/2009/finearts.html

Nymphoto: 2 Shows, 1 Book & 1 Call for Entries

UPDATE: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS EXTENDED UNTIL APRIL 7, 2009 11:59 PM!

The Nymphoto Collective is pleased to announce its first self-published book & the accompanying exhibit at Sasha Wolf Gallery.

"Nymphoto: Conversations Volume 1" is a collection of interviews (initially published as blog entries) with various women photographers in varying stages of their careers. The interviews reveal not just the work of the artist, but discuss the thought process involved in the creation of work. While some conversations are more revealing than others, they all expose the persona behind the work; they are all a brief glimpse into the minds and thoughts behind the art. In order to establish continuity, all of the questions in the interviews are in essence the same. General and non-specific, they allow the artist to determine how much of the process and self she wants to expose, lending her the power to dictate.

Accompanying the release of "Nymphoto: Conversations Volume 1" is the exhibit of the same title at Sasha Wolf Gallery in New York.

Nymphoto: Conversations Volume 1
Group Show III
Sasha Wolf Gallery
10 Leonard Street
New York, NY
May 6 – 20, 2009
Opening Reception: May 6, 6 – 8PM.

Work by Michele Abeles, Juliana Beasley, Rona Chang, Nina Buesing Corvallo, Candace Gottschalk, Jessica M. Kaufman, Klea McKenna, Michal Chelbin, Talia Greene, Maria Passarotti, Susana Raab, Emily Shur, Tema Stauffer, Jane Tam, Garie Waltzer & Jennifer Williams.


Nymphoto is equally excited to announce its 4th group show and the collective's first public call for entries.

Nymphoto Presents @ Sasha Wolf Gallery - Call for Entries

Nymphoto is looking for the best in female contemporary and emerging photography. Work will be curated by the core members of the collective in conjunction with highly respected curator and gallery owner Sasha Wolf. Works selected will be included in "Nymphoto Presents at Sasha Wolf Gallery" and be on view from May 23 to June 6, 2009. Sasha Wolf Gallery is located in lower Manhattan, conveniently located and easily accessible from both Chelsea and Dumbo, two of New York's artistic centers.

Nymphoto Presents @ Sasha Wolf Gallery
Group Show IV
10 Leonard Street
New York, NY
May 23-June 6, 2009
Opening Reception: May 28, 6-8 PM


Nymphoto is a collective of women in photography that provides a supportive community for (its) artists and strives to send a positive message to the creative world: We firmly believe in the power of community. Through "Conversations" we are able to expand our community by including new artists in each interview and present their work to our growing audience. The collective is a fusion of disciplines: the scholastic, the representative and the museum. The call for entries exhibit serves to expand on this idea and our growing community, and aims to encourage connections and discourse among female photographers. The efforts of the collective are directed to correct the gender imbalance that continues to prevail in today's (art) world.

Find the submissions guidelines at www.nymphoto.com.
(ed.) Submission Deadline extended until Tuesday April 7, 2009 11:59 PM EST
For more information, please contact Nymphoto at contact(at)nymphoto.com.

Tonight: Barbara Bosworth & Klea McKenna

(via Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson)

PhotoAlliance presents:

Friday, December 5, 2008
San Francisco Art Institute Lecture Hall 800 Chestnut Street San Francisco, Ca (at Jones Street)
7:30 pm

Barbara Bosworth is professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

Her images concern our interaction with nature and the environment. Using a large-format 8 by 10 inch view camera to capture portraits of hunters, national champion trees, compelling extended landscapes and extraordinary moments from the every day.

“Barbara Bosworth’s photographs are graced with an uncommon elegance and intimacy,” “The expansive sweep and clarity of her prints open the landscape before us with a deceptive agility, but it is in their richness of experience and sensation that they are so compelling.” Toby Jurovics, Curator
Earlier this fall I had the great pleasure of walking through Barbara’s recent exhibition “Earth and Sky” at the Smithsonian Art Museum with curator Toby Jurovics - a complete delight - don’t miss this link to that show, and don’t miss this lecture!

The Introductory Presentation for this evening: KLEA McKENNA. who also explores the landscape in her work.

Introductory Presentation by Klea McKenna