Don Dexter Gallery is pleased to present At the Water’s Edge, a solo exhibition of photographs by Mark S. Anderson, on view in Eugene at 2911 Tennyson Ave #202, from July 15 through September 29. All are welcome to an opening reception on Saturday, July 15th from 4 to 7 PM with light bites and refreshments.

In his first exhibition with Don Dexter Gallery, the artist’s work encourages an awareness of what animates the beauty of the natural world. This subject matter requires a monochromatic treatment, and the black and white rendering allows the spirit of a place to be more fully evident. His exhibition comprises photographs using archival inks on 100% cotton rag and dye sublimation on aluminum.

For this exhibition, artist Mark S. Anderson has taken inspiration from water, particularly its reflections and shadows; even its textures make an intriguing subject. As an element of nature, it is constantly changing, always presenting the observer with a new — often unexpected — vision. The moment to moment fluctuations are all but an invitation to camera arts. Water can be frozen in time, thus revealing insights that would otherwise go unnoticed. Similarly, water allows the observer to stretch time and render the natural world in a super-natural manner. It is easy to understand why water is often seen as a deity. It is harder to understand that this apparently abundant element has less domain every year. Despite man’s intrusion, we are fortunate that wilderness and water are still customary companions.

The artist’s eye for beauty and respect for the raw power of water and nature is present throughout this exhibition. In Bandon Buddies (2023), Anderson takes an oft-photographed subject and accentuates how capturing the light at the right moment, with the light playing on the subject, and not the subject itself, creates the work. With Rabbit Island (2017), the artist strips back the allure of the tropical colors of Hawaii, processing them in the stark, honest power of black and white that allows us to perceive the elemental forces involved in this abstracted reality. Anderson has drawn inspiration for his work from his personal life, as expressed in Kirsten’s Wish (2017), a piece created from the emotional battlefield that often seems like the nature of life. This work, a response to the words “three non-curative options” and “life expectancy of six to twelve months” when the artist’s wife was admitted to hospital six years ago, was created at 3 AM later that day. It was something life-affirming to counter the just-delivered equivalent of a death sentence.

The artist points out that the majesty of nature has always been recognized, even by the First Peoples. They believed God — or some Great Spirit — was revealed in and through nature. This exhibition is a selection of work that embodies this belief. “I am driven to see that the majesty of nature not be overlooked, either in my life or the life of others.” —Mark S. Anderson