About the Artist:
J (Joan) Pogalies
Common scenes; Uncommon scenarios
A family cottage on the shores of Great Lake Erie is where I live and produce my photo art. I don’t have to go to exotic locales (although I have); I document common scenes and objects arranged in uncommon ways to present curious perspectives. I rearrange images and enlarge them to be printed on huge metal panels from 1ft x 5ft up to 4ft x 5ft...and growing! (I do not colorize or rearrange original shots.) The metallic ground beneath shimmers through the highlights for an above, below and in between experience...no frame, no boundaries.
I invite macro AND micro perspectives that are quite different: From across the room my art may look like abstract bands of colors, Rorschach patterns, mirror images of (almost) recognizable scenes and objects. "What is that??" Look closer; You’ll discover tiny objects and new worlds...faces, dancers, body parts, insects, robots, portals inviting you in...limited only by your imagination.
Also, a personal pursuit: Almost daily for more than 4 years, I have been photo-documenting the Arcola Creek Estuary, one of the last remaining natural estuaries in Ohio and one of only two on Lake Erie. I take the same 360-degree series of photos from the same spot year round, stitch them together digitally, stack and arrange the strips into chronological order with the date noted on each one, and have them printed on 3ft x 4ft metal panels. This eco-docu-art represents more than 3,000 single images on 7 large panels (7 more files are ready to be printed!) showing the intimate daily and seasonal changes of the Arcola Estuary. (click here to view)
A visual ode: In these uncertain and fragile times, I want to show, through curious, alluring images, the changing natural beauty around us, and share those complex images that they may reflect, enhance and instill confidence in the viewers’ own power and beauty and changes, spark joy and curiosity, and inspire a responsible community that has a respectful and active perspective of the natural and human-induced rearrangements in our immediate environments and beyond.
A family cottage on the shores of Great Lake Erie is where I live and produce my photo art. I don’t have to go to exotic locales (although I have); I document common scenes and objects arranged in uncommon ways to present curious perspectives. I rearrange images and enlarge them to be printed on huge metal panels from 1ft x 5ft up to 4ft x 5ft...and growing! (I do not colorize or rearrange original shots.) The metallic ground beneath shimmers through the highlights for an above, below and in between experience...no frame, no boundaries.
I invite macro AND micro perspectives that are quite different: From across the room my art may look like abstract bands of colors, Rorschach patterns, mirror images of (almost) recognizable scenes and objects. "What is that??" Look closer; You’ll discover tiny objects and new worlds...faces, dancers, body parts, insects, robots, portals inviting you in...limited only by your imagination.
Also, a personal pursuit: Almost daily for more than 4 years, I have been photo-documenting the Arcola Creek Estuary, one of the last remaining natural estuaries in Ohio and one of only two on Lake Erie. I take the same 360-degree series of photos from the same spot year round, stitch them together digitally, stack and arrange the strips into chronological order with the date noted on each one, and have them printed on 3ft x 4ft metal panels. This eco-docu-art represents more than 3,000 single images on 7 large panels (7 more files are ready to be printed!) showing the intimate daily and seasonal changes of the Arcola Estuary. (click here to view)
A visual ode: In these uncertain and fragile times, I want to show, through curious, alluring images, the changing natural beauty around us, and share those complex images that they may reflect, enhance and instill confidence in the viewers’ own power and beauty and changes, spark joy and curiosity, and inspire a responsible community that has a respectful and active perspective of the natural and human-induced rearrangements in our immediate environments and beyond.
NEWS:
13 pieces were on display at Geauga University Hospital until Oct. 2024:
Education
BA Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio
Glass blowing, Cleveland State U with Gene Kangas
Glass blowing, Casting, Slumping, Kent State U with Henry Halem
Self-taught in glass mosaic murals and historic photo murals for public art installations
Self-taught eco-docu-nature photo montages. (I found my true education on Lake Erie!)
Awards
2024 Featured Cloud-a-Day Photo, Sat. April 27, The International Cloud Appreciation Society
2024 First Place Photography, Rabbit Run Community Arts Assoc. 32nd Annual Juried Art Show
2023 2nd Place for Photography, Geauga County Arts Juried Show
2023 Best of Show by The Cleveland Photographic Society, Madison Public Library Annual Photo Contest
2022 Honorable Mention, National Wildlife Federation 51st Annual International Photo Contest
2021 Honorable Mention Photography, Rabbit Run Community Arts Assoc. 29th Annual Juried Art Show
Group Exhibitions
2023 Group Exhibition, Beth K. Stocker Art Gallery, Lorain County Community College, 27 pieces
2024 Rabbit Run Community Arts Assoc. 32nd Annual Juried Art Show. First Place Photography
2023 Best of Show by The Cleveland Photographic Society, Madison Public Library Annual Photo Contest
2023 Cleveland Photographic Society Show
2022 Rabbit Run Community Arts Assoc. 30th Annual Juried Art Show
2021 Rabbit Run Community Arts Assoc. 29th Annual Juried Art Show, Honorable Mention Photography
Solo Exhibitions
2024 University Hospitals, Geauga, July 8-September 30, 2024
2025 Kendal at Oberlin’s Community Art Gallery, Early 2025
Public Art Installations - Photo Tile and Recycled Glass Mosaic Murals
Columbia Station, OH, Public Library
North Ridgeville, OH, Public Library
Summerhaven Community Center, Tucson, AZ
Boyle County, KY, Public Library
St. Timothy Catholic Church, Columbus, OH
