Mysterious Light Photography Exhibition
Thursday January 2oth-February 12th
Artitst Reception January 2oth 5-9pm
Artist in Residence Gallery/Studio
14010 N. El Mirage Rd.
El Mirage, AZ 85335
Mysterious Light: Thomas Schultz
Since time immemorial man has looked to the heavens for answers to the questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? And What will become of me?
"It is certainly interesting to know that we come from the stars, but even more interesting is the realization that we're part of the cosmos, [and] although we may only be a speck in the immensity of the universe, we are the Great Father's children, and our destiny is linked to that of creation. Every being has a role to play, a destiny to fulfill, and so every bit of existence is transcendent." ~~~Don Isidro, Mayan Sage
The photographs I display here are each literal photographic time capsules ~ a moment captured and recorded under the light of the moon. Seemingly ethereal, they depict a time and a subject, though time itself also serves as a subject. Each still depicts a measure of the now....and the now...and the now.....to become what is shown: a singular event within an extended passage of time. Each image portrays this time lapse; we need only to expand our vision to see beyond and into this space. In these individual time segments, the possibility of multiple dimensions can be conceived, and that these captured moments create perhaps a dimension unto itself in an idea of condensed time. This concept makes one question the relationship of time and space, and of coexisting realities.
Our belief systems are based on experience, knowledge and intuition, therefore we “know” what we see and feel. It would be easy to take reliable objects like the sun, the moon and the stars for granted, especially in a world so far removed from itself. What I feel is now more than ever we need to use our intuition and our knowledge to return to nature, to live in the moments, to see past our accepted reality.
“Reality is the vision we have of what surrounds us, but there are other, much more subtle realities which are more important. As humans evolved, they lost this ability to perceive and are thus disconnected from the cosmos; in a state of neglect they seek to fill with material goods. This only condemns them to self- destruction and is the reason a return to the Natural Order is imperative." ~~~Ramon Carbala, Mayan Mam
The primitive natives of the Malay Peninsula believed the firmament was solid. They imagined the sky as a great pot, held over the earth by a slender cord. If the cord broke the pot would fall and the earth would be destroyed. They also imagined the Sun and Moon as women, and the stars as the Moon's children. Legend tells us the Sun long ago had as many children as the Moon, and fearing that mankind could not bear so much heat and brilliance, they both agreed to devour their children. The Sun kept the bargain, but the Moon hid her children. The Sun was very angry and sought to kill the Moon. As she pursued her, the chase of Sun and Moon became a perpetual one.
It is our perceptions of time and space, which root us to a milestone, a memorable event, a singular moment. In any lapsed segment of so-called reality, we can sometimes see beyond what we previously knew to be possible, or what we imagined was reality, from just the moment before. Before, that is, it slips away into another, and another, and another; the sands of time in an endless hourglass, eons unfolding into eternity and a greater abyss of space.
Thomas Schultz
Born in Oceanside, California in 1967 and spending his youth and early adulthood traversing the Sonora and lower Mohave deserts of Arizona and California, Thomas has been following the decay of the western landscape for almost three decades. Using his camera, Thomas documents the interaction of human resolve and a harsh unforgiving environment. His subject matter could be considered mundane; sun-bleached highways, abandoned structures, derelict signs, collapsing shopping centers, vacant motels, deserted gas stations, and vast landscapes are prevalent in his work.
Visual narrative in the form of sequences became a format for showing his work as early as the creation of his first flipbook in the mid 1970’s. Early exposure to films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, coupled with a middle class suburban upbringing during the early Reagan years brought about the confluence of boyhood innocence, censorship, and raw, unedited artistic social commentary.
Interested in reckoning disparities, Thomas’ perspective presents the viewer with a visual narrative of the evolution of time, space, and structure while exploring issues of transformation , and transience, life and death, temporality and abandonment. His images evoke feelings of loneliness and despair immersed in sublime beauty.
"My purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset and the baths of all the Western stars until I die"
— Alfred Lord Tennyson
