Alana Rios
Artist Statement
The romanticized view of the landscape of the American West did not happen by accident. It was crafted by a tradition of mythologizing the sublime wilderness that has forged a collective American fantasy of possibility and conquest. These visual records trace a history of objectification and possession of the land that often excludes marginalized voices and sanctifies patriarchal systems. And those iconic images are everywhere—from the souvenirs sold in National Parks to calendars hanging on our walls— they stake a claim in our psyche. They drive a desire for a proof of experience that dates back to tourists borrowing hammers to chip away pieces of Plymouth Rock before it was memorialized behind ropes in 1880. The answer to this craving was met by mass-produced photographic curios that cross boundaries between personal memento and fine-art object. My photographic practice calls attention to the relationship between the early use of landscape photographs as propaganda and the social media influencers who seek out growing singular phenomena like Super Blooms that bring destructive volumes of visitors to small towns in California.
Solo Thesis Exhibition Images
Alana Rios
Superbloom, 2020
Hand-cut archival inkjet prints
54 x 180 x 18 in
Alana Rios
Cut Flowers #1, #2, #3, #4, 2020
Hand-cut archival inkjet prints, cellophane bags, pegboard, drywall, acrylic box
(4) 7.5 x 7.5 x 11.75 in
Alana Rios
Cut Flowers #2, 2020
Hand-cut archival inkjet prints, cellophane bags, pegboard, drywall, acrylic box
7.5 x 7.5 x 11.75 in
Alana Rios
Postcard Stand, 2020
Rotating postcard stand, 4 editions of double-sided, 5x7 postcards of images of Cut Flowers
20 x 66 x 17.5 in
Alana Rios
Superbloom (detail), 2020
Hand-cut archival inkjet prints
54 x 180 x 18 in
Alana Rios, Installation View
Superbloom (left), Calendar Project (center), Vista Point Project (beyond curtain on right), Fake Rock Bean Bag Chairs (Left:Lichen covered boulder from Pinnacles NP, Right with sitter: Monzogranite boulder from Joshua Tree NP)
Thesis Exhibition: Postpicturesque, Fall 2020
Jo Farb Hernandez Gallery
Alana Rios, Installation View
Vista Point Project: Overview: Lake Herman Vista Point and Fake Rock Bean Bag Chair, 2020
E-6 Slide show, 80 slides
Jo Farb Hernandez Gallery
Alana Rios
The Calendar Project, 2020
Archival Inkjet Prints
(10) 16 x 20 in
Alana Rios
March in the Kitchen, 2020
Archival Inkjet Print
16 x 20 in