The Unveiling by Elizabeth Opalenik
Elizabeth Opalenik is known for her sensual images, including the Mordançage process, hand printed black and white, infrared films, Polaroid manipulations, and specialised toning. Her latest exhibition, The Unveiling, features images created with the French alternative photographic process, Mordançage. Using this technique, the silver emulsion is chemically lifted in the shadow areas of high contrast gelatin prints. Opalenik delicately uses her breath and drops of water to rearrange the floating silver to the highlights of the image, creating unique pieces that express the feminine, sensual, and poetic nature of the artist's work.
Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, living as a neighbour to the Amish and their uncomplicated ways, Opalenik’s upbringing continues to reverberate in the personal images she creates. Her ongoing projects are as diverse as her life experience, whether a figure study in water, a serene black and white photograph of Amish daily life, or an image from her most recent body of work, Poetry in Motion, which captures fluid, watercolour-like grace as the artist expresses her childhood dreams of becoming a dancer. She’s been a photographer for 28 years.