Kalee Appleton: Re-Examining the Landscape
December 8, 2018 to January 4, 2019
STATEMENT
“Driven by the evolution of photography from analog-based to a predominately digital medium,
Kalee Appleton’s artistic research examines the materiality of photography. She approaches her
research with the intent of revealing the enduring yet shifting relationship between individuals
and photography. Currently, Appleton is exploring the objectivity of photographs, specifically
photographic backdrops used in mainstream photography studios. The backdrops used are
purchased from used photography stores or purchased online from print on demand
companies, depicting photographs of idealized landscapes and utopian worlds. Like many
photographs throughout history, these objects force viewers to question truth and contemplate
the mechanical nature of photography, as these backdrops pure purpose is to exist as a false
contextual object in the aid of transporting a sitter to an idealized world. The formulaic imagery
on these backdrops are often reminiscent of the residual visual artifacts of the 19th Century
photographic sublime, consisting of locations with rugged mountain terrains or romanticized
forest paths. The imagery produced to not only act as a supplemental scene to a portrait, but
exist to fulfill the desires of the commissioners and sitters of the portrait. To examine this
relationship and objecthood, the photographic backdrop is transformed into something that it
was never meant to be, a subject.
By re-contextualizing these large-scale photographic images through re-photographing,
Appleton documents the backdrops as sculptural objects, skewing and distorting the perception
of space provided by the backdrop. While these deceptive landscapes exist as physically
manipulated landscapes, they resemble their original subject: a towering mountain or flowing
stream. Placing the physically altered backdrop on top of another create a visual dialog that
allows the viewer to travel through and between fabric folds allowing for immediate
comparison and recognition of the image as one that they’ve seen a similar version before
either on a picturesque calendar, computer desktop or a setting for a portrait. These are
familiar landscapes to all viewers yet there is a distinct separation from the viewer and the
depiction of “nature.” The land is perfection incarnate, yet the act of recognizing and being so
familiar with it dilutes the sublime reaction that naturally occurs to individuals when confronted
with such beauty. “
BIO
Kalee Appleton is a photography-based artist living in Dallas, Texas. Originally from Hobbs, New
Mexico, she attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and received a B.F.A. (2005) in
photography. Shortly after graduation she worked as a corporate and aviation photographer,
and she later attended Texas Woman’s University in Denton, where she received a M.F.A.
(2014) in art. Appleton’s work deals with digital technologies and their effects on society, as
well as with the nature of photography, specifically landscape photography. Appleton is
currently president of the oldest art collective in Texas, 500X. She has had her work highlighted
in various print and online forums including DMagazine, Glasstire, Aint-Bad Magazine, Plates to
Pixels, Lens Culture and F-Stop Magazine. Appleton exhibits her work regionally at Erin Cluley
Gallery in Dallas and has exhibited nationally at Filter Photo, Chicago, Illinois; Artsphere,
Washington DC; Fotofest, Houston, Texas; and Houston Center for Photography.
Image: Kalee Appleton – Location Session
