Poignant Portfolio no 31: Megan Bent
I've been vaguely aware of Megan Bent's work since the day in 2012 when I happened upon her MFA thesis exhibition a few hours before it closed. Though we are both graduates of UH Manoa’s art program, my sole interactions with her were the occasional comment interactions in the Flak FB group. This is where, coincidently, I found this project. It was a comment under a question asking what people had been working on this year.
Back in the 2009 time frame, when Binh Danh was making his mark pushing the chlorophyll process further than had been previously done, I was enchanted by the work. Since that time, I've seen a lot of lovely images on leaves. But as the use of this as a technique became more widespread, I have found the work as a whole less compelling. Generally, I seek a connection between the method or process and its relation to the content of the work. (Yes, I know…#toolonginartschool.)
With this technique, I often feel like the leaf is a conceit rather than a needed import. In the end, some work has me saying to myself, "It's nice, but…" That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the mastery of some of those works, but it does mean that I am often left wanting something more from it.
Megan's project, “I Don’t Want To Paint A Silver Lining Around It,” is quirky yet engrossing. Some images are ambiguous, some gorgeous, and some a form of signage. The amount of detail Megan gets from the leaves is incredible.
I immediately connected the process and the content - the fragility of the leaves and the fragility of an ailing body. Megan has an excellent point about why is it that when we know that no matter what state of health we are in today, we, like the leaves, will decay and eventually be lost to the physical world, so why is one revered and the other despised? The work is honest and genuine, giving us a true insight into the artist's life, one probably not too different than you, a friend, or a family member is experiencing. Megan's project touched my heart, and perhaps it will touch yours, as well. Bravo, Megan.
—Diana Nicholette Jeon
I Don't Want To Paint A Silver Lining Around It
Quarantine Day 121
“The action of printing representations of disability onto leaves highlights the organic nature of disability, reframing it as a part of human diversity. The fact that chlorophyll prints are impermanent, and will continue to decay over time, asks the viewer to confront the interdependence and bodily impermanence we all share.”
Since the spring of 2020, I have been documenting the experience of being chronically ill and immunocompromised in the pandemic. And the experience of the outside world demanding that people like me be acceptable losses for personal convenience or for corporate profit.
The printed images illustrate the prolonged solitude of a year + in lockdown. The text stamped directly into the leaves conveys the dialogue between the administrative & public messaging to the Disability Community and my private thoughts and responses.
I use chlorophyll printing, which uses UV light to print photographic images directly onto leaves, to explore my experience of chronic illness and how illness/disability is represented in society. I am interested in the disconnect in the way disability is most often understood as a purely negative experience and the way the fragility of nature is seen with a lens of reverence.
The chlorophyll printing process (where one print/exposure may take anywhere from 8- 72 hours) relies on flexibility, interdependence with nature, and echos my experience of Crip Time, living in a body/mind that values slowing down, connection, and care over speed and production.
The action of printing representations of disability onto leaves highlights the organic nature of disability, reframing it as a part of human diversity. The fact that chlorophyll prints are impermanent, and will continue to decay over time, asks the viewer to confront the interdependence and bodily impermanence we all share.
Artist Bio
Megan Bent is an artist who explores Disability Aesthetics, Culture, and Identity through alternative process photography, film, and installation.
Her artwork has been exhibited widely across the United States at The East Hawaiian Cultural Center/HMOCA in Hilo, Hawai’i, Flux Factory in Long Island City, NY, El Museo Cultural, Santa Fe, NM, The Foster Gallery, in Dedham MA, Soho Photo Gallery in Tribeca, NY, and the Austin Central Library Gallery in Austin, TX. Most recently, she exhibited new video work at F1963 in Busan, South Korea.
She is currently an artist in residence at Art Beyond Sight’s 2021 Art + Disability Residency and has been an artist in residence at the Nobles School in Dedham, MA and the Honolulu Museum of Art, HI. She has presented her work at Atlas Obscura: The Secret Arts, The Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity in Honolulu, HI, at Other Bodies: (Self) Representation, Disability and the Media at the University of Westminster in London, U.K., and at Critical Junctures at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Her work has been written about in Rfotofolio, Screen Bodies Journal, and in Float Photography Magazine.
See more of her work at http://meganbent.com/.
Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.