Spectral | Areca Roe

The sheets are patterned with nature-themed imagery, which interlace with the landscape, hinting at the domestic and our relationships with nature. The ghostly figures might be ghosts of the biome itself, of plants and trees, or former inhabitants, either animal or human.

The fact that they are three-dimensional when viewed with anaglyph 3D glasses seems to assert that they are “real” and heightens the absurdity. The images are meant to stand alone as 2D prints as well, confusing the eye with the red/cyan shift. The series also references spirit photography, popular around the turn of the 19th century, which (sometimes playfully, sometimes seriously) purported to prove the existence of ghosts with photography.

Artist Bio:
Areca Roe is an artist based in Mankato and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She uses photography as well as video, sculpture, and installation to explore the interface between the natural and human domains.

Roe is an Associate Professor of photography and video at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her work has been featured on several websites, including The New York Times, Lenscratch, Colossal, Slate, Juxtapoz, WIRED, National Geographic, and Fast Company; as well as in print for Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and The New Territory magazine. Her work recently became part of the permanent collection at the Minnesota Museum of American Art and the Minnesota Historical Society.

Instagram: @arecaroe https://www.instagram.com/arecaroe/

Rosalux Gallery hours are 12-4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

Image: Lava Field Ghost and Leadbetter Point Mossy Ghost, 24” x 34” each, Archival Pigment Prints, 2024