UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION | John Pearson

Its quiet (but not necessarily tranquil) images are rooted in locations from the Saint Croix River Valley to the shores of Mille Lacs Lake and my Saint Paul backyard. In this work I seek to expand upon traditional nature photography—which emphasizes portrayal of an idealized, untouched world—by giving attention to subjects in ways that further reveal their visual and narrative possibilities. Some subjects I discover in nature as ready-made still-lifes. Other subjects emerge from materials I’ve collected over time that I manipulate and arrange in the studio. I typically capture images on my camera, but for some I use a flatbed scanner. (The Water Life prints are from photos borrowed from the Saint Croix Watershed Research Station.) I digitally edit the photos and output them as film positives.  The positives are transferred to light-sensitive plates that I print using intaglio techniques on a hand press. Some prints comprise multiple plates, incorporate colored inks, and employ other printmaking techniques. I hope the finished pieces engage the mind and charm the eye through subject matter choice, composition, and visual texture. 

About the Artist:

John Pearson is a Twin Cities native and graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where he studied graphic design, photography, and intaglio printmaking. Pearson is a member of Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis where he takes classes and participates in biannual member exhibits. In recent years Pearson’s focus has been polymer photogravure printmaking, a process in which digital images are transferred to photosensitive plates for printing on a hand-operated intaglio press. In 2016 Pearson was an artist-in-residence at the North Dakota Museum of Art’s McCanna House. Polymer photogravure prints from the residency resulted in “Invisible Valley,” a collection of works that were exhibited in solo shows at Highpoint Center for Printmaking and the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji, MN. In early fall 2021 Pearson was a Pine Needles artist-in-residence at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s St. Croix Watershed Research Station in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota. That residency inspired numerous prints included in “Upon Closer Examination.” Pearson has photos and prints in business and private collections around the Twin Cities, and his photography appears at the Minnesota History Center where it is incorporated into exhibits and hangs in public spaces. He has also presented his work as a guest artist to classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.