Tamara Danoyan: Inner Circle

Tamara Danoyan

Terminal 3

Departures - Level 2
May 06, 2016 - Aug 25, 2016

"When it is experienced from the inside, devoid of all exterior features, being cannot be otherwise than round."

—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French philosopher

Tamara Danoyan: Inner Circle 

Photographer Tamara Danoyan’s inspiration for Inner Circle came from observing how light can make heavy and solid industrial objects appear ethereal and otherworldly. Large pipes become architectural spaces. Light enters through openings like it would through windows. Light reflected off of surfaces and diffused by plastic becomes more visible. A physical environment starts to feel celestial and evokes an elevated state of consciousness. Circles and curves are reminiscent of an ensō—a Japanese Zen circle. For Danoyan, light illuminates dark passages of the psyche. The circles symbolize an eternal desire to be whole, complete, and to feel connected to the Universe.

Danoyan believes that every subject of her photography is a reflection of herself—a part of her past and present sensory and emotional experiences. Through an up-close examination and sharp camera focus, mundane objects are transformed. They become metaphors, often fragmented, incomplete, or obstructed, like our perceptions or memories.

Tamara Danoyan graduated with a MFA degree in photography from San Jose State University in 2015. She has exhibited her artwork at the Triton Museum, Santa Clara; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Adobe Art Gallery, Castro Valley, California; Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco; Modernbook Gallery, Palo Alto, California; Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado; Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont; and Metenkov Photography Museum, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Danoyan currently lives in Northern California.

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