Abbey
Hepner

2017 W/SW Juried Exhibition Application Portfolio

In my work, I explore themes of connection, loneliness, vulnerability, and failure. I am curious about magical thinking and the futile persistence that life may demand of us in order to keep on living. The images were photographed in sites that contain their own paradox. White Sands National Monument, for example, near the site of the world's first atomic bomb detonation. It is regarded as a place that is simultaneously dangerous and sacred, and the sand is believed to relieve tension and heal broken bones. This series was created shortly after my friend passed away from an acute rejection of a double-lung transplant. These images represent the act of attempting to heal ourselves through a connection to nature and each other. They pay tribute to that action and the beauty that exists in the attempt, even when the ritual ultimately fails.