Artist turns photography into a fully hands-on experience
Photo by Colby Rabon
Sally Auman has been evolving her photography since an early age, when she was introduced to the art by her father, who had his own photography studio. That was in the heyday of Polaroid cameras, instant cameras, and SLRs, and after high school Auman took some photography classes in college. But when digital technology came along, that opened up an entirely new universe of possibilities. “I was fascinated that you didn’t need to develop pictures using chemicals in a dark room, and I started taking it more seriously.”
But eventually she missed the satisfaction of tactile work. “Most of my photos were just sitting in a computer — I wanted to work more with my hands to make art.” She discovered the use of photo transfers and encaustic photography, “ways to create three-dimensional images, something that a hand has touched that invites you in and makes you think, ‘How did they do this?’”
Auman began applying mixed media to photography ten years ago and started playing around with oil paint, PanPastels, and added texture. Now her entire process is hands on, incorporating mediums and techniques including cyanotype printing for vintage blue-violet impressions, encaustic (wax), and printing on watercolor paper or Japanese rice paper. Because her work involves everything from Photoshop to painting, she umbrellas her genre under “lens-based art.”
“I go through my photographs and find the right image. I print it, mount it to a cradled panel, melt the encaustic medium on a griddle, and then use a hake brush [an Asian flat brush] or natural-bristle paintbrush to add a coat to the photography. I add several layers, and in between I fuse each application with a heat gun. Sometimes I add paint or pastels directly to the photograph before applying the encaustic medium, or I wait until it’s cooled and add other mediums.”
Because she exclusively uses her own photographs, versus images found elsewhere, it inspires her to get outside and forage for scenes in nature.
“It’s become a lifestyle.”
One of Auman’s photographs was used by the Department of the Interior for a National Park brochure. For six months, Auman lived in a motorhome in New Mexico, hiking the area woods to capture fresh imagery. Then about four years ago, she settled in this area.
Photo by Colby Rabon
“I had lived in coastal towns all my life, in bright sunlight, and wanted to experience mountain living and observing nature in such a different environment, with all these forests. Another thing that intrigues me is that I have a lot of ancestors from here. When I go into unpopulated areas and trails, I wonder who lived there, how did they get there, and what did they encounter? How hard was it for them to make these trails? Who sat under that tree I’m photographing?”
Moving to the mountains has also inspired a visible transit in her artwork. “I was making all this very colorful art, and now my pieces are more ethereal and almost monotone.” It’s a meditative approach: “I find that the whole process of walking on trails and taking photographs is very calming.”
Much of Auman’s work was in the River Arts District in Asheville, at 310 Art, when Hurricane Helene hit. All of it was destroyed, and she began to channel the trauma of that experience into a series titled Resistance.
“But even before Helene,” she confides, “I was intentionally seeking a more suitable aesthetic — as I was trying to deal with my aging process and settling into what was happening to me and how to cope with it in a more graceful way. I read a book called Your Brain on Art, all about brain plasticity and how the brain can repair itself. It described how making and looking at art is one of the best things to do.
“When you look at some of my work, elements of it like tree branches represent the synapses and wiring in the brain — a metaphor I use to conceptualize and bring attention to that healing.”
Sally Auman is represented by Re.Imagine Gallery & Studios (15 Spivey Lake Dr., Fairview, reimaginefairview.com); Art Place Gallery (730 Locust St., Hendersonville, artleaguehvl.org); and Tryon Painters and Sculptors Gallery (78 North Trade St.). See sallyauman.net and on Instagram @sallyaumanart and @sallyaumanphotos.