Kerik Kouklis: From the Ends of the Earth

April 7 – June 29, 2018

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 7, 2018, from 7–9PM

 
The Image Flow proudly presents From the Ends of the Earth, a solo exhibition featuring the work of California photographer Kerik Kouklis. From the Ends of the Earth includes 46 hand-made photographic prints from Kerik’s recent travels to Iceland, Scotland, the Galapagos, Mongolia, and California, his home.

My job is to deliver the message, the mood, the thought, the emotion. The image is the starting place, and printmaking is the language. I make all my prints in my own darkroom, using hands-on processes — wet plate collodion, platinum/palladium, and gum bichromate. These experience-based processes allow me to shape the way an image is interpreted – and they bring me the satisfaction of creating something with my own hands. To me, that physical connection between maker and object confers value on both. – Kerik Kouklis

Kerik’s artistic process often combines early photographic printing techniques with modern technology, and he has been using the platinum/palladium process in his work since 1990. Platinum/Palladium printing is a historical photographic process developed in the late 1800’s which yields warm-toned monochromatic black and white prints with relatively soft contrast. Over the past year, Kerik has brought color into his hand-made prints by using an inkjet printer to colorize his platinum/palladium prints. The resulting print creates an image reminiscent of hand-colored black and white photographs from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.
From the Ends of the Earth is the first solo exhibition of Kerik’s color work.
Come celebrate Kerik’s fantastic collection of hand-made prints at our opening reception on Saturday, April 7, from 7–9PM.
 
RSVP catering will be serving light appetizers and wine.
On view through June 29.

 
Learn more about Kerik’s platinum/palladium over pigment process on his blog.
 
Artist Bio
Kerik Kouklis is a fine art photographer who specializes in the handmade photograph. Born and raised in California with a background in music and geology, Kerik combines a contemporary eye with 19th, 20th, and 21st-century processes to produce work that is uniquely his own.  Working in a variety of formats from small digital cameras up to large view cameras, Kerik uses both film and digital negatives to create his prints. He has used platinum/palladium and the combined gum-platinum process to create his work since 1990 and has been teaching workshops in these processes since 1997, both in his home studio and at various locations around the US, Canada, and the UK. In recent years Kerik’s travels have taken him to Iceland, Scotland, the Galapagos, and Mongolia. In 2017 Kerik completed his first documentary film Mongolia in Winter. Kerik’s work is currently represented in California by The Image Flow in Mill Valley, Oficino Uno in Carmel, and the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite where he has been teaching hand-made photographic techniques since 2000. His prints are held in private and corporate collections in North America and Europe as well as the Museum of Fine Art, Houston and the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, Newcastle, Pennsylvania.