Gianna Vargas’ latest body of work “Dessicate,” comprises photos taken throughout December of 2021 during the middle of the pandemic. The work stems from Vargas’ trip to Utah where she took images of the forest amid winter decay. I made my way toward the intimate back gallery space at TAG gallery (an artist co-op), where I was transported to a familiar seasonal shift. The framed prints interacted with small white artificial aspen trees covered in fairy lights. The trees were placed in every corner and gave the room a sense of warmth, despite the cold subject matter of the pictures.

Gianna Vargas, Artemisia 1

Artemisia 1 and Artemisia 2 are the first photographs you see on the wall to the right. Vargas uses shallow depth of field to blur the background beyond recognition where the focus is a withering plant. The green background, coupled with the bonelike color of the dead vegetation, mirrors reptiles shedding their skin to grow. The frailty and paleness of the wilting flora—seemingly alive—elicit a sense of vulnerability in the winter air.

Gianna Vargas, Populus 2

The soft blurred backgrounds juxtaposed with the skeletal greenery jumping from their frames conjured a painterly quality. On the opposite wall hung Mountain Snowberry, Phragmites, and Populus 2. Respectively, the first resembled a string of popcorn traditionally strewn around a Christmas tree. Next to it, orange and golden strands hold taut to their stems and move compliantly in the wind. Their neighbor stands unmoved; erected stonelike and cold as a statue carved in Ancient Greece.

Gianna Vargas, Floating Leaf

Floating Leaf is the highlight of the show; a shadowy blue base with off-white leaves sparingly suspended in air before joining the circle of life. The Windwitch 1-4 series exemplify the relationship between life and death; beauty and decay. The skinny stems with sharp and thorny edges jutting every which way holding snow on their pods seemed to be passing on the honor of their death to make way for the promise of Spring and, with it, life.

 

Gianna Vargas: Desiccated

TAG Gallery 

January 19 – February 12, 2022