This collection of work emerged spontaneously and lacked a clear direction; one might describe it as unfocused. These images depict locations I have visited that captured my attention. They were primarily taken spontaneously with my iPhone camera. Photography immortalizes moments in time, eternally. It is not just the camera that creates the image; it is I who shapes it, employing my vision, feelings, and passion. The use of black and white in the final image conveys the mood and emotion of the photograph.

Chuck Haupt

This body of monotypes began without a fixed plan. I often enter the studio not knowing what I will make that day, a process that can appear scattered or unfocused. Rather than beginning with a clear image or predetermined outcome, I start working and allow connections, themes, and pathways to emerge through the act of making itself. What develops is not chaos, but a record of attention, instinct, and discovery.

This approach mirrors the way I move through other parts of my life, especially in the garden. Faced with overgrowth or overwhelm, I begin by placing my hands in the soil and simply starting. One section at a time. One gesture at a time. I plant intuitively, often without strict order, allowing chance and placement to guide the final composition. The work in this exhibition grows from that same process of accumulation and response. Scenes from the garden, shifting pathways, fragments of observation, and repeated marks slowly come together into something cohesive.

Although the process feels sporadic, the completed works reveal an underlying structure shaped by movement, repetition, and intuition. In this way, “unfocused” becomes less about a lack of direction and more about openness — trusting that meaning can emerge through process rather than control.

I have also become increasingly aware of how changes in my eyesight affect the way I see and interpret the world around me. Like Claude Monet later in life, my visual experience has altered my relationship to color, detail, and atmosphere. These shifts have influenced the surfaces and imagery within the monotypes, allowing perception itself to become part of the work.

Kit Ashman