SETH THOMPSON: INTERIORISMO POPULAR
Seth Thompson’s photography is clearly informed by his background as a painter (M.F.A. in painting, Oregon State), revealed through the fauvistic intensity of his colors, the old world palimpsest of gradients and textures, the purity of his composition and lighting, and most notably in the hushed reverence he exhibits toward his subject matter. His world is static and deliberate, with its intimate portraits of bedrooms, kitchens, deserted storefronts, and other generally empty dwellings; humans are only depicted as background elements, foreground time-lapse ghosts, or incidental ornamentation in family photographs. Thompson’s work is a catalogue of sacred spaces and material anachronisms, bridging the prosaic, corporeal world of cooking utensils, brick ovens, mismatched chairs, tables, and appliances with the light-infused temenos of a local church. Everything that shows up in this series of photographs feels as if it has been touched by human hands, expressed in the attenuated, crooked doors, off-kilter angles of clay and stone, and furniture that appears to have been constructed sans level. There are two chapel interiors among this group, though almost indiscernable from his typical shots of living spaces decorated with Catholic avatars and posters.
Ironically, the most spiritual photo here is “Blowing Curtain, Cienfuegos,” where a backlit curtain blowing in the wind suggests some numinous presence has infiltrated an otherwise homeostatic universe. Here an empty chair is situated between two doorways, angled away from the darkened room; the viewer may infer that a person sat there, leaning into the light, and was suddenly compelled to sit up and walk toward a window, thereby moving the curtain. Likewise, “Yellow Room, Hotel Casa Colorada, Tancanhuitz,” is gravid with meaning: does the sliver of light behind the half-opened yellow doors have some connection to the empty yellow chairs? Does the empty bed connote transfiguration or migration of the spirit after death? Consciously or not, Thompson infuses meaning into these objects, much as medieval painters contrived complex systems of spiritual meaning from the most seemingly innocuous still lifes; his photographs are similarly imbued with iconic weight, expressing a deeper sense of the known through a very specific, yet consistent, visual shorthand.
Here’s some more insight into the work from Nelson Hancock:
Beginning in 1994, Thompson has made numerous visits to a handful of villages nestled in the central Mexican highlands. His initial focus on the surrounding landscape and the ruins of a once-prosperous mining industry gradually shifted towards the area’s current inhabitants and he began photographing the interiors of churches, stores, bars and private homes. The richly colored images presented in this exhibition reveal intimate views of these private interiors.
The term “Interiorismo Popular” refers to a style of vernacular design that juxtaposes mundane household items with devotional elements and often employs exuberant colors and densely arranged altars. Interiorismo suggests both interior design and an inward direction, or looking within, and this work similarly combines a deliberate, formally rigorous photographic style with an exploration of the intimacies of private domestic spaces. These images were created using very long exposures in dim available light, and the resulting prints capture subtle plays of light and reflected color, and reveal rich tones and detail in even the most obscure shadows.
