David Ellingsen: A Breath of Wind, the Swell of Sea

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September 13 - September 27
Opening Reception: September 13, 1-3 PM
Artist in Attendance

David Ellingsen is an award winning photographer based in Victoria, B.C. Creating images that speak to the relationship between humans and the natural world, Ellingsen's work often focuses on long term, cumulative projects that look at climate, biodiversity, and deforestation.

Featured
Glory Adrift 33 × 33 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

Glory Adrift
33 × 33
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

A Sea Surrounds 33 × 33 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

A Sea Surrounds
33 × 33
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

Surface Crossing 22 x 22 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 1950

Surface Crossing
22 x 22
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 1950

Into the West 33 × 33 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

Into the West
33 × 33
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

Become the Sea 33 × 33 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

Become the Sea
33 × 33
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

A Restless Calm 22 x 22 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 1950

A Restless Calm
22 x 22
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 1950

Path of Desire 20 × 20 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 1950

Path of Desire
20 × 20
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 1950

Streaming Sundown 33 × 33 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

Streaming Sundown
33 × 33
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

All the Golden Hours 20 x 20 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 1950

All the Golden Hours
20 x 20
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 1950

Evening on the Salish Sea 22 x 22 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 1950

Evening on the Salish Sea
22 x 22
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 1950

Water, Wood, Stone and Sky 30 × 30 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 $ 3350

Water, Wood, Stone and Sky
30 × 30
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
$ 3350

Northern Refuge 30 × 30 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 SOLD

Northern Refuge
30 × 30
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
SOLD

A Way to Shore 22 x 22 Digital Photograph Edition 1/10 SOLD

A Way to Shore
22 x 22
Digital Photograph
Edition 1/10
SOLD

Artist Statement:

Within my overall practice in photography two streams have flowed on parallel course. The first focuses on environmental issues of our time...these days often quite challenging to peace of mind...and the second, from which these new photographs spring, centres the Land, further grounded by multi-generational roots on Cortes Island, nestled between Desolation Sound and the Salish Sea. Rachel Carson's observation that "those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts" could be thought of as a compass that has allowed me to navigate the ebb and flow between these two streams, the truths and the beauty of this world, and our relationship with it.

Places can imprint themselves upon us, become part of us, and as every place is part of a larger whole, to connect with the landscape around you - its diversity and beauty, its vulnerability and strength - is to come to love more deeply the world itself. Raised surrounded by forest and sea, the nearest neighbours a mile away, a foundation was built that I have returned to time and again, through photography, over the last 25 years.

We find ourselves in difficult times...times that, when attending to the bracing clarity of science and my own careful attentions to the more-than-human, compelled me to go back yet again to the Land to receive the gifts of restoration and resilience. These resulting photographs are evidence not only of this recent journey and the acceptance of these gifts, but perhaps more importantly they can remind us of our reciprocal responsibilities...needed more urgently than ever...to assist in its flourishing.