Life in Motion, Winter 2024

Lisa Nankivil embarks on a journey inspired by chance encounters. 

Her keen observation ignites a deep sense of inquiry, giving rise to new work that vividly brings these moments to life. Venturing into the captivating landscapes east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, she immerses herself in the visual potency of places like Death Valley, the Mojave Desert, and Joshua Tree. Amidst the stark natural beauty of these regions, she considers the environmental damage wrought by human activities such as the boom and bust cycles of mining and tourism. Yet, within these landscapes, she observes echoes of history that reverberate with contemporary aspirations and the resilient communities who inhabit and repurpose these spaces over time.

Nankivil embraces the agility of her iPhone and tablet as essential tools for working on the road. She meticulously crafts archival pigment prints to preserve the stories of these landscapes and their icons even in the face of the relentless march of nature and human-induced destruction. With a steadfast commitment to authenticity, she refrains from staging the photographs, instead allowing inherent stories to shine through her interpretation of the emotional timbre of the place. This process involves a nuanced layering of techniques,beginning with desaturation to strip away color and reveal the essence of each scene in grayscale. From this foundation, she deliberately reintroduces color, drawing inspiration from the dynamic interplay between human intervention and the natural environment.