By Elin Spring
I admit it, I’m brain research junkie. My favorite behavioral study right now teases out the significance of factors affecting human longevity. Guess what has a greater impact than diet and exercise? Relationships. That’s right, our sense of connection to others is a robust predictor of longevity. Profound? Intuitive? The yearning for connection and our devastation at its loss consumes artists of every ilk. Photographers Kristen Joy Emack, Cheryle St. Onge and Jack Lueders Booth each address the potency of social bonds in solo exhibits at Gallery Kayafas in Boston’s South End arts district, on view through February 10th, 2024.
“Knight” 2021, by Kristen Joy Emack, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Kristen Joy Emack’s Book of Saints is her beseeching response to the burgeoning innovation economy that has been bulldozing its way through her hometown of Cambridge, MA. As the expansion of biomedical and tech research facilities has brought commercial and residential gentrification, her working-class community is fighting their displacement every day. She expresses the overlooked consequences of disbanding the diverse cultural fabric of Cambridge by revealing the humanity of its individual residents and “their disappearing, everyday landscapes.”
Jessica and Genika” 2023, by Kristen Joy Emack, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Xiomara” 2023, by Kristen Joy Emack, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
In the penetrating visages of her B&W photographs, we recognize tenacity and pride, but more than anything else, a stirring sense of connection. Kristen Joy Emack’s veneration of her family, friends, and neighbors, as well as the “activists, artists, wordsmiths, musicians, city employees, students, the undocumented, and others” is a tender and inspiring tribute to the ordinary “Saints” of Cambridge, MA.
“Rafa” 2021, by Kristen Joy Emack, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Untitled (Asparagus)” undated, by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Cheryle St. Onge’s My Mother My Atlas is an homage to the profound emotional connection she shared with her failing, elderly mother. As her mother relinquished her emotions and memory to vascular dementia, St. Onge grasped for moments of light in delicate B&W photographs that cherish the ephemeral nature of the moment.
“Untitled (Bird Atlas)” undated, by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Untitled (Horse Head)” undated, by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Untitled (Rabbit)” undated, by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
St. Onge’s portraits record her mother’s increasingly tactile and childlike relationship with flora and fauna. Birds carry special symbolism. A former artistic passion of her mother’s, in these images birds flutter, rest and nest amid shadow and light, singing life’s fleeting song. In the wake of her mother’s passing, St. Onge’s photographs find subdued beauty in these memories entwined with love and loss.
“Untitled (Hummingbird)” undated, by Cheryle St. Onge, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Fausto Gonzalez Barrio” 1990-1998, by Jack Lueders-Booth, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Jack Lueders-Booth’s inherit the land finds faith and community in the dwellers of barrios that surround the landfills in Tijuana, Mexico. Created between 1990 and 1998, these dynamic B&W photographs track the hard labor and moments of leisure of those who make their living from city dumps. Depictions bustle with machinery, sharp edges, burning trash, and other hazards to the many children weaving through Lueders-Booth’s frames.
“Fausto Gonzalez Barrio” 1990-1998, by Jack Lueders-Booth, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Fausto Gonzalez Barrio” 1990-1998, by Jack Lueders-Booth, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Fausto Gonzalez Barrio” 1990-1998, by Jack Lueders-Booth, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
What stands out amidst the cacophony of dirt and danger is people’s relationships. In intimate groupings and compassionate gestures, their close connections are tangible. While ubiquitous signs of religious faith appear to offer hope of salvation, it Lueders-Booth’s focus on the caring relationships forged amidst their impoverished living conditions that pulse with spiritual sustenance.
“Fausto Gonzalez Barrio” 1990-1998, by Jack Lueders-Booth, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Photographers Jack Lueders-Booth, Cheryle St. Onge and Kristen Joy Emack remind us that unsung heroes come in all shapes and sizes and from every corner of the world. They share this recognition through deeply affecting photographs, making it as powerful and plain as black and white.
For more information about this exhibit and accompanying programming, go to: https://www.gallerykayafas.com/
Feature Image: “Shirley and Jade” 2019, by Kristen Joy Emack, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
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