Art Walk Featuring Shane Moore in the Chapel on October 5

Mark your calendars for Art Walk in the Chapel from 5 to 8 pm on Thursday, October 5. We will feature photography by Shane Moore.

Shane Moore's Artist Statement

“Am I an Artist?” I have asked myself at times over the years. The answer is a definitive yes, but my creativity and output ebb and flow to the extreme. I scheduled this exhibit at DAC in 2022 to force myself to make Art with some ideas and loose concepts in mind and a deadline (I seem to work best under deadlines)! 

I started the journey that is “echoes” with the idea of giving myself assignments: some familiar, some out of my comfort zone. I proceeded to languish, procrastinate, find excuses (some real, some made-up), then life really happened and I was a few months out from September 2023 with little Art of substance or quality. I had my assignments and some firm ideas: all darkroom photography using film, night photography, local history, experimental/alternative processes, abstracts, street photography, people, to name a few. For me it came down to lack of inspiration, especially in the Clarksville area. I never have issues getting into creative mode when I am travelling somewhere new, but capturing interesting images near home has just not happened much as I have not “found enough inspiration” in things I see every day. The lesson I have now learned is to just look harder and go with cameras in hand and an open mind. I digress…

I thought harder and decided to revisit the E.T. Wickham statues in Palmyra. I visited these first as a child in the 1970s with my family – they were intact and painted at the time and I found them odd, but I had a great time picnicking and frolicking with my cousins. I visited “the statues” as a teenager, at night, with my friends. The Statues had started to degrade from vandalism, weather and time in the 1980s. I found them creepy and even scary; they were a cool place to visit, park and hang out. I began my journey as a photographer in 1999 and decided to revisit Wickham’s work then to make some eerie night and infrared photographs for actual assignments. I have not visited the site(s) since the early 2000s until this current series. Upon developing several rolls of film and making a few prints, it became clear what I would do for my E.T. Wickham assignment - document the statues, but also apply some darkroom alchemy representing the decay, mystery and beauty of Wickham’s work. 

I hope viewers will find the project appealing and appreciate E.T. Wickham’s passionate work. These statues are true American Folk Art from right here in Montgomery County. It is a shame that they were vandalized and not upkept, but many of them still exist in part, but the decay is palpable. Wickham’s statues are a treasure to American Folk Art and to Montgomery County. I hope viewers enjoy my series and perhaps visit the Wickham Stone Park to appreciate his work.

I asked my wonderfully talented wife Jane Sara Moore to partner with me for this exhibit. Jaime is my best friend and an amazing artist - I feel like our work compliments each other’s in a very interesting way. Her flowing acrylics and eye for color and form in photography are a perfect contracts and compliments to my black-and-white and minimalistic photography. 

Jane and I came up with the title echoes for the exhibit as it has so many meanings, both real and implied. I believe that viewers will see the echoes of themes, form, meaning, feelings, time and many other concepts in the exhibit. It was a lot of hard work, but work that we are both passionate about. I am very much looking forward to our next collaboration!

The remainder of my photographic work in echoes is both darkroom and digital work from 2022-2023. I was able to incorporate many of my “assignments” such as night photography, abstraction, darkroom alchemy, and macro photography into this work. 

I hope you enjoy the exhibit. I am quite proud of the body of work Jaime and I have put together for echoes. My goal as an artist is to persuade the viewer stop and linger and wonder… 

About Shane Moore

Shane Moore is a native and lifetime resident of Clarksville, TN. He is a 2003 graduate of APSU with a minor in Photography (and a major in Computer Science). His preferred medium is 35mm black and white film and the traditional darkroom silver process. Trying to keep alive the traditional processes is a passion and driving force for his work. He does work in color digital photography, but his passion is for film and the traditional or alternative photographic processes. Shane has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in the Southern U.S. and has had his work displayed and won a number of awards across regional juried exhibitions. He is a current and founding member of Clarksville's Downtown Artists Co-Op.

Jane Moore's Artist Statement

My name is Jane Moore and I have been a member of the Downtown Artists Cooperative (DAC) since 2015. I am the Special Events Manager for our group. I am a Digital Photographer and Acrylic Pour Artist. I have been a part of several group exhibitions; a duo showing with my husband and had my own solo exhibition. I am so grateful my art has been recognized with several awards from both the DAC Photography and Regional Art Exhibition and at the Hopkinsville Art Guild. My acrylic art process involves a lot of experimentation, trial and error. I like to manipulate many of my pours into objects that are easily recognized, for example flowers, but sometimes it’s interesting to just see what happens! I use silicone and heat to create “cells”, which creates a cool effect. I also enjoy adding some mixed media, something I am enjoying exploring. Digital photography is another passion of mine that started with watching my father growing up taking photos with his Pentax camera. Then meeting my husband just fueled my passion for art watching him work in the darkroom, shooting at the beach, etc. I hope you enjoy my work and hope to teach some workshops in the future!