The Visual Arts Department presents a photographic exploration of being a twin by Carrie Will in “I Am Redundant,” on view on the third floor of Old Chapel. The show opens Jan. 5 and runs through Feb. 12.
An artist talk and reception is set for Jan. 21, 4-6 p.m.
“I am redundant, half of a whole, a freak, identical and lucky,” says the artist. “The relationship I have with my twin sister is tightly woven, beautifully strange and difficult to explain. This has led me to explore a visual language that articulates the intimacy and the oddity of being a twin.”
Will is a New York native whose work is held in various permanent collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. and the University Art Museum in Albany, N.Y.
She says that having been subjected to stares and double takes her entire life, she uses photography “to exaggerate the gaze of others and to illustrate the interconnectedness of our identity. It is difficult to see yourself as an individual when no one else does.
“My photographs aim at grasping the idea that I am one person as well as two and discovering what that looks like.”
Will has shown at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, Michael Foley Gallery in New York and the Australian Center for Photography. Recent shows include a solo show at SRO Art Gallery in Texas and a DIY solo show on the streets of Troy, where she exhibited “We Love Bikes,” a photo-based art project documenting the growing regional bicycle community. The project was funded by the New York State Council for the Arts and the Arts Center of the Capital Region.
In 2012, Will was named one of the top 50 photographers in the arts nonprofit Photolucida’s Critical Mass competition.
“I Am Redundant,” is free and open to the public.
Old Chapel is open weekdays 8 a.m.-6 p.m. The Visual Arts Department is temporarily housed there while its current building is being transformed into the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts, which will include a new public gallery.