Barbara Strigel

In the familiar space of cities, construction zones are insistently visual. They don't hold the weight of our memories and associations the way architectural spaces do so we are free to consider their repetitions of rebar, walls of texture and scrawls of wire from a purely visual perspective.
When I point my camera at a construction zone, my mind moves into a visual language. I look for balance, unity and rhythm in the relationships between construction materials. I'm open to the idea that this kind of visual thinking has value. If we can find harmony in a group of traffic cones, perhaps we can extend that perspective to the wider world. I'm willing to entertain the notion that engaging with shape will connect us to a place.
My collage process allows me to extract and arrange elements of construction zones. I digitally layer fragments of my photographs with scanned drawings, collages, and printmaking experiments to emphasize the visual grace and movement they contain. Construction zones are the forward momentum of cities made visible. In these collages, I present an exuberant and expansive view of urban space.

Website https://www.barbarastrigel.com/