The art display at Oak Ridge Public Library for the month of July consists of photographs and paintings from artist Crystal Dawn Polley.
Polley has used cameras her whole life to remember friends and family. She grew up using Kodak, Minolta, and Fuji cameras.
Digital cameras have changed her format, but not her vision.
Polley is a graduate of Shawnee State University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, specializing in photography. She was actively involved in the college art gallery and was art editor for Silhouette, the college arts magazine.
Her work has been displayed in the Oak Ridge Art Center; Appleton Art Gallery in Portsmouth, Ohio; Southern Ohio Museum; and other fine art galleries.
Polley moved to Oak Ridge in 2010 and started her photography and document design business, Beyond Infinity Multimedia, in 2014.
For Polley, one photograph is just the beginning of a piece of art. Layers of photographs are edited and blended together to create thought provoking and playful scenes. In two of her works, “If You Love Something, Set It Free” and “Mother, May I?,” the multiple portrait technique is used to express the urgency of life and the unbridled curious energy of children.
The same technique is used in “Come Sit With Me,” but to a much more subtle degree.
The themes of family and personal introspection figure prominently in this collection. Please visit Oak Ridge Public Library during the month of July to view these intriguing and spirited photographs.
