Deconstructing Identity and Reconstructing Community: The Photographs of Justine Kurland Within the EcoSpiritual Landscape
Publication information:
Abstract
This paper will discuss the intersection of spirituality, modernity, and nature-based community in the photographic work of Justine Kurland. It will begin with an analysis of works from Kurland’s projects between 1997 and 2010. This analysis will focus on the merging of spiritual and natural elements, and will propose that the acts of artistic creation and viewership contain an inherent element of spirituality, the consideration of which is developed upon in the thematic elements that Kurland narrates. It will investigate the aspects of self-referential questioning in Kurland’s pieces, which seek to illuminate the spiritual alignment between human and nature.
Presenter Biography
Luna Patience is a Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity School, with a specialization in the intersection of environmental ethics and folklore. She is interested in addressing issues of identity, environmental abstraction and reconstruction, and the ways in which culture is led and affected by religion.