On View: March 8 - April 13, 2025
Jack Austin is a multi-disciplinary creative, who explores humanity, consciousness, and natural beauty through photography, poetry, and music. His work reflects on loss, what it means to be alive, and the search for purpose. As a long-time environmentalist, he seeks to highlight natural spaces, exploring urban and rural environments.
In photography, Jack is drawn to color and symmetry in often highly saturated images. Jack is drawn to both opulent and common language in poetry, weaving them together seamlessly or in juxtaposition. He wants his photographs to read like a poem, with drama and flare, highlighting the human condition, even when clear figures are absent from the image. On several occasions, Jack pairs poems with images in a series, adding meaning, complexity, and depth to both.
This series, “Spiritual Journey”, uses multiple exposures and varied saturation to show a pivotal moment through multiple perspectives. In all the photos, a hand reaches forward, searching for something; perhaps nourishment of the soul, human touch, or the horizon. A range of haziness shows multiple perspectives; for some, the path is more clear, and for others more foggy. Taking the series as a whole is akin to group consciousness and each individual image shows the limited perspective of the individual. While we are trapped in our bodies, enveloped in our own spiritual journeys, we can learn from each other.
The work is also symbolic of the search for sanity and mental health. It came out of a period of poor mental health, where I was hospitalized on 6 occasions. At such times, it is hard to know the right direction, or where to go, but the only way to go is forward. The hand must reach. As they say, the only way out of the storm is through it.
Reaching a hand into the fog is an act of courage, an act of faith, and a wellspring of achievement.
Jack Austin is a poet, journalist, energy researcher, and photographer from Pittsburgh, living in Chicago. His poetry has appeared in Euphony and Turtle Way and his photography was featured in Evanston's Dittmar Gallery. His art and writing explore mental health, the human condition, beauty in all its forms, and subjectivity.
GALLERY HOURS & VISITOR INFORMATION
This exhibition will be held in the Lobby Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.
Gallery Hours
Monday–Thursday: 9am–6pm
Friday: 9am–5pm
Saturday–Sunday: 9am–4pm
HOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORK
Artwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center. If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at [email protected] or (847) 475-5300 x 102.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Image Credits: Jack Austin