A Gift from a Flower to a Garden

For Jamie LaValley, the power’s in flower

A visual aroma is one way to describe Jamie LaValley’s recent work, a figurative and yet nearly literal bouquet of flowers. Years spent in Paris as a fashion photographer evolved over time into a desire to capture and preserve the beauty and grace of what is surely one of nature’s crowning achievements.

What’s noteworthy here is that the images of the Torrance-based artist have entered new territory. A mix of recent and older prints are on view through July 31 at Gallery 381 in San Pedro. This evening LaValley will be in attendance during the seaside community’s monthly First Thursday Art Walk.

 

Spring blossoms

“I find the intensity of his work intoxicating,” says gallerist and fellow photographer Annie Appel. “I find it irresistible. It’s so rich, and the worlds that he creates are places I want to go.”

“The way I shoot flowers, they’re portraits,” Lavalley told me on the occasion of another exhibition three years ago. “They’re very similar to how I shot fashion models. You find a pose that lends itself for the best perspective of how that flower is going to look the best.”

That basic approach doesn’t seem to have changed, but today the results are different.

“As far as the new show,” LaValley says, sitting in the rustic quietness of his home, “my goal is to find a point where art meets nature, where there is a symbiotic relationship. There’s some kind of artistic collision where you’ve come to a point and then every photo has that experience.

“Also,” he says, “I’m transitioning from more standardized, typical photos, to more experimental techniques, using Japanese papers, and it creates more of a three-dimensional experience when you view it.”

Additionally, and this is one area in which LaValley’s evolution is most evident, he has begun removing the middle tones and reducing everything in the visual spectrum to basic, primary colors. In this way, he emphasizes the graphic nature of each flower he photographs.

When we see them, who or what do we think of? Georgia O’Keeffe? Andy Warhol?

“Obviously a Warhol influence,” LaValley says, “just because of the coloration, because people see the primary colors and all they ever think of is Warhol.” He pauses. “It’s more than Warhol.”

Indeed. With this reduction to primaries and graphics it’s suggestive of woodblock prints.

He answers in the affirmative when asked if there’s a Japanese influence.

“There’s a tendency towards (simplicity)… almost like a Zen influence,” he says.

 

Nurturing his aesthetic

“The way he frames his images,” says Annie Appel, “they leave you no choice but to just be absorbed into the work that he’s captured.”

She’s not only referring to how LaValley positions his subjects within the confines of the surface area, but to the actual frames that embrace each work. The majority of solo photo exhibitions tend to standardize the way each image is presented. LaValley seems to have done just that in years past, but in the current show–and especially with the smaller prints–he has to a large extent specifically chosen frames that complement or intriguingly contrast with the dominant color of his image. After all, gardens and their inhabitants are never uniform, so why should their borders be uniform? In this, there’s a  welcome sense of subdued playfulness.

Although Appel has featured LaValley’s work on a previous occasion, she had no qualms about showing him once again.

“His fascination is so comprehensive,” she says. “He’s pushing the photo medium by getting this more illustration kind of effect on some of his images.” After a pause she continues: “He’s done it again. He’s reinvented yet another layer to see the flower.”

Appel makes one more important observation. “His sense of light and color couldn’t be better.”

Much of this can be attributed to the mastery of Samuel O’Neal, who works closely with LaValley and prints his pictures. A drive for aesthetic precision drives them both.

Listening to the comment that many artists find a niche and never leave it, LaValley replies that if he did that he’d get bored. One doesn’t move forward by sitting back or standing still. But he’s quick to add that one needs to remain true to himself or herself. Also, it’s never about trying to be commercial.

“It’s what you feel, what you enjoy,” LaValley says. “The process is important to me. You have to be focused on what you like because otherwise where are you? You have to have your heart and soul in it.”

Enough of the written word. Let his images speak for themselves.

“Flower Power” is on view through July 31 at Annie Appel’s Gallery 381, located at 381 W. Sixth St., San Pedro. A reception with the artist in attendance takes place tonight, Thursday, from 6 to 9 p.m., as well as on July 2, also from 6 to 9 p.m. For additional information, call (310) 809-5082.

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