Visiting Artist Duke to Participate in UW Art Museum Events April 9-11

The University of Wyoming Art Museum will host visiting artist Tristan Duke for an artist talk, informal gallery tour and artmaking workshop Thursday-Saturday, April 9-11.

 

Thursday at 5:30 p.m., join Duke, an interdisciplinary artist, in the Art Museum for an artist talk about his artwork “Glacial Optics: Gaze of the Glacier,” which is included in the exhibition “Sympoiesis: Co-Creating Sense of Place.” A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the program to follow at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public; there will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

 

Friday at noon, Duke will host a lunchtime conversation in the galleries, offering visitors an opportunity to engage directly with his work in “Sympoiesis: Co-Creating Sense of Place” and learn more about his creative process. Guests are welcome to bring a sack lunch for after the talk and to continue the conversation. This event is free and open to the public.

 

Saturday at 1 p.m., Duke will lead a hands-on photogram workshop inspired by his new collaboration with Daniel Laughlin -- a UW professor of plant ecology in the Department of Botany -- exploring the relationship between deep roots and resilience. Participants will create black-and-white prints through a guided, studio-based process, experimenting with composition, exposure and other basics of darkroom photography. This workshop is ideal for seasoned photographers and beginners alike. Registration is required. For more information or to register, go here.

 

Duke’s artistic practice blends scientific inquiry with aesthetic sensibilities, driven by deep curiosity and a willingness to experiment. On an Arctic expedition in 2022, he crafted an unconventional lens made of glacial ice to create photographic images and the film, “Glacial Optics: Gaze of the Glacier.” Viewers are immersed in the soundscape of the northern pole, while haunting visuals -- rendered blurry through the ice lens -- evoke the mystery and remoteness of the environment. Accompanying Duke’s film are photographs from the UW Art Museum’s collection that document the opposite pole: Antarctica. Photographs from the collection include works by Eliot Porter, Joan Myers and Stuart Klipper. These images capture stark, quiet landscapes and fleeting glimpses of wildlife in regions governed cooperatively by many nations and institutions.

 

The UW Art Museum exhibits, preserves and interprets visual culture from around the world to engage academic, local, state, national and global communities. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 E. Willett Drive in Laramie. Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday hours are extended to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

 

For more information, call Alex Ziegler, curator of academic engagement, at (307) 766-3483 or email Alexandra.Ziegler@uwyo.edu.

 

For media inquiries, call Fred Hirschman, communications coordinator, at (307) 766-3497 or email Fred.Hirschman@uwyo.edu.