#jacquelyn stuber

Thanks to the Times-Standard for featuring Sings of Water and Site Reading.

Two photography projects by Jacquelyn Stuber, “Signs of Water” and “Site Reading,” are being exhibited this month at the Sanctuary, 1301 J St. in Arcata. The opening reception will be June 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. during Arts! Arcata.

“Signs of Water” documents the wooden signs around Arcata that are posted at openings into the creeks under the streets, marking the mile and name of the stream.

“I find that they are a fascinating reminder of the extent to which we have altered the environment to create the ground we walk on,” said Stuber. “The signs bring an awareness to the world of water under our feet that has been covered, but still flows. In times like these, when climate change is rapidly destroying the world as we know it, anything that can help us stay mindful of and care about the natural world that remains around us is crucial to getting people to stand up and fight for what’s left.”

Stuber, who grew up in Albany, California, moved to Arcata in 2013 and noticed the signs right away. She started mapping and photographing them with her medium format camera using color film and scanning the negatives digitally. She said Arcata had many similarities to Albany and the Bay Area, including how creeks appeared in openings between streets and weaved through buildings, and the signs stood out to her right away as something she wanted to investigate.

She featured many of the creeks scattered throughout the East Bay in her work while attending California College of the Arts in Oakland, where her thesis exhibition explored children’s relationship to nature within cities.

“I question what we think of as nature within our immediate environments,” she said. “To build cities, we destroy the native ecosystem, then assemble natural elements like grass and trees to fabricate parks that resemble nature, but are actually just man made landscapes as manufactured as the buildings that surround them. Children usually aren’t conscious that these patches of green are nothing like what would actually be there in the natural world until they are taught otherwise. I seek a shift in this consciousness.”

A second project called “Site Reading” will also be on display, featuring small-scale prints of colorful landscapes, plants, flowers and animals. Stuber says it’s “an ongoing exploration of landscapes and the natural world, a study of color, texture, and feelings one is immersed in when encountering the edge of wilderness.” These photographs, also shot on film, were made with a 35mm SLR camera.

“I just always bring my camera with me when I go out into nature, and these are the photos I can’t help but take, they’re simply what I think is beautiful,” she said.

Signs of Water and Site Reading are on view at the Sanctuary in Arcata from June 1st to July 31st.

Opening reception Friday June 14th from 6-9pm.