Artist Statement

With this work I’m exploring the idea of transition as it relates to returning home, contemplation, and the rhythms in nature. Four years ago, my family and I moved to a new house after forty years in our old one. As I settled into my new surroundings, I felt a sense of disconnection. 

I began taking a shortcut near my house, a mile of narrow road that cuts off the corner of the main roadway that passes by my new place. This shortcut road is bordered by conservation and farmland on either side, with a small gravel patch at one end that serves as a parking area. As I traveled this path every day, I developed a practice of stopping by the parking spot for 10 minutes or so; always on my way home, never when I was leaving. For me the space serves as a kind of air lock in time, giving me a place of respite and allowing me to prepare for what is waiting for me at home. With the passing of the seasons, my daily observations along the shortcut have brought familiarity with the specific rhythms and scale of the changes in this landscape, and have become metaphors for my growing comfort in my new home.

Regardless of the time of day or season, the color palette of the fields is limited. I rely on light and weather to define the texture, form, and pattern in my images. Similarly, printing in black and white emphasizes these same features. The point of view is on a personal, intimate scale; my fondness for this place has helped me to find a sense of rootedness and comfort in my new home.

Artist Bio

Vicki McKenna is a photographer of landscapes on a personal, intimate scale. To help convey the astonishing geologic evolution underlying seemingly common landscapes, she harnesses the textures, tonality and timelessness of classic black and white images. In introducing elements of abstraction, she eases a scene from its specific location, inviting others to marvel with her at the “ordinary” in our remarkable natural world. 

After earning a PhD in Geological Sciences from Brown University, McKenna taught courses in geology, climate science, and oceanography. In her role as a teacher she started taking photographs to illustrate concepts to her students. Soon she became intrigued by the challenge of creating engaging representations of a three-dimensional world in two dimensions. McKenna features the processes at the boundaries between air, water, rock, and life. She prints using a number of historic methods, but principally uses platinum/palladium processes.

McKenna studied photography at the New England School of Photography, the Photography Atelier at the Griffin Museum, and numerous workshops that included both technical instruction and critique. She has had numerous one-person and two person shows as well as being included in group shows in the greater Boston area and throughout New England. As a core member of Fountain Street gallery she served as the committee chair and lead curator for the gallery’s Annex space from 2018 to 2024. McKenna has taught a freshman seminar focused on photography at M.I.T., where she also photographed for student programs and events. She is an Associate Member of Kingston Gallery in SOWA. McKenna works from Riverwandering Studio in Marlborough, MA.