Monica Kass Rogers & Bill Bridges: Imagine That!

In a new joint-exhibition opening August 1st, Perspective Gallery presents the imaginative work of member artists William Bridges and Monica Kass Rogers. If you’ve ever looked up at the cloud-filled sky and seen drifting hippos, floating castles, or cartoon clowns, Kass Rogers’ series, “Floats of Fancy,” is a journey with water-immersed fibers that will resonate with you. And making the mundane marvelous, Bridges’ “Inside/Outside,” recasts ordinary household objects as timeless monuments in landscape settings.  

Concordantly, each series conjures images of unreal worlds that encourage viewers to suspend disbelief. At first glance, the two series appear to approach time in radically different ways. Rogers’ clouds flow with an inherent dynamism; Bridges’ implements are solid and static. But as these are juxtaposed, profound questions emerge: Can time ever be escaped? Are the static and the dynamic simply two sides of an unknowable coin? 

Bridges says, “I love these ordinary things. I love the way a three-pound hammer feels in my hand, the way a funnel guides free-flowing liquids, or a rubber glove shields fragile skin from harsh chemicals. I think they deserve to be contemplated, admired and esteemed.”  But, “how serious should a potato peeler be?” he asks. “Does anyone imbue a bottle brush with religious or philosophical significance?” Bridges answer with his photography series “Inside/Outside,” is both an act of affection and whimsy.

Meanwhile, with magic in mind, writer photographer Kass Rogers says she spent a season floating clouds in water, “Fabric clouds, that is, which shifted even faster than clouds in the sky. I experimented with many fabrics to find some that didn’t immediately sink, dyed some of them into colors that pleased me, then twirled them into the water and waited to see how they would bloom and shift.” Shooting through the glass of a huge water tank as the fabrics billowed, she clicked away, amazed at the imaginary figures each suggested. “What viewers will see is as individual as they are,” she says. “I wish everyone so much fun in the finding!"