photo installation
Photography is my medium for large-format installation work, focusing on environmental portraits. My goal with these portraits is to personalize the experience between the collector/client and the photographer (me). While shooting on location, I explore the intimate connections between the landscape and my subject, who might ultimately become integral to the final work—like an actor in a movie. Then, during post-production, I craft the final montage.
Alternatively, and upon request, I make montage installations of exciting, textural, colorful, and subtle images of mundane sightings that resonate with me.
Get in touch here with your interest.
climb
This work juxtaposes photographic fragments to create visual stories. Instead of using photography in a literal way to render a specific experience of a place or environment, my photographs become a means to an end. I am interested in creating metaphors, illusions, and sequential patterns that invite the viewer to explore the connections that arise from a concurrence of images and the narratives that emerge from an analysis of each image in relation to one another.
Transferring my photographs to aluminum by means of a sublimation dye process, smaller panels become modules within larger murals using a photomontage technique. Each square presents a segment of landscape or images related to an overarching environment. By joining the squares together, I draw attention to thematic and formal relationships so that picture-taking and picture-making intersect.
My compositions' modular arrangements are inspired by my background as a graphic designer and my lifelong passion for gardening. Both disciplines instill the patience to obtain proper order within an established framework or boundary while allowing me the freedom to move things around spontaneously during the work in progress.
Janie Gross, Climb, 2011. Photography on aluminum. 72 x 72 in., Commissioned by Connie Williams, installed in the executive office, Perelman Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
[museum description]
“Climb” is a site-specific installation created for Connie H. Williams, Chair, Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, for her executive office at the museum. In commissioning the work, Williams proposed a specific theme that visually integrates images of the then-new Anne d’Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden with other museum views. Its title references the literal ascent of the visitor to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located high on an elegant perch at the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, as well as the experience of the museum environment as a conduit for creative thinking and insight.
"Climb," a photomontage comprised of thirty-six squares, was created using a sublimation dye process on aluminum. Each twelve-inch square presents a segment of the museum building and its surrounding landscape, joined together like a sliding puzzle, to draw attention to how things in nature relate to inanimate objects and suggest the passage of time. The juxtaposition of photographic fragments reflects the many serendipitous opportunities for inspiration and pleasure that can occur during a visit to the museum and its sculpture garden.
- Maureen Pelta, Professor of Art History
Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
*Note: the installation is currently (2025) displayed prominently in a common area at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Perelman Building.
more photo installation works below
"Dreamscape " is inspired by the client's love of wooded trails and my wish to transport them into sweet dreams.
"Dreamscape" on installation day.
"Every Child" conveys the grandeur of nature in contrast to a child's small stature. Juxtaposition is a recurring theme in my art.
"Every Child" is installed on the ocean-facing patio.
"Peter" is a montage portrait of my husband walking on Gooserocks beach in Maine when a flock of swans flew by.
"Jefffrey's Iceland" juxtaposes the starkness and enormity of the landscape with the size of man.
"Jeffrey's Iceland" - installation on LED illuminated lightbox. The figure is concealed to preserve anonymity.
"Winter's Wisdom" produced for a private ski house, is a subject dear to my New England heart.
"Boqueria" is installed in the client's dining room. The recessed wood frames resemble vegetable crates.
"Boqueria" side view
"Boqueria" glistening in the morning light.
"Boqueria" - detail
"Boqueria" - different arrangment
"Boqueria" with tomatoes emphasized.
thoughts on image-making
I have been art directing and taking photographs throughout my professional career. My image-making practice involves closely observing nature, capturing the ordinary, and expressing my thoughts on fleeting moments. I’m fascinated by the idea that each moment in time is never relived, and I find it mysterious how moments seem to pass more quickly with each passing day. This realization motivates me to observe and capture precious, transient moments.
My categories of focus include:
• Pressed flowers, presented as they have never been before, are significantly enlarged to reveal the essence of each bloom.
• Environmental portraits: My aim is to personalize the experience between the collector and myself. I explore the intimate connections between the landscape and the subject. During post-production, I create the final montage.
• Installations that emphasize repetition, patterns, and storytelling.
• Mandalas, which are part of my practice for inner peace, evoke a sense of tranquility in the viewer.