The Sun Sets Midafternoon

The Sun Sets Midafternoon
Jessica Hays
September 6-December 15, 2024
Opening Reception: September 6, 6-9pm, artist present
Free and open to the public

Aurora PhotoCenter, Main Gallery
1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C9, Indianapolis

Jessica Hays started photographing wildfires and their aftermath after a fire burned the foothills of her hometown in Montana in 2020. Catalyzed by this personal experience, Hays has traveled the American Southwest, tracking fires and coordinating with local firefighters for safety, to create the series The Sun Sets Midafternoon, which captures the state of solastalgia, an emotional and existential distress caused by negative environmental change. The exhibition combines immersive, floor-to-ceiling mural prints of fire clouds, large-scale framed photographs of fires and their aftermath, and the artist’s written word to render an urgent reminder of our world’s fragility.

Throughout The Sun Sets Midafternoon, color plays an important role in conveying the physical and emotional devastation caused by wildfires. In many of the photographs of active fires, the sky is smothered by a soft yellow-orange that might be perceived as comforting in any other context. The beautiful, thick lavenders and peaches of fire clouds signal an enveloping catastrophe. When the cold brown of charred earth is punctuated by dots of fresh, vibrant green on a hillside, the joy of rejuvenation breaks through a pervading sense of grief and loss.

Hays writes of the series, “The experience of a wildfire is all consuming. It crowds out your vision. The pillar of smoke is unmistakable as anything else. Our communities are facing collective traumas as we wait for news about the spread and containment, constantly refreshing web pages and databases. Although these are localized examples of wildland fire and the trauma that follows, collectively the scale of these events is unfathomable. The day to day struggles of normal life continue as fires rage outside our windows, setting our lives in a scene of gray oppression.”

As climate change has brought humans into closer and more frequent contact with unprecedented environmental events, the images in The Sun Sets Midafternoon take on increasing urgency. Ultimately, The Sun Sets Midafternoon asks for an accounting of our role as stewards of the land and air that must sustain us.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Jessica Hays will give a presentation on Saturday, September 7, at 1pm, to talk about handmade books and their place in her practice. Participants will get the opportunity to view Hays’s book, Horizon Line, a monumentally-scaled handmade artist book that opens to 12 x 60 inches and is rarely exhibited. Hays will also give a demo on the Japanese stab binding technique as part of the workshop, and participants will get hands-on by binding a small booklet using the process. This presentation is free and open to the public, no registration required.

Jessica Hays is a conceptual photographer, alternative process printmaker, and artist based in Montana and Chicago. Her intimate work draws on personal experience to communicate ubiquitous human experiences, tackling topics like mental health, trauma, environmental issues, and loneliness. Grounded in the American west, she explores relationships between people, places, and experiences of being deeply connected to one’s surroundings. Her work blurs the lines between the uniquely individual and collective experiences.

Hays works in a variety of processes including pigment printing, handmade artist books, video, and historic and experimental photo processes. She has lectured on topics of mental health and alternative process photography at conferences, mental health summits, and as a guest speaker in classrooms. Her work has been shown internationally in galleries and museums, published in a variety of magazines and textbooks, and is held in several public and private collections in the US and Canada. Hays earned an MFA in Photography at Columbia College Chicago, and earned a BA in Film and Photography and a BA in Environmental Studies concurrently at Montana State University. She was recently recognized as a Critical Mass Finalist and shortlisted for the BarTur Environmental Award. Hays’ work aims to explore the long lasting effects of the land on human psyche from trauma to restoration. 

Annual operating support for Aurora PhotoCenter provided by the City of Indianapolis through the Indy Arts Council. Additional support provided by the Efroymson Family Fund.