JANE SKAFTE

“I enjoyed creating this walk-through of the farmhouse that I share with my artist husband, Peter Allen, and sharing our animals and landscape. When we moved to a rural environment it was anathema to me— I felt the loss of activities we were used to in the city; I felt cut off from conveniences I took for granted. We have been here for six years, and now the congestion of the city and urban sound of sirens are anathema!

I have always felt that Peter’s curious assemblages and archives of writing and images were in themselves a work of art. Peter is a very particular kind of collector, comparable to Joseph Cornell. Peter’s finished works of art contain layers of references to his staggering archive of found images and ephemera.

I have used my camera as an addition to my sketchbook for several years. I teach virtually and it is through photographs that I teach my students (rather than dragging things into the classroom to use as still life material or using models). I generally look for photographic compositions as inspirations for other work, and the process of making the photographs has sharpened my compositional sensibility.“

JUNE 2020