Sandi Haber Fifield GD19_280, 2019. Unique collaged archival pigment print with graphite and silver leaf. 22 1/2 x 29 1/4 inches. — Sandi Haber Fifield *GD19_280*, 2019. Unique collaged archival pigment print with graphite and silver leaf.
22 1/2 x 29 1/4 inches.

Presenting two new bodies of collages and prints that employ nature as source material, Sandi Haber Fifield’s As Birdsongs Emerge | The Certainty of Nothing brings to mind the need to reconsider our precarious relationship with nature in a moment of global crisis. The two-part exhibition, on view at Yancey Richardson Gallery through May 28, represents a continuation of Haber Fifield’s experiments with composite photographs.

Works from As Birdsongs Emerge begin as images of the natural world captured by the artist, who then embarks on a studio process to transform them into composite pictures. Familiar shapes and signifiers are cut, distilled, and disrupted. Fragments are subsequently overlapped and reassembled into nearly abstracted compositions, resulting in pieces that demand the viewer to use both vision and mind to decipher a photographic space with multiple points of entry. In BE20_369 (2020), oddly shaped cactus buds assume an almost three-dimensional effect against a white background scattered with streaks of light. They are juxtaposed, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, with cut-outs depicting water and soil. Meanwhile, photographs of leaves are rearranged to form spirals that accentuate the effects of sunlight in BE20_365 (2020). Unlike digitally manipulated images, Haber Fifield’s collages involve working with the hand, and through manually altering the pictures, she tests the limits of the photographic medium both in a formal and a conceptual sense.

The Certainty of Nothing is based on an extended trip to Angkor, in northern Cambodia, where the forces of the jungle have come to reclaim the ancient ruins of the Khmer Empire over the centuries. The artist adopts an extreme palette in these images, rendering shadows in purplish and deep greenish blacks, in contrast to the translucent effects of bleached sunlight. She also continues to navigate ways of altering the photograph to enhance its lines and light. Hand-drawn marks and fractured pieces are added, and handmade tears appear in works such as GD19_279 (2019). The rough edges and visual divisions lead to a layered perception, which further contributes to a sense of mystique and ephemerality. According to Haber Fifield, the series draws inspiration from Cambodian myths that tell of struggles between gods and demons in order to work together and resolve issues related to the environment – perhaps no less than a fitting metaphor for the present. Its darker mood and hue provide a delicate balance to the lighter and brighter aesthetic of As Birdsongs Emerge.

Aside from extending a serene and contemplative atmosphere, the exhibition prompts reflection on our surroundings that is particularly pertinent to the current experience. Unsatisfied with straight representation, Haber Fifield’s photographic works have always sought to expand the boundaries of the medium beyond a direct documentary style. She uses various techniques to reconstruct images collected over time and create what may be termed visual poems, lyrically opening up new possibilities for looking or even thinking about perception. At a time when many are restrained to the confines of the home or a small area of movement, they suggest the radical potential of the photographic medium to expand our imaginative horizon, and challenge everyday vision.

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