Glacial Futures
Artists Blake Burton and Amy Hoagland
Curated by Bryce Chatwin
Roundtable Discussion with Artists and Curator: January 29, 3PM
Reception: January 29, 4-6:30PM
Glacial Futures explores an enigmatic terrain filled with icy waters and snowy peaks. Traversed by few and understood by even fewer, there are many things we still don’t know about this frozen tundra. Inspired by their sense of wonder, the artists draw on their expeditions into the unknown as a source of creation and inspiration for capturing the complexities of this harsh and delicate landscape. Focusing on our human connection to nature, a vast appreciation is gained for the Arctic that reveals humans’ intrinsic embeddedness within our ecosystem and our ability to impress upon it. Imbued with a sense of urgency, the art visualizes both the beauty and quiet suffering of the Arctic as a result of our reliance on planetary resources. The continued warmth of our planet’s atmosphere and the increasing rate of melting ice continue to shape the land into new forms as glaciers make their slow descents towards the sea. Glacial Futures positions the Arctic as a lens through which we can understand our impact on the ever-changing environment. The Arctic, so often out of sight and out of mind, has become a vital resource in understanding the challenges we face in our current state of climate crisis. The Arctic just may be the key to unlocking a brighter future.
Blake Burton
Blake Burton (b. 1984) is an American photographer and architect based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through photography, Burton’s work lies in the art of purposeful exploration, adopting the role of a curious observer in search of landscapes that mirror his internal yearning to merge with the shadows and construct a world characterized by tranquil disquiet.
Burton’s work has been exhibited in several group shows across the southeast United States including Slow Exposures, Atlanta Photography Group, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Avondale Arts Center, A. Smith Gallery, Decode Gallery, Praxis Gallery, Southeast Center for Photography, and internationally at the Hamburg Planetarium and House of Lucie in Athens, Greece. In 2024, his work was recognized by the International Photography Awards, earning First Prize and Film Photographer of the Year. In the same year he was accepted to the Arctic Circle Art & Science Residency, a two-week exploration of Arctic Svalbard.
From 2010-2016 Burton documented the transformation of the largest building in Atlanta, Ponce City Market, leading to the publication of his first monograph in 2018 by Schiffer Publishing. He has received multiple honors from the International Photo Awards, Prix de la Photographie Paris, Analog Sparks, American Photo, and has twice been named a Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist. Burton’s work has been featured in Oxford American, PetaPixel, American Photo, and the National Trust for Historic Places.
Amy Hoagland
Amy Hoagland's sculptures embrace the temporal rhythm of the landscape while revealing the entanglement humans have with their more-than-human surroundings. She researches the expression of time alternative to human measurements within the landscape. The wind moves, the soil moves, and the earth's crust shifts. We live in a constant state of flux— a stone touched today may become sand tomorrow to become glass and then transform into a stone again. Cycles, circles, portals, and webs are within Hoagland's work to explore the circular aspect of time and connection. Materials such as glass, metal, and projected light are vehicles for her concept. Through this materiality, Hoagland researches the boundaries that we set as humans to understand why they have come into existence and how to shift perception towards a deeper connection with our surroundings.
