CROPPING TO CIRCLES is an exploration of unexpected character captured in a commonplace system of agriculture – the center pivot irrigation system, a linear apparatus that moves in a large slow circle irrigating fields/crops in regions of uncertain precipitation or to boost production yields utilizing supplemental ground water. Seen from ground view these circles deflate and flat-line, blending into the infinite horizon. Seen from above, elevated out of their everyday context, these circular systems inflate into objects of contemplation. Embodying the particulars of place, each circle disrupts and conflates moments within the continuum and morphs into circular curiosities filled with unprompted gestures, patterns, and values. Shifting with time, these immense circles unearth the randomness of farmer, field, crop, equipment, technology, science, tradition, season, climate, erosion, grade and soil. Inspired by Robert Rauschenberg’s 1960s “transfer” prints, I adopted a similar process that fused photography and printmaking and allowed for voids or blanks in the surface of the prints. These works with their lacerations with minimal signifiers confound subject matter, making subject a matter to be resolved.

KENDALL MCMINIMY uses photography, digital art, printmaking and sculpture to explore boundaries, structure and ideology as filtered through place. Stretching the legibility of representation, his work vacillates between the familiar and the fictitious, amplifying ambiguities, metaphor and associations to allow for continual shifts in the topographies of possibilities.

Notable awards and exhibits include: “Critical Mass 50, ” GuatePhoto International Photography Festival, Guatemala City, Guatemala (2015); “Process,” Photo Center NW Gallery, Seattle (2014); The Print Center’s 88th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia (2014); and Review/CENTER, Santa Fe. He has participated in numerous solo and group shows around the United States, and “Cropping to Circles” was published in Harpers Magazine (March 2014).

McMinimy holds an MA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Born and raised in the High Plains of Kansas, he has resided in Wisconsin since 1998. He is a frequent guest lecturer and teaches Digital Arts at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin.

www.mcminimy.com