The Arc

​“The Arc (of Summer) ritualizes the waxing and waning of summer, and the wild desire to remain in its embrace. It is a project born out of time spent with my family, near our historic cabin set deep in the woods of South Carolina, and has continued over a period of six years…Here, we weave our southern family history into the present to create our own mythology…We become the water, fluid and tangible.” — Jen Ervin

Jen Ervin’s prints, small black and white polaroids, are intimate and precious; fitting for images that have such a magical quality to them. Even though you see her children grow in the series from year to year, it is as if she is able to stop time from passing when they enter their summer world. Indeed, it does feel as if Ervin is mythologizing her family’s existence in this place. Certain forms and poses are repeated throughout the pictures. Hands reach into the frame to pull vines into a seemingly purposeful geometric shape, suggesting a mutually understood form of symbolism between her and her family. Constellations of bubbles float in a out of the pictures, like note heads on a staff that spell out a silent song.

- Mia D.

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