Curatorial Statement:


"Catania, Italy. A wildfire rages under a bright summer sky, smoke billowing across the frame until it begins to obscure the scene. The photograph freezes the viewer in place, evoking the helplessness of standing in the road as the fire advances. What appears at first to be a landscape becomes a deeper metaphor for perception, vision loss, and the relentless veil that shapes how the artist sees the world.


The artist invites spectators to take a square with them, as a memento. As squares are removed, descriptive alt text is gradually revealed, pairing accessibility with imagery and bridging the experience of impaired vision with photography itself. Echoing the way sight can be lost piece by piece, the work transforms as viewers take fragments with them, leaving behind memories, words, or emotions in a jar placed next to the artwork. The artist and spectator exchange emotional currency in collaboration to create a piece of artwork.


Attached is a time-lapse video of "Flames of Catania" being created during the opening of Doug Winter's 2023 NEA solo Exhibition.