Last year Back to the Lab had the honor of partnering up with AlterWork Studios to grant two artist residencies in our community darkroom. We were pleased and excited to have Lissy Gonzalez and Judyta Grudzien on board as our first ever darkroom residents. During the residency they were given darkroom access for two weeks to work on their projects and produce prints. We are now excited for the public to enjoy on location at AlterWork Studios and online starting with a FREE ticketed opening reception on April 9th from 6-10PM.

Join us online for an Artist Talk with Back to the Lab! Learn more about their process creating work for their current exhibitions as they talk with our guest moderator Eva Mayhabal Davis. Friday, May 7, 2021 @ 6PM ET.

Lissy Gonzalez - "Take Only What You Need"

Take Only What You Need examines the ways in which industrialized agriculture commodifies, abuses, and wastes natural resources. Specifically, food. The photo composites are a visual meditation on my own food waste and how it is exacerbated by a supermarket culture that packages herbs in bundles that are far too large for one person to consume. Take Only What You Need beautifies our everyday garnish into grandiose herb forests that serve as a gentle reminder that all nature, even delicious herbs, should be loved and respected.

Judyta Grudzien - "We Love You"

“We Love You” is an experimental photo based project about domestic work done by housekeepers, colloquially known as “cleaning ladies”. I am one of those housekeepers who organizes and beautifies the living spaces of other people. This work constantly exposes me to toxic cleaning supplies, making me feel as if I am slowly erasing my health and my body. My hands are my daily tools: indispensable but very vulnerable. By using a chemigram process, I place my bare hands immersed in domestic cleaning chemistry onto light sensitive photographic paper creating direct “hand prints”. They are both, a testimony to my slow deterioration and an homage to the first human cave paintings.

By using my voice as an Artist to tell my story as a Cleaning Lady, I want to stand up for myself, justify my existence as a human and initiate the long overdue uncomfortable conversation on a social class system where the imbalance of power between employer and employee treats the latter one like “disposable gloves”.