Permission to Play in This Strange Place is an experimental digital photography exhibition by mixed-media artist, Jess Walters, reflecting intimate gestures of local flora and fauna and manipulating patterns from the natural world to create curious, playful compositions.

Works are on display from June 1-July 31, 2023 at Paint It Orange in Orange, Virginia, where Jess spent several formative years in adolescence. 

This exhibition is a testament of Jess’ practice to “work with the tools that you have and make art for the sake of making.” All of the images from Permission to Play in This Strange Place were captured on iPhone, edited in the free version of the Lightroom app, and arranged in Procreate for iPad. All frames and production materials are found, gifted, thrifted second-hand, or otherwise repurposed to eliminate waste with creative reuse. 

Permission To Play In This Strange Place invites audiences to experience the visual world of patterns and gestures gleaned from the lens of Jess’ perspective where plants and elements of nature are personified. Photographs were captured during Jess’ casual conversations with flowers found while wandering the sidewalks of central Virginia. Manipulating the images onto a dark background brings the subjects out of time and space to be seen and interpreted in new ways.

Limited Prints Available: Email jesswaltersart@gmail.com