Archived Exhibition
Beverly Rayner | Balancing Acts
September 13 - October 14, 2006
RECEPTION: Saturday, September 23, 2006, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Artist Biography

Beverly Rayner's inventive and eclectic photography based mixed-media objects peer into the workings of human nature, map the mechanisms of perception and memory, and explore how scientific pursuits, such as genetic research, illuminate human thought processes.

Rayner works with the photographic forms that suit her needs, ranging from photos printed on vellum, gelatin silver prints, color photos, vintage photos, and even x-rays. In her unique approach, these images are incorporated into constructions that she builds from a wide repertoire of materials. Everyday and unusual objects, lab ware, paper, beeswax, wood, glass, metal, fabric, and more, find their way into her artworks.

Rayner acts as a behavioral pseudo-scientist, observing and interpreting everyday experience through the lens of her art, giving tangible form to the psychological wiring of the human mind. The results of Rayner’s “experiments” are thought provoking and surprising, inviting close inspection and engaging the viewer’s curiosity.

Beverly Rayner's work is in the collections of the Berkeley Art Museum, California, the Oakland Museum of California, and the San Jose Museum of Art, California. She is the recipient of a Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship, Santa Cruz, California.

Please click on an image for a larger version

Memory experiment #6:   Distillation Device, 2006 Metal, acrylic, photographs, ceramic, glass, paper; 9 x 12 1/4 x 13 1/4"		Memory Encapsulation Network #2, 2006 Rubberized rope, rubber bulbs, lenses, photographs, latex tubing, wire 58 1/2 x 70 x 19" sold
drifting out...drifting in..., 2006 Cyanotypes on vellum, thread, mixed media, approx. 12' x 32" x 3"		Relentless, 2006 Van Dyke prints on vellum and mixed media, 9.5" x 19" x 7"
The right size (Through the looking glass), 2005; Vintage photo and mixed media, 30.5" x 22" x 1.5"	Gene Pool Repository, 2006, Wood, vintage photographs, Plexiglas, & paint 27 x 20 1/2 x 10" sold	Optic Nerve Bundle:  afterimages, 2005 Photographs, lenses, wire, wood 36.5" x 26.5" x 3" sold
DNA Samples- Specimen group #7, 2003 Glass vials, vintage photographs, metal, wood, paint, Plexiglas, vellum 16 x 15 x 3" sold	Fortunate Change...a different path, 2005 Wood, photographs, beeswax, paint 21 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 1/2"	XX, 2003 Photograph, Plexiglas, wood, paint, garter grips; 17 x 20 x 1"
Household Fetish #2: automator, 2005 Broom, electrical cord, photograph, resin 55 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2"	Household Fetish #3: "do"-er, 2005 Wood, springs, hair roller and pins, net, photograph, resin 29 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 2 1/2"	Household Fetish #6: tickler, 2005 Wood, bamboo, metal, rubber, garter clips, photograph, resin 25 x 9 x 1 3/4"
The skies are not cloudy all day, 2006 Cyanotypes on vellum, Plexiglas, wood, paint, light fixture 9 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 3 3/4"	Apprehensive Paralysis, 2005 Photographs, wood, vinyl, window shade, nails 24 1/2 x 5 x 35"	Balancing Act, 2006 Wood, photographs, Plexiglas, paint 25 1/2 x 13 3/4 x 5 1/2"