Mikayla Whitmore “Forever No More”
Saturday, August 25 – Friday, October  12 
Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 McLeod Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89121

Artist reception: Friday, September 14, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m

Mikayla Whitmore presents dark, enigmatic panoramic photographs of urban rooms and landscapes that stir emotions in her upcoming exhibition at the Winchester Gallery. Whitmore is fascinated by memory, in how our minds record and file away seemingly insignificant details, and in how we cling to, layer, and ultimately reimagine our lived experience through memory. Whitmore describes these photographs as images that intertwine obscure moments in an attempt “to form a memory”. Each photograph is composed of multiple images from a vast range of locales, both near and remote. The artist uses the dramatic darks of the tableaus to create seamless overlaps while forgoing heavy photoshop manipulation. Disparate elements somehow make sense through their strangeness and visually seduce the viewer through color, composition, texture and storylines which are guided by Whitmore, but ultimately left to the invention and personal database of the viewer. The artist says, “We pass by overlooked objects until something alters our perception. Individual memories fall by the wayside, figments merge together; dreams become possible, truth no longer cemented by fact.”    

Mikayla Whitmore was born and raised in Las Vegas. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2010.  She has exhibited and curated at multiple venues in Clark County, including the Winchester Gallery, Contemporary Arts Center, and the Marjorie Barrick Museum. In 2010, following her undergraduate work, she studied abroad for a semester at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Spain. Her work explores the potential of the photographic image, layering elements of different images as in the photographs in Forevernomore and juxtaposing image and hand-stitched text in another recent series. She currently balances her studio practice with work as a concierge on the Las Vegas strip, and most recently presented new work in a solo exhibit at Kleven Contemporary in downtown Las Vegas and was awarded a 2012 NAC Jackpot grant.