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Creatures Found
NOVEMBER 2024
Adam Thorman (US)
Photography:
Adam Thorman
Quote:
Zachary Schomburg
Design:
Rob van Hoesel
Lithography:
Marc Gijzen
Production:
Wilco Art Books (NL)
Creatures Found is a series based on finding the animate in the inanimate. The world comes alive through the lens of pareidolia – the human tendency to see familiar shapes and patterns in the structures of inanimate things, such as seeing faces in clouds and monsters in shadows.
Adam Thorman (US) has always been sensitive to this phenomenon, often spotting anthropomorphic beings in objects such as rocks, tree stumps, and fences. These ‘creatures’, as he calls them, have appeared to him over the years while photographing landscapes, creeping unexpectedly into his field of vision. Until a few years ago, he didn’t consciously look for them, but would occasionally ‘catch’ some. Creatures Found is a collection of the creatures he has encountered over the past 18 years.
Thorman is interested in giving the viewer the chance to have their own creative storytelling experience with each image. These creatures belong to the viewer as much as they do to him, because everyone will recognise their own creature, something familiar, something animal, something human, something real.
Adam Thorman (1981) is an artist, photographer, and educator based in Oakland, California. He makes art about the landscape, abstracted. He makes and alters photographs, creates books, and likes to collaborate on projects with writers and other artists. In his work, the landscape is an interpretive space where meaning is flexible. He approaches the world with an eye towards animistic mythmaking, intentionally unmooring the viewer to create unfamiliar realities out of the landscape. Thorman received his BFA in Photography from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and his MFA from Arizona State University. He showcased his work at various venues, including the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, the Sam Lee Gallery in Los Angeles, and KOIK Contemporary in Mexico City. Thorman’s work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, LA Times, and KQED Arts, and has been acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).