CURATORIAL STATEMENT
The Hunterdon Art Museum is pleased to present Laura McClanahan: Planktonic Constructs,
our first Member Highlight Exhibition. This solo show is awarded to an artist selected from the Annual Members Exhibition.
Planktonic Constructs features color photograms and video abstractions inspired by different
species of plankton. Using her darkroom enlarger as a microscope, and glass objects to represent microorganisms, the artist creates pictures that resemble various protists, plankton, diatoms and jellyfish. She invites the viewer into a constructed world entirely of her own making that convincingly replicates a scientific investigation. Two intriguing videos transform live jellyfish
into amesmerizing kaleidoscopic panorama. These works reflect McClanahan’s interest in probing
life’s origins. The ambiguity of her mysterious forms challenges us to ponder similar questions.
—Mary Birmingham