In today’s fast paced world, where digital and conceptual art ride the trends of contemporary museum and Gallery exhibitions, few artists pause long enough to turn their backs on the present in order to contemplate the past. In August, however, the Rogue Buddha Gallery will present an artist who not only regards the past nostalgically, but considers it an integral part of the present. “Chronicles of the Spirit,” will present the photographer Heather Matson as an artist who is constantly in touch with history, it’s evolution, and the loss of cultural heritage that inevitably results.

Matson states that within each place, person or object she sees a latent historical document. As an artist she sees herself charged with the task of preserving these living histories and educating the public about them before such opportunities are lost forever. Her images of the Lakota, for example, and of the places and objects that often go overlooked by today’s mainstream culture, display a sensitivity and respect not often seen in documentary photography. Her use of sepia and black & white photography create the sentiment of a “soft earthy memory” which she describes in her artist statement as the effect she hopes the slow contemplation of her images will have on the visitors to her show in August.

Heather C Matson Solo Exhibit, runs 8/5/04 thru 8/30/04

Heather C Matson always thought her animal spirit was the turtle. She has 12 box turtles that hang out in her back yard in the summer and hibernate in her basement during winter. Despite the fact that the turtle is associated with women, self-reliance and the earth, Matson struggled with her sense of self before fully discovering her passion and voice during a sweat lodge ceremony. It was there that she had a spiritual experience that led her to pursue her current photography project, “Chronicles of the Spirit,” black-and-white images from the Badlands, Hawaii and South Dakota (focusing on the Lakota people), which Matson hopes will document a story of the earth and its native people.

1. What inspired you to document the world of the Lakota? I really needed some sort of therapy to help resolve the death of my grandmother. Part of it was not knowing much about her Ojibwe background. That’s how I got interested in the Native American history. I visited some friends who lived in Eagle Butte, S.D., and was able to spend time with the Lakota. I did a sweat there, and my experience was that my grandmother visited me and told me things are OK and what I’m doing I should be doing.

2. Were you a spiritual person prior to that experience? I was always spiritual but never religious. The night my grandmother passed away, I was standing outside waiting for the coroner, and there was an owl hooting outside of her house. My grandmother loved owls; she had owl sculptures and paintings. I felt as if my grandmother was saying goodbye because I didn’t get a chance to.

3. How has the Lakota tribe responded to your images? They absolutely love them. Jerry Farle, a Lakota shaman who will be in the upcoming show, said to me, “I’m very honored that you’d do this photograph. But if I knew you were taking the picture, I would’ve sucked in a little more.”

4. What do you hope the images reveal? I’ve been trying to shed light on the culture of the Lakota and how they’ve adapted their culture into contemporary life, and not focus on the ailments the community is facing.

5. What does “Chronicles of the Spirit” mean? It’s all of the different facets of this story I’m trying to tell. It doesn’t matter if it’s Lakota, if it’s Hawaiians, if it’s ancient people. It’s still history and culture that all come together, and it’s all made of people.

6. Do you have any plans to travel elsewhere? I’d like to go to Sweden and learn more about that side of my family’s history, since I don’t know much about that side, either. But from what I hear, it’s a lot like Minnesota!

We journey through life often as observers, sometimes as participants. The places we visit, the people we meet, and our experiences become crucial in our personal beliefs. The exhibit, Journey of the Soul, at the Rogue Buddha gallery raises these issues through thoughtful and engaging photographs.

The show consists of work by Marnie J. Fiedler, Eileen K. Reich, and Heather C. Matson. The images and ideas presented by the artists range from one’s spiritual relationship with nature, to worldly travels to personal exposure to other cultures.

Fielder deals primarily with her relationship to nature, and how it guides and inspires her life. Her photographs manage to capture the feeling that one gets when seeing something for the first time, having it burned into memory, and subsequently affecting one’s life. Fielder’s images of fish heads from “Farmer’s Market #2″go beyond being mere fish and become a key element in this traveler’s overall experience.

Spirituality through observation and travel is the subject of Reich’s photos that draw from a wide expanse of geographic areas and cultures. Whether black and white or color, they have been taken with a critical eye and an idea of the message being conveyed. Shoes of a monk in Japan or three photos depicting the cross/crucifixion from Hawaii, Texas, and New Mexico communicate how Reich has experienced her travels on a spiritual level through the process of taking these photos.

Matson’s photos dealing with the Lakota of South Dakota could be the material for a seminar on observation and interaction in art. The series emphatically demonstrates how the experience of taking photos can become more than an artistic endeavor. The photos themselves are some of the best in the show and all are handled with a mastery of photographic technique and sophisticated aesthetics. They present an issue to the observer: the images can be seen as something other, or as an extension of oneself, depending on what the viewer brings to the dialogue.

Journey of the Soul addresses concerns of observation and interaction with nature, studying other cultures, and how these practices inspire and influence our personal spiritualities. For some, nature replaces organized religion. For others, the beliefs of other cultures help formulate something more universal. But we must ask ourselves, as the images in this show suggest, are we merely observing, or are we an active participant in the things that shape our soul?