SEELY, CHRISTINA

Lux: Metropolis 35° 10’N 136° 50’E (Nagoya), 2005-2008
Digital C-Print
14 x 11 inches on 14 x 11 inch paper
Signed Edition of 50

(United States, 1976)

Christina Seely’s series Lux, titled after the system for measuring illumination, examines the disconnect between the immense beauty created by human-made light emanating from the earth’s surface and the carbon emissions created by the world’s wealthiest countries—evident as the brightest areas detected on a satellite map. The three regions most visible in NASA images are the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, which together emit approximately 45 percent of the world’s CO2 and, along with China, are the top consumers of electricity and other resources.

In speaking of her work, Seely states, “My ideas draw from the ever-changing tension between our way of life and the natural environment. In a time when it is argued that no aspect of nature is unaffected by human impact, my work reflects on a lifestyle that fosters an intense need to control nature while existing in an increasingly delicate balance with its resources and rhythms.”

Christina Seely received her BA from Carleton College and her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. She has exhibited worldwide, most recently at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York, the Center for Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Natural World in Devon, England, and the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University. Her work is in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; and the Boston Public Library.