This past May, a previous classmate of mine, Teresa Gagliano, had presented her BFA thesis exhibition at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.  In her exhibition she shared images that spanned over a years worth of travel, visiting four US cities all named Versailles.  After visiting Versailles in France, Teresa returned to the states longing for a recreation of aesthetic, but instead of capturing lush architecture and elegant atmosphere, she was presented with Americana.  These images are a great representation of her desire for destination, and her ability to adapt to the American landscape.

Teresa Gagliano is a recent graduate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, and received a BFA in Photography. Focusing on the psychological and ephemeral, she uses photography as a therapeutic, exploratory outlet to reveal quiet, overlooked moments. Recently Teresa’s work has focused on following temporary geographic paths as a forceful means reconnect and quiet herself; using the photograph as a psychological object.

flâneur:

-noun 1. one who travels, explores at a relaxed pace.

 flâneur is a physical and psychological path to find calm and simplicity in the unknown. These towns are self-portraits; geographic and photographic anchors of simplicity and stillness in a time of extreme transition and change. They are spiritual and emotional trophies of locational triggers; of abandoning carefully laid plans and finding comfort in the unknown. 

An archetype of the small-town, relaxed midwestern lifestyle, the process of experiencing these towns on foot grounded the psychological imprint that these towns left on me. A collective self- portrait and cognitive map, these nostalgic landscapes are the sum of a photographic aversion to overcome anxieties; a temporary path.

Coming home from Versailles, France, I longed to parallel the connection and introspection that I experienced there within a place back home. To compensate, I followed a literal geographic path to four midwestern towns called Versailles in an attempt to reconnect and quiet myself – a meditative pilgrimage as a flâneur in anticipation to cope with the unknown.