The Center for the Performing Arts Gallery presents “BlackOut: A Re-examination of My Existence as a Child,” by photographer Takara Portis, July 17 through August 24, 2012. Admission to this exhibit is free.
Portis uses herself as the subject of her portraiture. Her work recounts, “What if these photographs held only a fragment of the child I once was?” The work she creates, whether it’s manipulated family photos or body scans, is used to focus on various aspects of personal identity. With her work in “BlackOut,” Portis re-examines her existence as a young child. Within these works, she contemplates “What would these pictures become if the little girl was completely cut away and left behind only a black hole?” Because of this absence, the portraits take on a separate life of their own.
Takara Portis is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and now lives in Phoenix Arizona. Her photography has been shown nationally and locally. She has taught photography at Arizona State University and currently teaches Photography I and II at Mesa Community College.
The CPA Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The Center for the Performing Arts is located on the northeast corner of the Paradise Valley Community College campus at 18401 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. Parking is free.
