photo Simon Beckmann

Joya: AiR / Gwen Walstrand / USA

‘Arriving at Joya: AiR from the Ozarks region of the United States was rather like landing on the moon, a landscape unreal in its rugged, white soil surrounded by the peaks of the Sierra Maria. And Joya, the jewel, is positioned with views all around, dramatic skies, a goat named Fou Fou, a dog named Frida, and nourishing conversations along with fabulous food. Our evenings around the fire sparked lively conversations and rapt appreciation of the smells from Donna’s kitchen and the sounds of Joseph on the piano. Simon offered a wealth of information about the region and life off-grid as well as humor and general support. Throughout the days, we retreated to our studios or ventured out to walk and work, but were pulled back to the communal spaces in the evenings, creating a unique art family of wildly diverse beings.

I arrived at Joya: AiR with boxes of unexposed 4x5 film, my camera, and few ideas about what could happen there. I left with an attachment to this special community, new ways of considering the phenomena of landscape, and many negatives with which to spend the coming months reimagining intersections of nature and culture’.

Gwen Walstrand

Gwen Walstrand is a Springfield, Missouri based artist and Professor of Photography at Missouri State University. Gwen has exhibited her photographs in national and international exhibitions including shows Rome with Loosenart, in Venice at the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition, at the Koli Cultural Foundation in Finland, in Spain at the prestigious biennial FotoNoviembre, at Santa Reparata Gallery of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy, Muse Gallery in Philadelphia, and SoHo Photo Gallery in New York City. Gwen has received artist in residency awards from the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming, Koli Cultural Society in Koli, Finland, ChiantiArts in Rignana, Italy, Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy, Jentel Arts in Banner, Wyoming, and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Her work has been published in Orion Magazine-Nature/Culture/Place and in two editions of Christopher James’ Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. Gwen’s work has been collected by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Mulvane Art Museum in Topeka, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, as well as by private collections.