She finds beauty in the folds of fabric, the shadows they cast revealing unseen things and places – caves, waterfalls, ballet dancers, dolphins. They are purposeful, yet unexpected. Art created by designed chance.
For four years, Andover photographer Wilda Gerideau-Squires has been living in the abstract, at least through her photography. She photographs close-ups of arranged fabrics that have been lit from several angles – beautiful pictures in and of themselves – then enlarges them and captures images hidden in the interplay between the fabric and light.
“It’s intriguing what you can find,” says Squires, who, with no formal training, deems herself a semi-professional photographer.
Squires’ burgeoning artistic career first started as a hobby. A former longtime business executive, she began taking pictures on her many travels with her husband – to Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Estonia and beyond – focusing on portraits of women baring their everyday souls: a destitute old lady and her cat, a female mime eating her lunch in the marketplace, a young, homeless couple living under a bridge.
“There’s something poignant about what you see in their faces,” says Squires, who is a resident artist at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell and has been exhibiting work regionally, nationally and internationally since the year 2000. This body of work, called Women of the World, is an ongoing project for Squires, as is her abstract collection, which was hatched on the rays of an ordinary sunrise.
Lying awake in bed one morning just as the sun was coming over the horizon, Squires noticed the way the light lit the window treatments of her bedroom. She started taking pictures. “It’s a reminder that even in the smallest thing, you can find something extraordinary,” she says about her abstract photographs. One such photograph, titled “Music,” captures the accidental shadows made by planters collected in Squires’ backyard. Inverted, one shadow appears as a musical note against a bar. Perhaps more than any other, this photograph defines Squires’ eye for hidden meanings in ordinary things.
Today, Squires, who shoots mainly in 35mm and bought her first digital camera only four months ago, has been recognized for both her portrait and abstract work, receiving awards from the List of Distinguished Women Photographers and the Venice International Photography Competition, among others. Her work was also featured on the cover of the Brookline Adult Education catalog in 2007 and 2008.
In addition to her undeniable photographic eye, what’s equally impressive is Squires’ passion for what she does. The New York native and 19-year Andover resident says she can get “lost” in her work and will often wake her husband in the middle of the night to talk about one of
her “discoveries.”
“When I’m looking, I’m not looking for anything in particular,” she says. “Sometimes things are just so unexpected.”
Equally unexpected are viewers’ reactions to her work, which Squires loves to hear and talk about. She encourages people to look at her photographs from a personal perspective, to see what they see. “I love being there when people are looking at [my work],” she says. “It keeps me viewing my work differently.” Sometimes, she will even change the title of a piece when gallery-goers see something different in a particular photograph.
Squires says her greatest accomplishment as an artist occurs when people make that personal connection to her images. One woman saw a hidden heart in the corner of a photograph titled “Romance” and purchased it for her bedroom. Another, a widow, found comfort in “Staff of Life.” “For someone to connect that personally to your work is extraordinary,” Squires says.
You can visit Wilda online at www.wgsgallery.org.
Shadows & Light: Wilda Gerideau-Squires
She finds beauty in the folds of fabric, the shadows they cast revealing unseen things and places – caves, waterfalls, ballet dancers, dolphins. They are purposeful, yet unexpected. Art created by designed chance.
For four years, Andover photographer Wilda Gerideau-Squires has been living in the abstract, at least through her photography. She photographs close-ups of arranged fabrics that have been lit from several angles – beautiful pictures in and of themselves – then enlarges them and captures images hidden in the interplay between the fabric and light.
“It’s intriguing what you can find,” says Squires, who, with no formal training, deems herself a semi-professional photographer.
Squires’ burgeoning artistic career first started as a hobby. A former longtime business executive, she began taking pictures on her many travels with her husband – to Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Estonia and beyond – focusing on portraits of women baring their everyday souls: a destitute old lady and her cat, a female mime eating her lunch in the marketplace, a young, homeless couple living under a bridge.
“There’s something poignant about what you see in their faces,” says Squires, who is a resident artist at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell and has been exhibiting work regionally, nationally and internationally since the year 2000. This body of work, called Women of the World, is an ongoing project for Squires, as is her abstract collection, which was hatched on the rays of an ordinary sunrise.
Lying awake in bed one morning just as the sun was coming over the horizon, Squires noticed the way the light lit the window treatments of her bedroom. She started taking pictures. “It’s a reminder that even in the smallest thing, you can find something extraordinary,” she says about her abstract photographs. One such photograph, titled “Music,” captures the accidental shadows made by planters collected in Squires’ backyard. Inverted, one shadow appears as a musical note against a bar. Perhaps more than any other, this photograph defines Squires’ eye for hidden meanings in ordinary things.
Today, Squires, who shoots mainly in 35mm and bought her first digital camera only four months ago, has been recognized for both her portrait and abstract work, receiving awards from the List of Distinguished Women Photographers and the Venice International Photography Competition, among others. Her work was also featured on the cover of the Brookline Adult Education catalog in 2007 and 2008.
In addition to her undeniable photographic eye, what’s equally impressive is Squires’ passion for what she does. The New York native and 19-year Andover resident says she can get “lost” in her work and will often wake her husband in the middle of the night to talk about one of
her “discoveries.”
“When I’m looking, I’m not looking for anything in particular,” she says. “Sometimes things are just so unexpected.”
Equally unexpected are viewers’ reactions to her work, which Squires loves to hear and talk about. She encourages people to look at her photographs from a personal perspective, to see what they see. “I love being there when people are looking at [my work],” she says. “It keeps me viewing my work differently.” Sometimes, she will even change the title of a piece when gallery-goers see something different in a particular photograph.
Squires says her greatest accomplishment as an artist occurs when people make that personal connection to her images. One woman saw a hidden heart in the corner of a photograph titled “Romance” and purchased it for her bedroom. Another, a widow, found comfort in “Staff of Life.” “For someone to connect that personally to your work is extraordinary,” Squires says.
You can visit Wilda online at www.wgsgallery.org.