The Hawn Gallery, in conjunction with the Pollock Gallery, is currently displaying photographs by Molly Wood.

Students are invited to meet the photographer at a reception on Jan. 31 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the conference room next to the exhibit located inside the Hamon Arts Library.

The exhibition brings together a selection of works that Woods has created since 1997.

The showcase displays 30 black and white photos taken in Vancouver, British Columbia where the artist lives. The photos have a recurring theme of botanical and garden images.

Wood uses her environmental awareness to bring to life her subject: one-dimensional plants. She’s able to capture the exact moment her object is shining its brightest.

“I’m interested in finding beauty in small, quiet, unconventional places,” Wood said.

Molly Wood has always had a passion for photography. She graduated from SMU in 1992 with a Master of Arts degree and was an art history major. Her thesis focused on photographs by female artists.

Wood’s main interests are in pictorial and documental photography.

While attending SMU, Wood’s interests led her to jobs at the Meadows Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art. After graduation, she decided to make photography her profession.

“It is so interesting to me that she has a master’s in art history yet she is so good with photography,” said exhibit curator Phillip Van Keuren.

Wood sent Van Keuren photos from her collection with the hope of featuring her work at SMU. With the support of the gallery board members, he agreed to display her work.

“I had complete confidence that the show would be beautiful before I even laid hands on it,” Van Keuren said.

Curatorial intern Jeffrey Stvan wanted to create a sense of movement with his arrangement of the pieces.

In order to create this technique Stvan said he arranged the photos in positions that keep the energy flowing from one image to the next.

“I hope that when you step back, you can draw lines from each flower to the next to create a rhythm in her photos,” Stvan said.

Van Keuren said that Woods uses a dark background in each image to illuminate the object she’s photographing.

The artist uses a silver gelatin photographic process to capture her images in black and white.

This process allows Wood to intimately record her personal and strong observations of the natural world.

She said great beauty can be found in the entire life cycle of plants from bulbs to bloom to decay and finally to rebirth.

Wood sees the process as precious and worthy of extreme attention. She captures these miracles through her ability to tell each plant’s story by a photograph.

The exhibit completes its run May 18. The Mildred Hawn Gallery is open Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 – 5 p.m.

Please call (214) 768-2894 for any further information.