Billie Mandle

We are very happy to feature the works of Billie Mandle. Billie is a photographic artist and educator based in Massachusetts . Billie is an Associate Professor of Photography at MassArt. She is a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowship in Photography. She received her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited widely, with exhibitions at Hyères Photography Festival (France), The Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA), and Garden (Los Angeles, CA). Her artist book, Stellar Skytron, was published by Dust Collective.

- Steven Duede

Circumference, Blue ground, Stellar skytron

S. Billie Mandle’s work is lush, poetic, and excels at capturing subtle change. I was introduced to her work through the Circumference series, which meticulously depicts a corner of Emily Dickinson’s bedroom over the course of one year. Through a series of images, the yellow wallpaper brightens and darkens, and when the Dickinson Museum removed the wallpaper all together, Billie documented that as well. Her formal study oflight and shadow evokes the strange power than can emanate from a singular space, particularly one that inspired creativity. I appreciate the process of viewing Billie’s work. Her focus on details forces me to slow down and explore each aspect of an image. While a series may not always directly relate to the passage of time, a viewer will find themselves compelled to think about it. Billie’s focus on subtle degrees of change, whether how light washes over faded wallpaper, or how a landscape attempts rebirth after a fire, makes one realize that we should not take anything for granted as we go about our daily lives.

I recently saw Blue Ground in person at Billie’s studio and had the privilege of having her talk me through its process of creation. The landscapes are haunting, and each one is enveloped in a shade of blue. Billie’s focus is on the “powerful delicacy” of the semi-wild gardens in communities where people with a range of mental and physical abilities lived together. The ways in which subtle elements of the landscape emerge from a midst of blue is ethereal. In contrast, the titles of each work are clinical, referencing medical supplies which come in varying shades of blue.

Stellar Skytron is a series of photographs which has also been compiled into a hand- assembled accordion book by the New England-based Dust Collective. Like Billie’s other series, there is a solid central focus which is then interpreted in a myriad of ways. Dedicated to her child, she recorded the lights they were born under, Stellar Skytron surgical lights, and multiplied and fragmented them into a series of beautiful and mysterious abstractions. A surgical tool with a fantastical name acquires newfound (and profound) depth. Billie notes that “most of life is dark—here are your first lights.” Her work often comes from a dark place, but always seems to seek the light.

Jessica Roscio, Ph.D.

Director and Curator, Danforth Art Museum