Susan Ann Walenza

April 2025 in the Klausmeier Room

The Spirit of Water

In “The Spirit of Water”, this collection of photos of Clear Lake captures the fractal nature of water as it interacts with light, casting fields of patterned interconnectedness — the photos unfold a broad color palette, perhaps one only seen in reflection.

Artist’s Statement

I came to photography from painting.   Whether in photos of plums and shallots in my garden or those of a night scene in Orvieto, I like to experiment using the camera as paintbrush to create abstract and impressionist images.

This collection of Clear Lake photos was inspired when I listened to a public radio interview on KLCC with researchers from Oregon Glaciers Institute as they held a requiem for extinct Clark Glacier near South Sister.

Clear Lake contains pure frigid water with great clarity.  The water emerges from “Great Springs” in a cerulean pool having traveled through lava caves for 20 years — the water in its frigid fragile beauty emerges in this 3000 year old depository of snow and glacial melt at the springhead of the McKenzie River.   “Great Springs”, the sign says on a weather worn piece of wood nailed to a tree on the embankment above.

I wonder how this beautiful frigid lake will change as Oregon’s glaciers continue to become extinct.  Clear Lake's shoreline— lava fields, conifer forests, vine maple and aspen groves— are reflected in the clear icy water.  I have never seen so many hues of green as here, mirrored in reflection of bark, branch and leaf.

Are other elements of our universe similarly interconnected in ways unnoticed?  Movement of water molecules and hydrogen bonding create echoing patterns, mirroring the reality that there are worlds under the surface that are as yet unknown.

website - newzonegallery.org/artist/susan-ann-walenza

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(my website will be up soon- where prints may be ordered)

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