Etherton Gallery presents a special summer exhibition featuring Selected works by acclaimed photographer Kate Breakey, on view through September 20, 2025. Curated by the artist, the exhibition underlines the tension between nature’s impermanence and by implication, the enduring impact of climate change. Breakey offers an intimate view of key moments in her artistic development through a selection of hand-colored photographs and unique photograms. Each mark made with oil, pastel, or pencil conveys a gesture of reverence. Her sense of awe infuses the work, quietly inviting the viewer to share in her experience.

I usually alter my photographic images – I paint, gild, or embroider to embellish them, an attempt at making the subjects special and divine. And because this reworking of the surface requires time and close attention, I get to know the feathers, fur, petals, leaves, eggshells, clouds, and oceans very well. It is a way to have a kind of intimacy with nature’s most exquisite details.

(Kate Breakey)

The exhibition presents a wide range of subject matter: human-scale portraits of birds and flowers appear alongside images of densely wooded landscapes and shadowy photograms of desert creatures. Among the earliest works are a series of cactus studies, as well as an installation of cloud images, never before exhibited at the gallery. Several photographs on view are related to works held in museum collections or published in Breakey’s monographs.

Drawn from the artist’s archive, the works on view will evolve over the course of the summer – creating an exhibition that is both fluid and enriching. As artworks find new homes, new work will be introduced—offering a reason to return. This exhibition presents an opportunity to view and acquire early and seldom-seen works by Breakey that are not shown during our regular season.