WINDOWS

In her series WINDOWS, Irving studies the daylight that filters into rooms where curtains are pulled closed, blinds are drawn down, and shutters are locked into place. The spaces in which she creates these images are as dark as they can get during the daytime; her large format negatives are exposed only by the light that seeps through the fabric and cracks of the window dressings. With exposures ranging from eight minutes to one hour, Irving transforms commonplace windows into ethereal objects: trompe l'oeil light sources floating on walls too dark to see. She asks us to take a closer look at what is essentially a framework with panes of glass covered with opaque materials, urging us to consider fenestration as more than a functional architectural addition to an interior. Perhaps these windows are an optimistic look at what opportunities glow behind the curtains, the dressing begging to be pulled back to reveal a traversable portal of light; or maybe these windows are totems of grief and isolation, a funeral shroud blotting out the light that is out there, but that will never be fully let in.