Ethereal Echoes
"Ethereal Echoes" is a photographic series that began in 2025 during an artist residency at Lakewood Cemetery, a short walk from my home in Minneapolis. There, I produced forty silver-gelatin chemigrams in reclaimed-wood frames, accompanied by a catalog and short documentary. Rooted in themes of mortality and remembrance, the project also reflects my perspective as both parent and mid-career artist navigating cycles of growth and loss.
Elements of the cemetery—the wood, water, and light—directly shape the work. Each print records the conditions of its making: shifts in humidity, temperature, and sunlight dilute the chemistry, warp the paper, and reveal the image. No two pieces could exist under identical circumstances.
As a mid-career artist, I see this project as both an artistic and personal reflection. Caring for children and aging in-laws has deepened my sense of empathy and interdependence—values that resonate throughout the work. The series invites viewers to consider their own relationships to loss, impermanence, and care.
The slow exposure of expired silver-gelatin paper to environmental forces becomes an act of surrender—an acknowledgment that beauty emerges through collaboration, not mastery.
The wood frames, made from retired funeral decking, bind the images to place and time.
The project includes a self-produced exhibition catalog (edition of 100) and video documentary (6 min 33 sec), viewable below:
A video documentary by R. J. Kern fuses philosophy with photographic chemistry to create art. Drawing on teachings of impermanence and rebirth, Kern employs Chromoskedasic techniques – altering silver gelatin prints to produce shimmering, mirror-like surfaces reminiscent of 19th-century daguerreotype reflecting rhythms of life, death, and renewal. Through organic forms shaped by light and alchemy, this series invites viewers to pause and reflect on the cycles that connect us.
Music: Sarah M. Greer; Framing Millwork: Jessica Nelson; Video Editing: Independence Barnes
Ethereal Echoes solo exhibition at Lakewood Welcome Center, 40 unique silver gelatin chemigrams, gold-toned float mounted on museum board with artist frames made from reclaimed wood at Lakewood Cemetery (Minneapolis, MN), July 15 - Sept 1, 2025.
Ethereal Echoes solo exhibition at Lakewood Welcome Center, 40 unique silver gelatin chemigrams, gold-toned float mounted on museum board with artist frames made from reclaimed wood at Lakewood Cemetery (Minneapolis, MN), July 15 - Sept 1, 2025.
Ethereal Echoes solo exhibition at Lakewood Welcome Center, 40 unique silver gelatin chemigrams, gold-toned float mounted on museum board with artist frames made from reclaimed wood at Lakewood Cemetery (Minneapolis, MN), July 15 - Sept 1, 2025.
