“Hidden Valley,” Karin Bubaš’s solo exhibition at Monte Clark Gallery, is a series of photographs taken with LomoChrome Purple and Turquoise film, presented as large-scale archival pigment prints. The colour-shifted images, each with a coordinated frame, were shot in California and depict arid landscapes dominated by kaleidoscopic cacti, cotton candy Joshua trees and other chromatically revamped desert flora.
A pair of the images reprise Bubaš’s enduring format that positions fashionable women in outdoor settings, facing away from the camera. The ongoing series, first begun in 2006, is suggestive while withholding of narrative. Impeccably dressed figures in craggy landscapes are not merely pausing on casual strolls—something eerier is at play. Due to the known dangers associated with desert passage, this feeling is further emphasized by the iterations in “Hidden Valley.” The heeled footwear and flawless fabrics conjure visions of a broken-down Cadillac, hovering shuttle or tractor beam floating just out of frame.