Ctrl+P: Photography taken offline is an exciting venture inspired by the hundreds of photographs we see on blogs and online galleries. Started in January 2011, CEG introduces Chicagoans to new artists we find while searching the web, exhibiting a small selection of one person’s work every two months, taking the pictures offline and putting them on the wall. It is our goal that Ctrl+P will provide further exposure for these photographers away from the glow of a computer monitor and without the temptation to click to the next link. We hope you will join us by unplugging from the internet and visiting CEG to see these photographs the way they were intended — in print.

We are excited to present the work of Laura Shill as the next Ctrl+P: Photography Taken Offline artist. Laura Shill is an American artist based out of Denver, CO.  Her series Absent Lovers explores themes of absence, erasure, and aspirational performances of potential selves through experimental practices in photography, sculpture, and installation.

Absent Lovers

Absent Lovers borrows imagery from Harlequin romance novel covers, and removes from these fantasy tableaux all but one lover.  The lone lover is left suspended in impassioned anguish within a white void, revealing an image that is one of fantasy, desire, and loneliness.

Laura earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Alabama, an MFA from The University of Colorado, Boulder and recently completed RedLine artist in residence program.

Six pieces from Laura Shill’s Absent Lovers series are on view through October 31, 2015 in conjunction with our main exhibition, Floriane de Lasée: How Much Can You Carry?.