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Rhythmic Lines, Carmel, CA, 2016
Permanent collection, the International Museum of Dance
She danced in the dark before the music began.
Long before her form took shape in the light, she existed only in fragments, in the whispered echo of piano notes, in the hush between shadows, in the breath of marble. Her limbs, delicate and determined, drew their motion from silence itself. She did not rehearse; she remembered.
Beneath the giant fan of stone, she found rhythm not in beats but in lines, curving, radiating, breathing out from the heart of something ancient. The architecture around her was immovable, and yet, in her presence, it bowed. Her movement made it sing.
This image, “Rhythmic Lines,” was not born from choreography, but from compulsion —a need so internal that it silences thought. I didn’t choose to create it. It demanded to be made.
As with many of my images, the first spark arrived not visually, but sonically. A few rising chords from a Chopin nocturne rippled through my memory. I saw her then: a dancer suspended in a place outside time. Alone, yet held by the geometry of light and form.
In every photograph I create, there's a score playing, sometimes Liszt, sometimes Debussy. This one whispered in 3/4 time, and I followed. The rhythm became the lines. The lines became the pulse. And the pulse became her.
I’m thrilled to share that my photograph “Rhythmic Lines” has been accepted into the permanent collection of the International Museum of Dance. The world premiere of this collection opens:
Saturday, August 2
3:00 – 6:00 PM
Duncan Miller Gallery
1933 S. Broadway, Suite 1270, Los Angeles, CA 90007
duncanmillergallery
The International Museum of Dance
This exhibition is a celebration of movement, memory, and mystery. A surprise dance performance will take place during the event. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I warmly invite you to stop by, see my work, and feel the rhythm in the lines.
Artist Statement
In “Rhythmic Lines,” I sought to explore how movement exists even in stillness and how form can suggest rhythm. The image emerged from a deep place of listening, guided by music I could not hear with my ears but felt in my body.
My process begins long before I hold a camera. Sometimes, it begins with a sliver of light or the memory of a note hanging in the air. I construct scenes the way a composer layers sound: intuitively, abstractly, searching for harmony between the visible and the invisible.
This work is not about ballet or architecture alone. It is about the space between, the tension, the lyricism, and the urgent need to create when words fail. Like a dancer who cannot keep still, I make images because I must.
🎧 Do you want to feel what it is like to be me while creating?
Listen to Maurizio Pollini’s hauntingly expressive performance of Chopin’s Nocturnes. These recordings aren’t just background. They are fuel. If you want to hear the same music that shaped the emotional atmosphere of this image, listen here:
👉 Chopin: Nocturnes – Performed by Maurizio Pollini on Amazon Music
Just a few notes in, and you’ll feel her begin to move.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support my art at no additional cost to you and keeps the music playing in my studio. 🎼