Raymond Meeks (Ohio, 1963), lives and works in New York.
« Within easy walking distance of my front porch near the town of Durham, New York, where I’ve lived for the past three years, veins of narrow streams spill into the confluence of Bowery and Catskill creeks. A bridge spans the tributary and a steep, terraced waterfall that drops 60ft over
moss-covered limestone.
It’s not difficult to imagine such an idyllic setting as a source for Thomas Cole or other Hudson River School painters in their depiction of “America’s Eden”. The pool beneath the waterfall is shaded by cliffs and a deciduous forest, dense and timeless. It’s like heaven on a table. Teens and young adults gather at a series of outcroppings and concrete stages, the remnants of an earlier stone bridge. Most take running starts before launching their bodies over the cliff edges, falling like wet leaves.
Over the course of three summers I’ve observed a multitude of figures penetrating the still shadows. Carloads of teens arrive, oblivious or fearless of heights, bracing themselves against the bitter rush of cold before their bodies break tension with the surface of the pool below.
Repetitive gestures suggesting worship or ritual have emerged in my pictures — ritual as defined by the dancer, poet and film-maker Maya Deren as “an action distinguished from all others in that it seeks the realisation of its purpose through the exercise of form”.
It’s a prayer, necessitated by the burdens and gifts of sexuality. Confronting fear and uncertainty, giving rise to courage.
A coming of age.»
Raymond Meeks has been recognized for his books and pictures centered on family and place. In November 2014, a mid-career retrospective of his books was organized by Light Work in Syracuse, NY. The exhibition featured more than twenty books, including self-published works and numerous volumes from a variety of publishers. In 2011, Meeks and publisher Kevin Messina (Silas Finch) co-founded Orchard Journal, which was established as a collaborative conversation between artist, subject and viewer. Meeks is a 2016 recipient of the Siskind Fellowship Grant.