The city of Upper Arlington's Cultural Arts Division is proud to feature the photography of Alysse Gafkjen. Gafkjen's work will be on display November 2009 through March 2010 at our newest Arts in Work Spaces partnership with Nurtur the Salon, located at 1581 W Lane Ave in Upper Arlington. A reception is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17 from 5-7 p.m.

Alysse Gafkjen aims to capture life through her lens so that we can remember those moments no matter how minuscule. From viewing her images she hopes to promote, influence, and inspire so that we can all realize we are equal and deserve to be, to create, and to live life to our fullest of capabilities. She approaches every idea with an open mind and a driven mindset.

Within these bodies of work, Gafkjen has combined wet and dry photography, scanning in negatives as well as shooting digitally. As a former student of CCAD, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy. There she studied the history of High Renaissance art while traveling to such cities as Rome and Bologna, to see first hand the works of the masters. Also, documenting the Italian life of the family she was fortunate enough to live with for those four months. She has also worked as Assistant Photographer to Russell James for Victoria's Secret as well as Assistant Art Director for Express. These opportunities have given her an enormous view of the fashion world, giving her the ability to influence, inspire and capture the beauty of everyday.