UPCOMING exhibitions

PHOTOGRAPHY INTO SCULPTURE - AN HOMAGE AND an UPDATE

CURATED BY L. MIKELLE STANDBRIDGE, SITE-SPECIFIC FOR EL NIDO, LOS ANGELES (March - April 2026)

this exhibition originated in Italy (oct 2025 - feb 2026)

current exhibitions and projects

ONCE UPON A TIME: Photography as Incarnation of Place-FRANCESCO TORI AND LINDA ZAMBOLIN

opening reception, saturday january 10, 2026 from 1 - 4 pm

by appointment

Curatorial Foreword

“The landscape thinks itself in me, and I am its consciousness.”
— Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Once Upon a Time – Incarnation of Place presents a photographic body of work by Northern Italian artists Linda Zambolin and Francesco Tori, comprising thirty-five images that engage landscape as lived experience rather than representation. Printed on fine art paper and subsequently hand-painted with coffee and sealed with a thin veil of wax through encaustic methodology, each work bears the marks of duration, touch, and material presence—situating the image within a temporal and embodied process.

Rooted in long-term observation and proximity to land, the work reflects on how humans and animals adapt to space over time through attentiveness, coexistence, and responsiveness. The photographic surface operates as a site of accumulation, where image and material converge to register not only what is seen, but how seeing itself unfolds. In this way, the works resist immediacy and spectacle, instead inviting a sustained encounter grounded in perception, patience, and presence.

While Zambolin and Tori are unable to travel to Los Angeles to experience the exhibition firsthand, El Nido by VC Projects extends their inquiry by situating the work within an active discursive framework. Through a series of talks and gatherings, the exhibition opens a platform for dialogue as a ‘living field of inquiry’ with local artists, scholars, and audiences, expanding the conversation around landscape, time, evolution, and alchemical transformation.

This curatorial approach understands the exhibition as both spatial and temporal—unfolding through visual, spoken, and musical exchange. By integrating interdisciplinary contributions alongside the photographic works, Once Upon a Time – Incarnation of Placebecomes a shared field of attention, where land, memory, and creative practice intersect through embodied experience and collective reflection.

Victoria Chapman, curator

Talks & Gatherings is a living field of inquiry

(Saturday’s from January 10 - february 14, 2026) where we come together to share, listen, and create community through honest exchange.

The series is presented in conjunction with the current exhibition on view: Once Upon a Time – Incarnation of Place by Linda Zambolin and Francesco Tori @el_nido_project

Photo credit: linda zambolin and francesco tori

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