Chat About: Susan Jablonski is an exhibition in conjunction with the event Chat About: Kay Kim and Susan Jablonski, January 31, 2025. In their conversation, Susan and Kay will discuss the materiality of digital photographs, the indexicality of photographed images, and aura in relation to the reproducibility of digital media.
About the Exhibition From a Horizon
Susan Jablonski’s cyanotypes reimagine photography as a space of construction. Using the cyantopye process on Arches atercolor paper, she manipulates images through layering, splicing, and abstraction, challenging conventional perspectives of photography. In Lily or Chirimen Silk (2025), From a Horizon (2025), and Untitled (The Sky Above Me) (2024), Jablonski juxtaposes snapshot photography with abstract forms, questioning the supposed “reality” of images. Her practice invites viewers to consider how photographic memory is shaped—not just by the camera’s lens, but by the ways we frame and reconstruct what we see.
Artist
Susan Jablonski is an artist and photographer currently based in Chicago, IL. Working with analog photographic processes, her practice explores the notion of the “constructed image” and the dialogue between the camera lens and expected perspective. Her most recent work manifests itself through a collection of cyanotype prints depicting snapshot photography alongside abstract forms. Through this process of physically collaging and splicing imagery, she is interested in breaking down layers of embedded photographic thinking and the supposed “reality” of images. Susan earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Chicago.
Support
This exhibition is part of the 2025 Chat About x CWAC Exhibitions series. Chat About is a student-run open-critique supported by the Department of Visual Arts and the Department of Art History. Special thank you to Maya D’Acosta, Christian Bumala, and Feifei Wang, Chat About organizers. Installation support and preparation provided by Susan Jablonski, Anju Lukose-Scott, Yutao Qian, and Ruoxuan Yuan. Didactic text authored by Kay Kim.
Accessibility
CWAC Exhibitions is committed to accessibility for all our exhibitions. However, the second floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center is accessible only by stairs. To request an accommodation or alternative format, please email visualresources@uchicago.edu
