From the time I was a child I believed that every Thing, every Place has a spirit—a story or a mystery embodied within its form or space. I eventually became deeply connected to things that were discarded and abandoned. I yearned to bring a new life to them. Where others found decay and uselessness, I found a sense of strength and hope—along with a sense of fragility. A major part of my photographic practice involves excavating my environment and the world around me to find and capture those things and places pulsing with the spirit of that which has been abandoned. I experience great joy in finding those things and places. And I feel a sense of loss at the many things and places that are no longer here. Ray Felix 5 — Viewing Room 1, 2014 While much of my work follows a photographic tradition that is involved in documenting the overlooked or seemingly mundane yet quirky things in our world, my motivation is more attached to a personal and spiritual connection to that which I photograph. And it was during my time in the MFA program at UAlbany that I was able to more fully develop a personal conviction about making this work.
– Ray Felix
–Flow: Works By Alumni Artists From Mohawk Hudson Region Exhibitions 2009-2017
Through his photography, Felix explores the deeply personal connections we share with physical spaces. Often visually cold and empty, his photographs often convey a sense of abandonment and solace. Viewing Room 1 (2014) portrays the quintessential liminal space: an empty room stripped of any identity. The incandescent lighting illuminates the textural nature of the bare room’s flooring, walls, and ceiling. The warm lighting and patterned wallpaper generate a feeling of comfort, and yet the emptiness of the space is unnerving as if the room itself could feel vulnerable. An open door on the right invites the viewer to venture into what may be an infinite loop of similar rooms.
–LIMINALITIES