Circumference
On view in the alcove gallery January 14 – May 17, 2025
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Time feels so vast that were it not
For an Eternity—
I fear me this Circumference
Engross my Finity—
Emily Dickinson
Over the course of a year, photographer S. Billie Mandle explored a corner in Emily Dickinson’s bedroom. Using a large-format camera and long exposures, Circumference documents the possibilities evoked in the intimate space. Capturing the ephemeral light and atmosphere in the room, Circumference traces the spiritual resonances that linger in spaces. “Circumference” appears in countless poems and letters by Dickinson, an unsettled concept the poet relied on to evoke the boundary between the visible and invisible, the known and unknown.
Focusing on the corner invites an exploration of boundaries and oppositions. Mandle’s photographs marinate in this chasm, documenting the space as small and big, endless and finite, empty and inhabited, known and unknown. Throughout the series the bedroom undergoes a renovation, removing the yellow flowered wallpaper and leaving behind plain, patched walls. The changing light from the adjacent window is the only constant, enveloping the space. The photographs offer a glimpse into Dickinson’s silent, written worlds and invites the viewer to listen to and read the images.
About the artist: S. Billie Mandle is from Northern California and works in Massachusetts. She is an Associate Professor of photography at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and received her BA in biology from Williams College and an MFA from MassArt. Her quiet, attentive images engage with themes of place and contingency.
Her work has been widely exhibited and her work is held in several public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Getty Library, and LACMA Library. Her work has been supported by fellowships from Yaddo, Lightwork, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the University of California Los Angeles Archives.