‘Looking as transformation’

“Medusa #’’ (pigment print, resin, Venetian pigment), by Jennifer Liston Munson, in her sh0w “The Petrifying Gaze,’’ at Kingston Gallery, Boston, Sept. 4-28.

Edited from the gallery’s comments:

‘‘Jennifer Liston Munson’s work embodies the quiet power of close attention and layered seeing. ‘The Petrifying Gaze’ explores the myth of Medusa, resonates with curiosity and contemplation, asking us to linger and to look again….

“Yet it is less the horror than the grace
Which turns the gazer's spirit into stone…”

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, “On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci’’

“Munson’s interest in Medusa mythology speaks to contemporary aesthetics that reverse the gaze and honor the liveliness of objects. As a museum professional accustomed to caring for objects, she brings that reverence to her own practice—looking closely, holding space, and honoring the presence of the maker within the object…

“In ‘The Petrifying Gaze,’ translucent forms hold both the gaze and the memory of what they contain, like a pool of water reflecting back layered realities. This translucency fosters ambiguity and mystery, encouraging multiple understandings of what an object, a space, or an idea can be. It is an invitation to embrace the uncertain, to allow the vagueness that asks us to look deeper….

“In Munson’s words and practice, the image of the object becomes an object again—quietly, insistently, reminding us that looking can be an act of transformation.’’