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Artist statement

My photography explores how light transforms familiar subjects into unexpected visual experiences. Whether recording the single-night bloom of the Queen of the Night cactus or interpreting the monumental structure of Florida’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge after dark, I seek moments when ordinary forms become extraordinary.

The flower views move inward, revealing the organic and ephemeral complexity of nature; the bridge views move outward, reducing an engineered/geometric, enduring and iconic form down to rhythm, geometry and color. Together, these photographs invite one to consider these observations vs. interpretations through the transformative power of light.

For over three decades, my work has explored visible and invisible traces of time, from environmental documentary projects to recent studies of botanical and architectural forms, photography has remained my means of inquiry and connection. Across these subjects, I am drawn to themes of impermanence, resilience and transforming the expected subject into something greater.

Biography

Dorie Klein is a fine art photographer whose work explores the transformative effects of light, by turning familiar subjects into extraordinary visual experiences.

Her artistic foundation began in childhood when she earned seven consecutive scholarships to study at Carnegie Tech and Carnegie Mellon University before receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art from Vermont College.

Her photographs have been exhibited nationally in museums, galleries, libraries, and art centers, including the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Denver Art Museum, Castle Gallery, Camden Public Library, and numerous venues throughout Maine, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, and Florida. Her work has been published in ORION Magazine, The Re-Enchantment of Art by Suzi Gablik, Undermining by Lucy Lippard, and other publications.

Klein has received grants and awards for projects exploring environmental and social landscapes, including recognition from the Rocky Mountain Women's Institute, the Center for Transformative Art, and the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, where she received a 2025 Spirit of FMoPA Category Award.

In addition to her studio practice, she has served as curator, lecturer, arts administrator, and advocate for visual artists. She lives and works in Sarasota, Florida.

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Curriculum Vitae

Education

1999 MFA, Visual Art, Vermont College
1988 BFA, Photography, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Selected Exhibitions

2025 FMoPA Annual Member’s Exhibition, Ybor City, FL
2023 Resurgence, Camden Public Library, Camden, ME
2023 For the Love of Art, Waterfall Arts, Belfast, ME
2016 Nine, Lincolnville Fine Arts Gallery, Lincolnville, ME
2016 Branching Out, UMVA Gallery, Portland, ME
2011 (un)COMFORT(able) ZONE, Castle Gallery, New Rochelle, NY
2010 Maine Photographers: Ten Years Later, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

Awards and Grants

2025 FMoPA Award Winner, Spirit of the Museum Category
1993 Rocky Mountain Women's Institute Fellowship/Studio Grant ($1,000)
1992 Creating Ourselves Exhibition Prize, juried by Lucy Lippard
1992 Center for Transformative Art Grant ($5,200), juried by Suzi Gablik

Publications

2014 Undermining: A Wild Ride…, by Lucy Lippard
2001 ORION: Nature, Culture and Place
1991 The Re-Enchantment of Art, by Suzi Gablik

Private Collections

Colorado, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont

Dorie Klein

Fine Art Photography

nature and man-made constructions

Artist statement

Biography

Educational background

Curriculum Vitae