ARTIST STATEMENT
Close Range is an ongoing exploration of Minnesota’s Iron Range, focusing on the culture surrounding the mining industry. Its artifacts when used as metaphors reflect that culture in transition. The Range covers an area 120 miles long and three miles wide that became one of the world’s largest iron ore mining sites beginning in 1884. By 1910 forty-three nationality groups immigrated to Minnesota for work on the range. The decline of the domestic steel and iron industry in the 1980s resulted in the area becoming economically depressed. As a result, waste dumps have become artificial hills, and many open pit mines are now filled with water.
My interest in the Minnesota Iron Range reflects my interest in the impact of industrialization on people, culture, and the environment. Although I lived on the range for a short time, the environment reminded me of the West Virginia mining country where my parents were born and many generations of my family lived and worked.
My recent project, Close Range, consists of photographic digital composites ranging from lyrical and poetic to abstract, often referencing the formal and historical. The portrait series focuses on individuals whose families have lived and worked on the Minnesota Iron Range for generations. Each portrait was inspired by their personal story and how it relates to the mining environment and its ethnically diverse beginnings.
The broken and collaged images suggest a fractured culture of the region. Directly or indirectly related to the mining industry, the iron range communities have been divided in many ways such as in politics and mining practices and historically in terms of ethnic differences. Currently, there is a controversy between the expansion of new mining to create jobs and the preservation of the environment. There has been a disconnect between loving the natural beauty of the land and the willingness to harm it. The individuals I spoke with, often would not speak publicly about personal or regional conflicts.
Many thanks to the individuals who shared their stories and ancestry with me. — Nancy Stalnaker Bundy
PROJECT BY NANCY STALNAKER BUNDY
Close Range: Minnesota Iron Range
Nancy Stalnaker Bundy is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
