CHICAGO, IL.- Filter Photo is presenting Life Stand Still Here, a solo exhibition featuring the work of Rafael Soldi.

Life Stand Still Here explores internal dialogues and moments when life and its darkest facets can offer monumental symbolism. Inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf, Rafael Soldi is interested in the elusive abstract space within us that defines the core of our psyche. With the idea that each of us has a certain resolute innerness—a core of selfhood that we can’t share with others because it is so private, internalized and visceral, Soldi is drawn to this ambiguous, sometimes painful inner darkness, not the kind that is perverse, but the kind that feels unknown and is, by default, frightening.

Through a variety of image-making techniques, Soldi opens an interplay between viewers’ histories and his own, a kind of dark mirroring that makes visible our shared psychic struggles. For Soldi, these images serve as a tool to process personal concerns around trauma, immigration, childhood, recurring dreams, spirituality, and the human condition.

Rafael Soldi is a Peruvian-born, Seattle-based artist and curator. He holds a BFA in Photography & Curatorial Studies from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has exhibited internationally at the Frye Art Museum, American University Museum, Griffin Museum of Photography, ClampArt, Greg Kucera Gallery, G. Gibson Gallery, Connersmith, PCNW, and Vertice Galeria, among others. Rafael is a recipient of grants from the Magenta Foundation, Puffin Foundation, smART Ventures, Artists Trust, 4Culture, and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture; he has been awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and PICTURE BERLIN. His work is in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, and the Seattle Public Art Collection. Rafael is the co-founder of FOUND, a space for contemporary art in Seattle, and the Strange Fire Collective, a project dedicated to highlighting work made by women, people of color, and queer and trans artists.