DELAND, FL.- Anna Tomczak’s beautiful and thought provoking large format photographs debut at the Museum of Florida Art in “Sanctuary: Anna Tomczak Photography.” The exhibition features Polaroid Image Transfers created with Polaroid’s rare 20x24 cameras located in New York, San Francisco, Prague and, on occasion, her own studio. Hand-painted gelatin silver prints, 8x10-inch Image Transfers and other early works help trace Tomczak’s artistic development.

Tomczak was awarded three Artist Support Grants from Polaroid Corporation to use its 20x24 camera system. Her celebrated fine art images are included in the Polaroid Collections. This prized corporate collection of more than 16,000 works began with the legendary Ansel Adams experimenting with Polaroid films and cameras at the birth of instant photography over 50 years ago. Since that time, Polaroid’s nurturing relationship with artists has continued.

Tomczak’s dramatic imagery evolves from her education at Pennsylvania State University in Theater Arts and Film Studies and an MFA in Fine Art Photography from the University of Florida. Today Tomczak fosters artistic development by teaching workshops in Florida and at universities, museums and studios in the United States, Italy and Spain.

“Sanctuary” presents Tomczak’s artistic interpretations of years of collecting iconic treasures. Her 20x24- and 8x10-inch Polacolor Image Transfers are photographic prints, yet they are also works on paper that resemble painterly watercolors.

Tomczak explains, “My collection of old manuscripts and other unique treasures are discovered by searching antique markets. Each object holds a different meaning, symbolic reference or spiritual influence for both me as the artist and for the viewer who interprets my art. The Polaroid large-format 20x24 transfer process lends a tactile quality to the photo imagery and creates a one-of-a-kind work on paper. Through the transfer process, dyes from the negative are infused into Arches or Fabriano papers.”

Tomczak’s powerful images have also enhanced 8 book covers. Her art was showcased in publications including The Georgia Review, View Camera, Camera Arts, Studio Photography and Design, Florida History Magazine, Polaroid Manipulations, Photo Portfolio Success and Digital Photo Art.

Barbara Hitchcock, Polaroid’s director of cultural affairs and curator of the Polaroid Collections, curated “Sanctuary,” Tomczak’s exhibition and edited its accompanying book.

“Anna Tomczak’s photographs are beautiful, yet they are heavily layered with ideas, histories, remembrances and emotion. She delves into hidden places in her psyche to resurrect and interpret what is captured there, using it to reenergize souvenirs of past lives. Perhaps a blood-red calla lily draws our attention to a photograph. Stop. Look twice. This could be the beginning of a journey into another time and another place. The clues are there for you to see and ponder,” says Hitchcock.

Globally renowned in the arena of fine art photography, Tomczak’s unique works have been featured in many exhibitions hosted by the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Florida Gulf Coast Museum of Art, the Horn Museum of Art, the Norton Museum of Art and the Tampa Museum of Art, among others. Recognizing Tomczak’s talents, she has received grants including the Florida Individual Artist Grant, the Artist Enhancement Grant and the Volusia County Individual Artist Professional Development Grant.

Tomczak lives in Lake Helen, Florida with her husband Mark Shuttleworth―an antiques dealer―a dog named Oatie, two cats and four birds. She sees her studio in Lake Helen as her “sanctuary,” an influence in the development of this body of work.