close-up shots (taken by me) from almagul menlibayeva’s exhibit “transoxiana dreams” at the priska c. juschka gallery. the underlying story of this haunting series of photos is the drying up of the aral sea. almagul infuses this now arid, poverty-stricken landscape–which speaks of the exploitation of natural resources, the over-exhaustion of scarce water sources, the difficulties of fishermen’s livelihood, the costs of collectivization and new glamorous capitalism–with a sense of the surreal and elements of kitsch.

in a 20 minute film, she shows the fisherman father of a young narrator driving through a desolate desert in search of the sea. this desert is populated by only foxes and centaurs–siren seductresses dressed in fried eggs and full fox pelts, strange glamorous women in soviet military hats and extra pairs of mannequin legs, wearing sparkling stilettos of turquoise and gold (glammed up versions of kazakhstan’s colors). but this desert is also strewn with the burnt-out, sunken, and rusty bodies old tanks, oil rigs, and abandoned construction projects. when her father finally reaches the ocean, casts his net and hauls out his saltwater bouquet of scaly flesh, the fish mouths are gaping, frozen in silent screams. in my mind another scene is evoked: the last scene in herzog’s new documentary “cave of forgotten shadows.” here in a giant greenhouse environment, steaming from waters warmed by a nearby nuclear plant, albino crocodiles float about each doppleganger of the other, clammy and pale, like new frankensteins of a nuclear age.

here is another photo of hers from a different collection. transoxiana dreams will be on view at the priska c. juschka gallery until may 14.