By Alia Akkam

There is a thin, murky line between reality and façade, and Colleen Plumb likes to cross it often. "That blurry area is the most interesting spot to me; I always try to work within a space of wonder, between reality and artifice," says the Chicago-based artist. Her latest project, "Animals Are Outside Today," does just this.

From the haunting, up-close shot of an elephant sprawled on the ground in front of spectators prior to a circus show, to the photograph of a fly probing a dead mouse deposited in her yard by her neighbor's cat, to the fashionable women's hat decorated with beautiful bird feathers, "Animals Are Outside Today" explores the myriad ways humans interact with and influence the animal world, and vice versa.

"I began this project exploring 'fake nature' in Chicago, initially drawn to irony or humor involving plants and animals and the manufacture of nature," explains Plumb. "I was thinking about substitutions and fabrications and wondered how and why they functioned in our lives. I also tried to balance humor or bizarre stuff with the realities of our separation from nature. I think the animals became a symbol and an example of our isolation."

Plumb, who has an MFA in photography from Chicago's Columbia College, first studied drawing as an undergrad before getting her degree in graphic design. She worked for a few years at a design firm and believes that solid design foundation greatly informs her images. "Composition and line are what I think about when I am photographing," says Plumb, who uses a Hasselblad and available light to shoot.

Her "Animals Are Outside Today" series first started while she was in graduate school ten years ago. She was working on a series of eerie night photographs and began noticing and photographing plants and animals. "I think at first I was just making work, almost like a search for evidence about this idea," she says. As the series has grown, new ideas and aspects of the human relationship with nature and animals have driven her. "Every once in a while I decide 'I am done with this project,' and then I find something that compels me to continue," she explains.

Dead animals, which to Plumb represent a "hidden wildness in a city," are one example. Her photograph of slaughtered pigs hung in a meat packing facility is a sight you might jarringly come across while peering into the window of a butcher shop. Plumb donned a plastic hat and coat to make the image. "I was really surprised how sterile everything seemed—and wet and cold," she recalls. "I had to squeeze myself down an aisle of pigs to get the image I was looking for, which was scary for me. I had to disassociate a little."

Plumb's first solo exhibition of the series runs from February 12 through April 26 at the City Gallery at the Historic Water Tower on Chicago's North side. Plumb will also have a solo show later this year at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. "Hopefully," Plumb says, "the work will have an incremental impact on people's awareness of their relationship with the natural environment and will stir questions about the origins of resources."

To read how Colleen Plumb uses her handmade books to help her edit her work, visit the features section of PDNOnline this month.