Exhibition Dates: April 2 — May 23, 2026 Public Opening: First Friday, April 2, 2026 from 6 – 8 PM

Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art is pleased to present To the Dark and the Endless Sky, an exhibition of photographs by Tucson-based artist Kate Breakey. The exhibition opens Friday, April 3 and remains on view through May 23.

Comprising ninety detailed portraits of moths from around the world, this exhibition transforms the gallery into a richly layered visual environment. Installed in vintage frames and hung salon-style, the works relate to each other in a dense and immersive field, at once intimate and expansive. Each photograph isolates a single specimen, magnified to reveal the intricacy of its wings: subtle tonal shifts, velvety textures, and complex patterning that often escape notice at their natural scale. Drawing on traditions of natural history illustration while remaining firmly rooted in contemporary photographic practice, Breakey enlarges her subjects hundreds or even thousands of times, bringing these ephemeral creatures into sharp focus, inviting a more attentive way of seeing.

At a moment when insect populations are in visible decline across the globe, the exhibition carries an ecological resonance. Breakey’s work encourages a greater awareness of the fragile systems these creatures inhabit and sustain. The exhibition ultimately invites viewers to slow down, look more closely, and consider the extraordinary beauty and importance of nature.

To the Dark and the Endless Sky also includes a selection of Breakey’s orotone photographs, reimagining a historic early 20th-century photographic process. These works are printed on glass and backed with hand-applied 24-carat gold leaf, producing a luminous, reflective surface that glows from within. Drawn from across the artist’s extensive archive, the orotones extend Breakey’s photographic practice, where image and material presence are equally considered.