Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Senior Show



I can't believe that in just two days, my work will be hanging in a gallery for my senior show. Although it felt like an eternity while I was in school, it now seems to have all gone by so fast.
These past two semesters have been hard, to say the least. There were plenty of times where I hated my work and photography in general. Many times I wanted to give up, but I pushed through and am almost at the end.
The work I have done this year is some of my favorite work so far. I feel that my work looks like me. I can see myself, my thoughts, ideas, emotions, and history in my series. This work means a lot to me, not only because the subject matter is so important to me, but also because I have put so much time,thought, and energy into it.
I can see that I have come a long way from my first semester as a photography student. My work has progressed and become much more mature and unique to me. I can also see some similarities in my recent work as well. I tend to do my best work when using my family as a subject. I tend to be drawn to black and white photographs. I also seem to be more inspired and creative while using film, as opposed to digital.
I can't wait to see how everything comes together this Friday. Everyone has worked incredibly hard to make this show happen. I am hoping that it will be a complete success.

The two photographs above were chosen by the juror and will be shown at the Senior Show this Friday.

Myan Cosmovision in the 21st Century with Daniel Matul

This lecture, with Daniel Matul, was unlike anything that I have ever attended. Matul is the founder of Mayan International League and the former Minister of Culture of Quetzaltenango.
At the beginning of the lecture the Highland Support Project, a group at VCU, talked a bit about Mayan culture and the importance of the arts for the growth and preservation of Mayan culture. Matul talked briefly about the need for children to take part in creativity, to keep their culture alive.
He then went on to talk about the Mayan Calendar and the year 2012. He said that the Mayan Calendars, created thousands of years ago were as accurate as any computer today. He then went on to say that there was too much improper information about the Mayan calendar and 2012 prophecies. He said that it had been blown out of proportion. He did say that in the year 2012 there was going to e a change, and that these changes had already started taking place.
According to Daniel Matul, the world is not going to end. Instead there will be a shift, a rebirth. The poles will switch, and this will cause a different kind of energy pull on the earth and its citizens.
Matul said that it was a necessity for people to cultivate and pay more attention to their more artistic and feminine sides of their personality. HE said that it was very important to do this. To be creative, to make art, to writ poetry, and to express oneself in order to survive.
Although this is just a concept, and a drastic on at that, it was refreshing to hear someone say that art was a necessary part of life. The idea that we need more art and beauty in the world in order to survive seems to make sense. We need more in out lives than money, jobs, and material things. Life isn't worth much if you can't enjoy nay sort of beauty and creativity.

Anderson Gallery Entry Form

Thoughts on the Panel Review day



The panel review day went very well, actually better than expected. I was there early in the morning to set everything up, and was able to meet the first few panel members.
My meeting was later in the day, so I waited anxiously most of the afternoon. I asked students how their meeting went, and was surprised that most people had a positive experience.
My first meeting with Stretch Ledford was wonderful. I was very nervous as I walked up to the table and began to introduce myself and my work. I talked a little about my concept and what the project meant to me. Stretch was interested in this but seemed to be more interested in how and where my work was meant to be shown. He was interested in what type of audience my work was geared towards as well. Stretch is more of a commercial photographer, so it made sense that he was concerned about these topics.
He said some very inspiring and kind things to me. He could see that I was able to convey inner emotions through my work. He then went on to say that this was the meaning of true art. This may be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me about my work.
The only real problem he had with my presentation was my over sized portfolio box.
His photograph is shown above. (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 1993; color print.)

My second meeting with Aimee Koch also went very well. Again I nervous as I walked up to meet her. She was much more interested in the concept side of my work. I was a bit flustered and had a hard time conveying exactly what my work was about. This is something I will have to work on.
In the end she was interested in my work and mentioned a few times that it was unique. She gave me some great advice on how to arrange my series. She mentioned that some of the photographs were easier to read, while others were more abstract. She felt that it was important for the viewer to look at the less abstract pictures first, to get a feeling for the content, and then to be led onto the more abstract photos. This would hopefully get the viewer interested in the series and willing to spend more time with some of the more difficult pictures later on.
Her picture is also shown above. ( Shirt #4)



Monday, April 27, 2009

Darrel Ellis







"During his lifetime, Darrel Ellis created a large body of work that was based on family photographs taken by his father, who suffered a brutal death at the hands of careless police officers a month before Ellis was born."
"Working from his father’s photographs, Ellis reworks the imagery, translating it into paintings or drawings, or re-photographing the work and creating collages."(Art In General)

"Ellis used these photographs as the basis for paintings, drawings and photographs that manipulate the imagery through projections on to plaster sculptural reliefs which are then rephotographed and often translated into representational paintings." (Julie Saul Gallery)

Supporting Gallery: http://www.saulgallery.com/chronicle/darrel_ellis.html

I am not as surprised at how many artists use found, family imagery, as I am about how different each artist represents this idea. I have looked at Lorie Novak, Shimon Attie, Deborah Willis, and Cedric Smith, just to name a few. Darrel Ellis is my most recent discovery. He was introduced to his family photographs in the 1980's, after his father's death. Since then, he has used these photographs in many different ways. He has rephotographed, drawn, painted, sculpted from these images to make his own statement.
The first three images were taken from an exhibit of Ellis's. the second set of three are from a series titled, Family Distortions.
This title could very well be the title of my current series. I find it interesting that so many artists feel the need use old family imagery and distort it or change it in some way. The result is usually ambiguous, mysterious, and dark. I had this exact urge with my current work. I was not familiar with any of these artists before I started my research. My ideas and visions were my own. I was not directly inspired by any specific artist before I started.
Although I have many of the same ideas and concepts, as well as some of the same processes, my work doesn't look like any one artist's work. My way of looking at this family imagery is unique and personal. Each artist I have researched has a completely different way of working. Each series of each artist is it's own unique creation.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Deborah Willis



Bio:
Deb Willis has an affiliated appointment with the College of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies. She was a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow and Fletcher Fellow, and a 2000 MacArthur Fellow, as well as the 1996 recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation award. She has pursued a dual professional career as an art photographer and as one of the nation's leading historians of African American photography and curator of African American culture. Exhibitions of her work include: A Sense of Place, Frick, University of Pittsburgh, 2005; Regarding Beauty, University of Wisconsin, 2003; Embracing Eatonville, Light Works, Syracuse, NY, 2003-4; Hair Stories, Scottsdale Contemporary Art Museum, Scottsdale, AZ 2003-4; The Comforts of Home, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA, 1999; Re/Righting History: Counter narratives by Contemporary African-American Artists, Katonah Museum of Art, 1999; Memorable Histories and Historic Memories, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1998; Cultural Baggage, Rice University, Houston, TX, 1995. Her curated Exhibitions include: Engulfed by Katrina: Photographs before and After the Storm, Nathan Cummings Foundation, and Imagining Families—Images and Voices and Reflections in Black.

I came across Deborah Willis while looking at some of Lorie Novak's work. Willis was mentioned in an article in "Scholar and Feminist Online", which discussed Lorie Novak's work. Her work is part of a world wide web exhibit created by Novak, called Collected Visions. Willis's "The Familial Gaze" was part of this exhibit.
The second picture above is what caught my eye. I have come across huge group of artists who work mainly with concepts of nostalgia family history. Deborah Willis's style and concept reminds of Cedric Smith's work, an artist I researched last semester for senior portfolio.

"
Smith’s color photographs, all modestly sized and priced, feature the same sort of old-fashioned studio portraiture of black subjects, each vintage print pointedly re-photographed in front of a Southern landscape: A nervous-looking young man in his Sunday best is placed at a church’s entry, a startled child finds herself perched atop a fat cotton boll." (Art and Antiques)

Cedric Smith: http://cedricsmith.com/html/homepage.htm


I am very interested in how different artists explore family history and memory. Each artist has their own style and concept. They go anout reaching a common goal, but work in very diferent ways.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Panel Review Day!





I am scheduled to meet with Aimee Koch and Stretch Ledford for the panel Review.
I was a student in Stretch's Business of Photography class last semester. I hated the class but though Stretch was very inspirational. He urged me to continue with photography when I was feeling like I wanted to quit. He gave me good feedback on my work as well. He also complimented a series I worked on about my Grandparents. I feel like I can trust Stretch to be honest with me, and we have a good relationship.
I also admire his work. He is very professional and has had a lot of experience. While he does more commercial work than fine art, he has fine art eye. His work is not all business. You can tell that he cares about his photographs through the lighting and the moments that he is able to catch. His work is available to view on his website.

Website: http://www.stretchphotography.com/

I am not familiar with Aimee Koch. I was a little worried when I found out that I was to meet with her on panel review day. I did some research on her and looked at some of her work, and I am actually happy that I get to meet with her.
Her baby doll series has some similarities to some of my work, especially my pictures of my Grandmother's baby video. The up close, distorted faces of the baby dolls remind me of my work. I also liked her series titled "Undressed." Her lighting is beautiful and the images are haunting. Her images are shown above.

Website: http://www.aimeekoch.com/index.htm

I also noticed that Aimee has very involved artist statements. She may be interested in a more in depth artist statement than some of the other panel members. Reviewing her work and doing some research on my panel reviewers has helped me to be better prepared for Monday.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tina Barney




"Tina Barney is best known for her ongoing documentation of the lifestyles and relationships of her family and close friends, many of whom belong to the social elite of New York and New England. Barney’s style is part candid, part tableau; her subject matter raises in equal measure issues of privilege and the interaction of family members. While striving for the candidness of a snapshot, Barney became one of the first artists working in the 1980s to explore a “directorial” mode of making pictures. Her decision to direct her subjects stems in part from her choice to sacrifice the nimble freedom of a 35 millimeter camera (with which she began her photographic career) for the large format camera’s ability to deliver a more detailed rendering of the trappings of wealth so integral to depicting her subjects and their environment. Her direction ranges from posing her subjects to simply asking them to repeat a spontaneous gesture, and her style of working often includes careful lighting and the help of an assistant. The effect is an unexpectedly intimate access to her subjects." (Museum of Contemporary Art)

Website of Supporting Museum: http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent
/barney_tina.php

I have looked to Barney's work for inspiration in past projects. Although her style and technique is much different than what I am doing with my current work, her basic thoughts and ideas that fuel her work are somewhat similar.
Her photographs capture that which outsiders cannot see. Her pictures let us in to people's live that we would not, under normal circumstances, be able to view. While some of her pictures are portraits, where the subject locks eyes with viewer, others are much more intimate. These more intimate, environmental photographs capture families in their personal, private moments.
It seems that people never tire of being bale to look into other people's lives. We get a glimpse of what life is like for someone else. The viewer can relate to the subjects and their environments .
The photographs study what is familiar to all people. Even though the viewer does not have any emotional or personal relationships with the subjects in the photographs, the viewer is still captured by the work.. There is still interest in the pictures, even though the viewer is not in any way related to the people.
I am usually drawn to photographs of family. Such as Sally Mann, Diane Arbus, Callahan, and Barney. I am drawn to these artists because their work is personal. I also tend to focus on my family in my work. I feel a deeper connection to my work when I am working with family imagery. This work has been criticized before. The question of why would anyone be interested in looking at pictures of your family. It doesn't mean anything to them. I disagree. I feel that we can all relate to family imagery. We all have a natural interest and curiosity in the lives's of others.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Artist Statements


Lorie Novak: "I combine and re-visualize photographic imagery, exploring its relationship with memory. I am particularly interested in how personal and collective memory affect the reading of photographs. Working with slide projections, I create ephemeral installations to be photographed that combine my family snapshots, and historical/cultural imagery.

In the interior photographs, empty rooms are filled with "projections" replaying psychological and emotional events."

Shimon Attie:

"In Between Dreams and History, I wanted to give visual form to the personal and collective memories and imaginings of residents of the Lower East Side. I interviewed neighbors from diverse ethnic backgrounds and age groups who were generous and trusting enough to share their memories. They wrote down their favorite childhood songs, poems, rhymes, as well as their dreams, hopes, wishes, superstitions, prayers, and intuitions.From their dreams and histories has emerged a communal poetry in which neighborhood residents serve as their own witnesses. I chose to project the texts directly onto the architecture to reanimate buildings with the written recollections. I wanted the lasers to write out texts in real time, letter by letter, mirroring how memories ebb and flow. It is my hope that this ghostly nighttime writing--whether in English, Spanish, Chinese, Yiddish, or Hebrew--can help to soften the divisions between us by tapping into our collective imagination during a few short autumn weeks."

My Response:

I chose these two artists because I love their work. Some of the ideas and even the physical aspects of their work remind me of my current project. I am very confused about what to say during the panel review. Am I supposed to have an artist statement? Do I just use a quote? Does it have to be serious? Do I explain my process, the reasons why I ma doing this work, and the background? I am so confused!

Lorie Novak's statement is short and simple. She gets her point across and even mentions her family photographs. This is one thing that I was worried about, whether or not to mention the fact that these are pictures of my family. She sounds smart and sure of herself. Her statement isn't too dramatic or lofty.

Shimon Attie's statement is longer and very descriptive. He goes into great detail about his process. He mentions his ultimate purpose for the project. Neither Novak nor Attie have long drawn out descriptions of their concepts. They are simple. The concept is usually one sentence. There seems to be more time spent on explaining the process and what exactly the viewer is looking at.

I am still unsure about how to explain my work. I don't want to go in to great detail about my concept. If I talk too much and explain too much it take all the fun and mystery out of the work. I need to find a sweet and simple way of introducing my work. I will continue to look at other projects by these artists, as well as others to help me figure out how to talk about my work.


Sunday, April 5, 2009

Shimon Attie



Website/Supporting Gallery:
http://www.jackshainman.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=2

Shows/Exhibitions:
2008 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK
Mediatheque Louis Aragon, Martigues, France
The DeYoung Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
2006 “New Work”, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida
2005 “The History of Another”, Numark Gallery, Washington, DC
2004

Shimon Attie described his work, Between Dreams and Memories, as "peeling back the wallpaper of today to reveal the histories buried underneath." In the project titled "Between Dreams and Memories" Attie interviewed people on the Lower East Side of New York City. He then wrote down excerpts of these interviews and set up a laser to transcribe the memories of the residents across buildings in the city.
In a more recent installation, shown above, Attie projected black and white slides on to ancient buildings and walls, such as the Coliseum.
Attie's work immediately reminded me of John Reuter's work.

"Reuter's most recent images are digital collages constructed from nineteenth-century portraits that he found in thrift shops and combined with backgrounds from Ellis Island and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Where he sought Deteriorated rooms." (Kathleen Thormond Carr)
Thye both had this same idea of taking the dream like memories of the past, and bringing them back to the present. They did so by placing these photographs, and words in their original environments.
I found it interesting that one artist chose words, and the other chose photographs. They were both equally successful in their endeavours.
The more I see artist's such as Attie, Reuter, and Novak use projections to show their work, the more I want to do this with mine. If not now, then at some point in the near future.


Wednesday, April 1, 2009

External and Internal Perception



“All that is perceived, whatever it is and whatever its effect may be on a particular individual, has but one ultimate purpose. That is to clarify the distinction between the external that is SEEN and the internal that SEES.”

-T.K.V. Desikachar

Desikachar, T.K.V. . "The Heart of Yoga" Inner Traditions International. Rochester, Vermont. 1995

I have been struggling a bit with just exactly what it is I am trying to say with my work. I have moved from Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, to pain and pleasure, light and dark, then to legacy and family memory. This project has naturally led me into many different directions. I think I have settled on a main idea, a central concept. I used this quote in my critique last Semester. I have come back to it because it relates to what I have been thinking about and trying to show with this work.
Most of my photographs are familiar subjects in familiar environments in familiar situations.
Everyone can relate in some way to a woman on her wedding day, giving birth, sitting with her husband at a dinner table and holding her child. These photographs are of everyday life.
What is interesting about this work is that each viewer will perceive these situations differently. One person may look at the wedding photographs and feel that the person in the photo is happy, another may sense nervousness, another may sense tension, another may feel excitement. Everyone will make their own observations about the situation and person in each photograph.
What people don't know is what was actually being felt by the subject in the picture.
This illustrates "...the distinction between the external that is SEEN and the internal that SEES.”
We, the external observers have no idea how the subject felt at the time or what they were thinking. The only one who knows this information is the individual, the internal that sees.
My Grandmother, who is in most if not all of my photographs, is viewing the world through her own eyes in the photographs. That internal, individual person is experiencing what the viewer can only see from the outside.
This idea of the internal and external perception has been my main interest throughout this project. I am having a rather difficult time figuring out how to convey this idea. This quote does help to explain my thoughts though.
While looking at the images I have posted, start to think about what you feel and see. Then try to imagine what the person in the photograph was thinking and feeling. There is really no way of knowing. These thoughts and feelings are hidden and secret. I think this is one of the points of this work.

Beverly Semmes Artist Lecture




Beverly Semmes first won attention for her monumental dresses that powerfully invoke the female body. She merges a formal investigation of color, pattern, and texture with social commentary. Her fabric sculptures simulate and exaggerate such articles of attire as housedresses, ball gowns, and robes. By exaggerating the forms of clothing, Semmes draws attention to cultural stereotypes. In addition, Semmes uses her work to ruminate on the question of craft: her use of fabric allows for her consideration of textiles as well as fashion. In addition, Semmes has a long track record of working with vessel forms in glass and ceramic. This semester, Semmes is teaching two courses at VCUarts.

This lecture was very interesting. I spend so much time looking at photography, taking pictures, working with pictures, talking about pictures, and reading about pictures that it was nice to be able to think in a different way.

Semmes was energetic and truly excited about her her work. Although her work provokes serious discussion, she had a very playful attitude. She didn't take things too seriously.
The images of her exhibitions did not do her work justice. Many of her pieces take up entire rooms, and I feel that you would really have to be there to fully appreciate it.
One thing I noticed about Semmes is that she didn't take her work too seriously. Semmes does certain things just because, there isn't always a concept. I really loved to see this from a respectable, professional artist. Her work wasn't overly heavy with concept and seriousness. It was beautiful work, that worked on it's own. It didn't need some dramatic back story to support it.
So often in the photography department I feel that I am forced to make some huge, dramatic statement with my work. It feels too forced when I just feel like making something for the simple reason of making it.
I was very impressed with Semmes, and excited about her work. It was a great lecture.