I have entered the "Pride of Place" photo competition at Ph.Art Gallery. 

These are the images I have entered.

I entered a contest held by Photographer's Forum magazine. The images to the right are the ones I submitted.

First Friday 5/1

I'm sure this will come as no surprise, but my first friday plans were interrupted, once again.  I ended up having to work because a friend had to be at his other job and desperately needed me to cover.  So I covered.  And closed.  (that means 2am, he owes me a huuuuge favor!) 

Anyways, I ended up going to a few galleries, with Quirk being the most memorable.  I found this surprising because the majority of the work was paintings, and that is usually not my cup of tea.  I found it very interesting that it was a joint show, perhaps sisters? and their work looked incredibly different.  I really enjoy the juxtaposition of ideas on the same subject.  I started looking at Rita Root's work first, only to become bored with the repetition of horses.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are bad pieces, because technically they are absolutely beautifully detailed, but it was just so boring.  It seemed like they were all almost the same, that is, until I came onto the off-colored and distorted paintings of the horses.  This was sooo relieving to see a bit of differentiation in Rita's work.  The painting of the green horse stuck out like a sore thumb, but in a very good way, on the wall with the about 4 or 5 other paintings.  On the larger wall, she included 2 paintings of horses that extended from their rectangular borders, and made the outer white border a part of the work of art rather than just a method of displaying.  I enjoyed these 2 paintings over the rest, by far.  I also enjoyed the little detailed lines and circle on all the borders.  I feel as if that compensated for the fact that the pieces had rugged edges.  Good touch, not too much.

On the other side of the gallery, Erin Root's work was displayed.  It threw me off how different their work was.  Rita seems to be focused on the beautiful, colorful, the alive, while Erin is focused on concepts, pieces, and composition.  I found the subject of her work to be quite disturbing, but displayed in a very effective way.  I found her pieces of "life" and "death" to be more influential than the pieces of separate pieces. (deer parts I believe? strange.)  Erin definitely used composition and the juxtaposition of black and white to further her daring concepts.  I absolutely love her use of negative space, especially in the pieces of dying animals.  She associates black with death, and displayed them tiny, in the bottom corner, surrounded by this black death halo. The use of negative space, to me, pushes the idea of being alone.

Overall, I found this show to be interesting and different, but would probably not go out of my way to see their work again.

Interstitial - Hassan Pitts

When told that we had to go see your work a week before first friday, I was a bit stressed because my schedule is super crazy busy with finals and work.  I ended up going last Wednesday in between study sessions.  Of course I was in a shitty mood, and was expecting to be pessimistic about the work because that was just how I was feeling.  When the video started, I was definitely a bit confused, but the piece grew on me, slowly but hugely.  The double exposure plays with the fact that the act of shaving is such a repetitious event, and having the opacity change gave it a really creepy effect that definitely works because you switch it up what's in focus and what's not.  The thing that made it the most memorable for me was the intense music being played in the background.  I actually went with Blair while not many others were there, and boy we cranked that volume up.  You would expect such a mundane event to have either a soft, soothing tone, or no music at all.  The creepiness of the music made the boring very exciting and new.  I kept expecting something to go horribly wrong and you shave off an eyebrow or slice open your cheek. (first would be funnnnny!!! not so much on the second) There were certain parts of the video that would be excellent photographs, especially when one of you is looking down, and the other is looking straight ahead, causing a weird overlay of eyeballs on your forehead.

Overall, I found the piece very interesting and definitely a good break from my studies.  I came in angry and stressed, and left feeling a bit relieved and my mind racing. I feel as if you appropriately intensified the mundane.  Good work!

artist statement

Personal appearance is a major factor in our world today.  Magazines and newspapers worldwide give us, the public, an "ideal" image to live by.  But how ideal is it?  Ideal for who?  We are constantly being shown that we must be a certain weight and wear a certain brand or style in order to prosper in our modern world, yet underneath it all, who are we, really?  Fashion and the media in general can be very demanding on how our lives should be held.  My approach is to make a statement about fashion by showing the contradiction between the material and the actual.

This statement is in relation to my studio photography final, which is now a summer project because we don't have enough time to shoot in class.

artist resume

 SHOWS

2006 - Mini Group Show, Prelude to a Fairfax Academy play

2007 - Senior Art Show, Fairfax High School

COMPETITIONS

2006 - Scholastic Portfolio Silver Key Award

2008 - Photographer's Forum Best of College Photography 2008

PUBLISHED WORK

2006 - The Fairfax Connection

2008 - Finalist in Photographer's Forum Best of College Photography Annual 2008

OTHER WORK

Band Photography

2008/09 - Yardwork

2009 - Nathan and the Gangbang

2009 - Participated in Fairfax High School's Academy Alumni Day

first friday 4/3

My plans to walk on Broad Street for First Friday were once again interrupted, and I am, once again, disappointed.  Things usually don't work out for me unless it's spontaneous.  Planned events aren't my strong point.  Oh well. I will make it out some day...

I visited numerous galleries the next day.  I started off my gallery adventure at art 6, where I immediately noticed that it was not professional work being displayed.  I viewed several pieces of work without looking at the paper describing the event beforehand, and felt a very strong"AFO" vibe, if you may.  Everything felt as if it were done for a project following specific guidelines, which isn't always a bad thing, but I just don't really want to view that in a nice gallery setting.  I'd rather see it walking down the hall at Bowe Street.  This feeling was pretty constant until I saw two huge painted portraits, not displayed next to each other, but definitely by the same artist.  These, to me, were outstanding compared to the other obvious amateur work.  I then saw the handout stating that it was a high school juried show.  This realization made the bad and so-so work make more sense, and the paintings by Joe Riley even more amazing.  There were a few other pieces by different students that I genuinely liked and could appreciate as art, but none stood out as much as his paintings for me.  The other thing that stuck out to me was the work by the featured high school teacher, Brigette Newberry.  I love patterns and mixing fabrics, and her combination of that and sewing techniques was incredible to me.  I kept looking at all of the detailed stitching again and again, wishing I could do something like that.... which reminded me, I need to look into my want to double major in craft and material studies.  I feel as if I would be able to make some crazy things with my hands with the proper training, and seeing work like that is an inspiration.

My next stop was at the Visual Art Studio.  Just like my last first friday experience, I was once again drawn to all of the handmade jewelry displayed.  I love stuff that isn't mass produced, which is just one more reason to love Richmond's little boutiques.  Other than all of the interesting jewelry, I was drawn to one artist's work in particular, Sally Valentine.  Her splatter paintings were displayed first, which were alright, but I've seen it before.  I then walked back into the second section of the gallery to see another splatter piece, but with so much more umph behind it.  There was so much going on, so much paint, yet still a focal point.  I wanted to touch it.  The textures were driving me crazy.  I viewed it from all angles, attempting to fully see all of the bumps and crevasses that the paint created.  Other than that, I wasn't all that wowed by the other main artists displayed, Chris Semtner and Terrie Powers.  One thing I did like about Terrie Powers' work is the way she displayed the paintings.  They were set on painted black pieces of wood, which made the colorful and playful aspects of her paintings pop out.

My last stop was at Ghostprint Gallery, which displayed KLUTCH - Invasive Species.  I personally enjoyed his work, as I felt it had a whimsical, mysterious, graphic, and sometimes creepy feel to it.  I enjoy work that provokes more than one thought or emotion.  I felt as if he displayed an appropriate range of work, with the somewhat disturbing cocoon creatures with a chaotic, splash painted background next to the playful looking fish, yet you could still tell that it was the same artist.  I also absolutely love his use of scraps of wood, different shapes and sizes, to create a cohesive work overall.  In the back of the gallery, there were a few other paintings displayed which really bothered me.  I don't even remember the artist's name, that's how much it bothered me.  It wasn't the painting itself that bothered me, yet it was the framing.  Some of the paintings were displayed level with their unstained, wooden frames, while others were in more intricate, painted frames with depth which set the picture back.  This difference in framing made it very difficult for me to view the pieces as a whole.  It looked like a careless mistake.

Although viewing art in a quiet, somewhat exclusive way is nice in most aspects, I would like to experience an actual First Friday event.  I'd like to see how much it changes the act of viewing art, as I am easily distracted.  

sametime 1:04

I have not posted anything about the "sametime 1:04" project because it does not influence me what so ever.  The idea is taken directly from our film photography teacher from last semester, Michael Lease.  I actually find it quite rude to directly steal someone else's project.  I would not be happy to know that someone else is redoing what I just finished doing.  Just changing the time from 7:30 to 1:04 does not make it a new project.  It's still a copycat.  Why not change other aspects of the project as well?

first friday 3/6

I have been meaning to post this up to my blog for a few weeks now, but my password slipped my mind for a bit. Anyways...

I was really excited to finally attend a First Friday.  I have not been able to attend any since the first month of freshman year because of my various jobs.  My plans once again got ruined because of a dinner rush at Kitchen 64, but really we should have just gone out to eat earlier.  Oh well.  I ended up visiting various galleries on Monday of spring break.  Little did I know that most galleries are closed on Mondays.... but a few doors were unlocked, so it kind of felt like a VIP tour being with only 2 other people viewing the displayed art.  I visited both ISHQ and Quirk.  ISHQ was the first gallery I visited, and I was impressed by the intricate patterns and details put into some of the textiles.  I like how they separated the various types of art; the paintings were displayed together, and the textiles were displayed together in another location.  I believe I was most drawn to all of the little random pots, stamps, and books that were underneath the paintings.  I felt as if they were little tidbits of inspiration that the artist took, and we just got a little glance into his/her world.  The woman that was in the gallery was very nice to us and answered any and all questions.  Overall it was an excellent atmosphere to appreciate art work in a medium that I am not necessarily all that familiar with.

We then adventured over to Quirk gallery, which I found quite interesting.  The front section of Quirk is basically a little store, and then it transformed into a traditional gallery setting (white walls, open space, etc), and then again into a chaotic little store.  I was a little confused by this meshing of appreciating art and buying souvenirs.  It did not bother me when we first walked in, because I was very, very interested in all of the handmade jewelry.  I am such a sucker for jewelry.  After pulling myself away from the objects that frequently do much damage to my wallet, I found myself viewing art work by my advisor for school, which I found quite delightful.  I did find much repetition in her work, which is not always a bad thing.  I know that sometimes there are things that one interprets many different ways, and that can be displayed through a simple color change or switch in direction of the detailed feet and hands that she created.  I found all the details and intricacy of these little drawings to be beautiful displayed against what looked like dyed pieces of ripped paper.  After viewing Susan's work, I ventured back farther into Quirk to find yet another little store.  This time I was not pulled into its tricks.  I did not find any of the objects to be worth buying, or even looking at.  It seemed like souvenirs, manufactured things that do not really mean anything to anyone.  I would much rather see something like the front of the store, with handmade objects and crazy colors and patterns, in which you can see the passion and time that the artist put into the object.  After Quirk gallery, we ventured around for a little longer, only to realize that most galleries really are closed on Mondays.  I have already called off work for the next first friday, and hopefully I will be able to get the actual Richmond first friday experience.

Amy Stein artist lecture

I went into this lecture with a positive outlook on things, since I really enjoyed the last lecture I attended.  I was initially very impressed to hear about the awards and other titles she has gained through her photography.  

When Stein began explaining how she got into photography, I lost a lot of respect for her.  She came into photography because she could no longer do what she really wanted to do, which was something with politics and the internet.  She made it seem like anybody could be a photographer, and that really offends me.  I've known that I have wanted to be a photographer for about four years now, and it's my passion, not what I'm gonna do when nothing else works out.  The latter is what I feel Stein expressed.  I'm not saying that her photography is bad, some of her photos were actually quite pleasant and interesting to look at.  It is the fact the she expressed that she is a random and late bloomer to photography that really threw me off and gave me a negative bias on the rest of her presentation.

In her series "domesticated," I was initially interested in the concept of humans and nature combining and clashing.  I then came to realize that all of her photographs were based off of stories from the people in the town.  I don't find that creative at all.  I didn't see the artist in the work, I saw the story.  I feel as if she's one of the top fifteen emerging photographers in the world, then she should be able to add a little bit more creativity to her work rather than just the literal interpretation of a story that's not her own.  I felt it was very unnecessary and repetitive to tell us every single story of every image as they came on the screen.  Her work cannot stand without some kind of explanation, which is good for a book with text, but not a gallery, or a presentation.

I found the idea of her "stranded" series very interesting, and I would, someday, love to be able to approach random people and take their photographs as she did.  I don't feel as if it is the safest method to find random people, but obviously it worked out for her. I found some of the photos from this series interesting, such as the shots of the children, yet I felt as if some of them were repetitive.  Car, road, person.  I would appreciate some weird angles or a higher or lower perspective to change up the very constant viewpoint.

When the end of the lecture was coming close and questions were being asked, I was very thrown off by one of her responses.  I don't even remember what the question was, but I do remember her responding with an "I don't know" numerous times.  It wasn't a difficult question, and it was directly related to her work.  Not having an explanation for a key point in your work is not a good thing, especially in a presentation to a room full of photography students.

Overall, I personally don't find Amy Stein to be a strong, independent artist.  I see her work as solely depending on the actions of other people.  This is not a good way to live as an artist.  People and things don't always do what you want them to do.  I wish she had more work to show us that would actually show Amy Stein, not a story.

paul shambroom artist lecture

Since I was not too thrilled with the turnout of the last artist lecture I attended, I was a little nervous coming to see Paul speak. I found his ideas interesting, yet not something I would ever be interested in capturing myself. They seemed like such huge ideas and I feel like it could be interpreted or shown visually in many ways.

I did really enjoy viewing his work. Every time he would show something new, I thought, wow this is definitely my favorite part of his work. But that kept changing as he showed us more if his projects. I just couldn’t pick one that I liked the best. Now that I’ve thought about it for a few days, I believe that I enjoyed his pictures of the corporate office spaces, as he showed cut off objects and sections of things that one would not usually focus on. This somewhat abstract style is very intriguing to me.

The pictures of the small town city council meetings made a huge impact on me. I added a photo of one of the meetings on this blog. Shambroom’s work, and his note about being influenced by Cartier Bresson, has actually influenced me to do something similar for my film photography class. The idea of working with people but not telling them what to do, yet capturing them exactly as they are and off guard as well is very interesting to me and I will be experimenting with this concept for the rest of the semester. I like the idea of photographing someone when they are off in their own little world.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that Paul Shambroom didn’t just come in and say something like, “here’s my stuff, and this is why I did it.” He included the audience into his discussion. I feel like I learned a lot about actually being a photographer by hearing him speak. He discussed the problem of getting access in certain places, and how we should deal with these things. He also asked if we were all photographers, and I feel as if that put him and the audience on a more understanding level.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Shambroom speak and show his photographs. I feel as if he is a man with big ideas and knows all the little secrets to get what he wants. I will definitely be using his work as an influence for my own personal work.

alix pearlstein artist lecture

Alix's lecture was the first artist lecture I have attended at VCU, so I didn't really know what to expect.  I believe that she was very well spoken and had some really good base ideas to build her work on.  I am new to the whole aspect of understanding performing art, so I was a bit confused while viewing her work.  I personally thought that it looked quite amateur and I was not wowed or moved.  I think since I am new to this type of art, I don't understand it, thus I do not necessarily like it.  Everything in the videos just seemed too simple compared to her explanation about her work.  I thought that her later work was much better than her earlier work, as it got a little more intricate with the overall scene and camera movements.  One thing that really bugged me though was the fact that you could see the camera people at numerous times during the videos.  I just think that looks bad and it seems more like a mistake than an intended part of the scene.  I believe I need more exposure to this type of art, and then maybe I can appreciate it more.

stiff lace 1/24/09

When I first stepped into Rumors, I was pleased by the set-up, since it's such a small store.  The pictures were placed in a way where you could be viewing some part of the work where ever you were standing, and everybody was not all huddled around one place.  

My eyes were immediately dragged to the larger pictures with the window frames over them.  I understood what Janissa was going for before I even read her artist statement solely by viewing those few window frame pictures.  I got a very dreamlike feeling.  I am incredibly attracted to the texture on the bodies of the models, perhaps it was paint? Or maybe it is a layer on photoshop. I am very interested in such a thing because I have personally just started experimented with putting patterns and gradients over human skin on photoshop, and I thought she did it wonderfully.  I feel as if these photos are very mysterious and sexual, yet not too obvious about it.

I included the picture that I was moved by most.  This is not the actual version shown at Rumors, as that one had much more photoshop detail as to make it look like a dream, and of course, the window frame.  When I was viewing it at the show, I wished I could see it out of the frame.  Now that I have seen it out of the show, I feel as if its not as powerful for me. 

All of the surrounding pictures were not as memorable for me.  I did enjoy viewing them, but I believe the window frame pictures take the cake.  I felt as if the supporting pictures were a mixture of school work and personal life, which I really appreciate because I could see the parallels and differences between the two.  I feel as if the randomness and obscure angles of the photos all tied into her "dream" theme.  Overall, I felt as if it was a successful show, and I would go see more of her work if I had a chance to.