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.