Investigations of Actuality

A short sabbatical..

2011-06-05T21:03:00.001-05:00

Well here I am at my 100th post! I have been spending much of my extra time lately working on planning Guildess' upcoming year. Until we have the ball rolling on that, I will have to take a short sabbatical from my personal blog and direct readers to Guildess' page: http://guildess.wordpress.com/

Guildess is a Contemporary Female Artist Guild. Our mission is to increase women’s involvement in the arts through exhibitions, outreach, education and community service. Unlike guilds of the past, Guildess is an association of women who are involved in arts advocacy. Together, we raise awareness for female artists and expand arts programming to underprivileged women and children in our community.

Thanks!

blogs I'm currently following.

2011-05-05T13:10:00.001-05:00

I'm always on the look out for interesting and substantial blogs that focus on showcasing contemporary artists. Here are a few that I am currently following:

A Matter of Aesthetics

Women: Superior, Yet Inferior

2011-04-29T09:44:00.001-05:00

Compared to men, women commit fewer crimes, hold more graduate degrees and are better long-term investors. But women earn less than men and more live in poverty. How long will women tolerate an inferior status?

Last week I sat in on the filming of an episode of 4th Street Forum, "Women: Superior, Yet Inferior". The program touched upon a wide variety of topics associated with women's equality both in the public and private spheres.

4th Street Forum is a nonpartisan program, which promotes public discussion of political and social issues that are of concern to our community. Each week, a panel of experts presents their views on a chosen topic and explores solutions with the audience and the 4th Street Forum moderator.

Identity: Lorna Simpson and Vivian Maier

2011-04-13T00:08:00.000-05:00

With the onset of spring, I have found myself incredibly busy with planning for future Guildess projects, starting a new residency with Artists Working in Education, and developing art programs for the Boys & Girls Clubs. However, I have still managed to find time to learn, explore, and create.

On April 2nd, a friend and I took a trip to Chicago to attend a lecture by Lorna Simpson at the Museum of Contemporary Art and view the recently discovered work of Vivian Maier at the Chicago Cultural Center. Of Simpson's entire lecture, I particularly enjoyed her comments on identity within her new series LA-57 NY-09, which draws upon an archive of photographs from the 1950s. In this body of work, Simpson creates self portraits that mimic portraits of an unknown woman from the past. As she dresses up and poses, Simpson begins to blur the notion of historical identity by challenging our views of culture, history, and contemporary times.

My questions are: How can one emulate the identity of someone simply by viewing a photograph of them? What can we learn about someone through a series of self portraits?

This brings up an interesting connection to Vivian Maier. As an avid photographer, Maier left behind 100,000 negatives, 600 undeveloped rolls of color film, and several hundred undeveloped rolls of black and white film from the 1940s and 50s. Unlike the archive of self portraits Simpson emulates, Maier predominately photographed her surroundings on a daily basis. To this I ask, does one get a better sense of someone's identity through a collection of self portraits, or through a collection of photographs that they have taken of the world around them?

In my opinion, the latter of the two scenarios holds more truth. Although we can get a basic sense of the physical identity of an individual through countless photographs of themselves in simple settings, to actually see the world through the "eyes" of someone else is an unmistakable reflection of who they are. After viewing a small collection of Maier's work at the Chicago Cultural Center, I can imagine her being curious, compassionate, secretly humorous, and a bit reserved.

*Lorna Simpson image courtesy of Lorna Simpson Studio.

*Vivian Maier images courtesy of John Maloof at: http://www.vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

"Living history" right around the corner...

2011-03-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Guildess hosted a Zine Workshop at Foxglove Gallery in honor of International Women's Day. Participates were encouraged to create a portrait of a woman who has influenced their lives and write a short blurb about why. During the workshop, I was informed of a local project that caught my attention. QZAP, the Queer Zine Archive Project, is headquartered in Riverwest and aims to build an archive of all queer zines.

"The mission of the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) is to establish a "living history" archive of past and present queer zines and to encourage current and emerging zine publishers to continue to create. In curating such a unique aspect of culture, we value a collectivist approach that respects the diversity of experiences that fall under the heading "queer."

The primary function of QZAP is to provide a free on-line searchable database of the collection with links allowing users to download electronic copies of zines. By providing access to the historical canon of queer zines we hope to make them more accessible to diverse communities and reach wider audiences."

While waiting for Guildess's zine to make its way to Foxglove Gallery this week, check out QZAP's website and see what they are all about!

The Living Photo Booth Project at Jackpot Gallery

2011-03-09T21:06:00.000-06:00

This Saturday (March 12th), The Living Photo Booth Project will make an appearance at Jackpot Gallery during an exhibition opening (6-10pm). We will be taking a classic approach to the traditional photo booth and featuring a few new props inspired by photography itself.

HoverCraft - Dec. 2010

The exhibition, "Fabled ", features nine local tableau photographers that explore a variety of topics with a narrative approach. Artists include: Amber Schwalenberg, Lindsey Mueller, Michael Goelzer, Amber Blanchard, Ally Santiago, Jessica Farrell, Jean Yang, Cassandra Hansen and Brian Slawson.

Jessica Farrell, Discovery, 2010

Michael Goelzer

Come enjoy photography on the walls and in your hands. Browse for a bit and then step inside The Living Photo Booth for a printed image to take home.

Vivian Maier: An Untold Story

2011-03-06T21:33:00.000-06:00

Self Portrait

Francis Ford, a local portrait photographer, brought Vivian Maier's photography to my attention a few weeks ago. For those who do not know, Maier was an American street photographer during the 1950's and 60's. She worked as a nanny for 40 years, and on her days off she would wonder the streets of Chicago with her Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera. Apparently, she did not show her photographs to others, and often neglected them, herself. She left hundreds of rolls undeveloped when she passed away.

In 2007, a Chicago historian, John Maloof, discovered Maier's 100,000 negatives, 600 undeveloped rolls of color film, and several hundred undeveloped rolls of black and white film when they were for sale at a local auction.

As her story continues to unfold, Maloof maintains a blog of Maier's wonderful street photography. Some 90,000 negatives are still waiting to be scanned.

Currently, Maier is being honored with a one-woman show at the Chicago Cultural Center. "Finding Vivian Maier: Chicago Street Photographer," is on display until April 3, 2011.

*Images courtesy of http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

"G" is for Garrett.

2011-02-27T13:47:00.004-06:00

A product of my Saturday night.

After seeing some of my illustration/drawing work, a friend encouraged me to create a book of illustrations. He suggested a comic book, but I think I'd rather make a book of simple illustrations with a dark message. I always refer to artist/writer Edward Gorey when creating a collection of drawings. The simple drawings and morose phrases of The Gashlycrumb Tinies always make me laugh.

In other news, the traveling art collection daydream is one step closer to reality. A friend of mine owns an assortment of hand crafted crates for shipping art and she is willing to sell a few to me.

beauty in decay

2011-02-23T23:27:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd share a few images that caught my eye today. While listening to an interview with Sally Mann, I spent a few minutes researching her series "Proud Flesh". I really love the mystery and vulnerability of these images taken of her husband, who is suffering from muscle dystrophy.

"Trust your eyes and instinct" - Herb and Dorothy

2011-02-22T21:30:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I watched Herb and Dorothy, a cute documentary about an ordinary, middle class couple who built one of the most extraordinary contemporary art collections.

Throughout the film, Herb and Dorothy really stress the importance of establishing and maintaining relationships with the artists from whom they buy. I really admire their humble approach and decided it might be time to start my own art collection of friend's work. Start small, but dream big, right?

Coincidentally, I recently discussed starting a traveling art show of friend's work with a fellow artist. Aside from the obvious annoyances of packaging and mailing artwork, it has potential! As a way to keep the collection growing, each artist would be asked to contribute a new piece before sending it to the next person. Just another idea to add to the "must do" list.. as if I have room to add more.

grandmother's wrinkles

2011-02-20T21:09:00.004-06:00

Topographic maps, like wrinkles, map surface contours. In my investigation of topographic maps, I found that early topographers used stereoscopic images of the land's surface to guide their drawings.

Below are a few examples of the stereoscopic pairs I have been working on...

Stay tuned for more to come, including the very beginnings of my handmade stereoscope!

Is the process just as or more important than the final product?

2011-02-07T13:35:00.002-06:00

On Friday, I stopped by Foxglove Gallery, a new independent Milwaukee gallery where a few local artists, Beata Chrzanowska and Mathew Gasparek, were showing recent bodies of work. After perusing for awhile, a friend and I got to talking with Beata about her work and how to stay productive. She had a lot to say about dedicating time each day to creating and how process is a huge part of being an artist. At one point we were discussing the pros and cons of blogging. I told her I love blogging as a way to stay on top of my art interests and local happenings, but I have a hard time posting my own work because I don't want to show it until it's complete. To that, Beata politely disagreed. She went back to her discussion about process and how people, both artists and non artists, really enjoy seeing the manual labor that goes into each piece of work. Valid point, right? Personally, I love going into an artist's studio and looking at their work when they are right in the middle of a piece. Plus, you sometimes get to see aspects of the piece that don't make to the final edition. So thus, I have decided to post some in progress work, despite still feeling a little uneasy about it.

Test image - April Heding

This is just a preliminary test of the two camera system of stereoscopic photography. Subject matter is not what the final subject matter will be, I just needed to get some quick test shots. I am still messing with how to make it completely 3D. Without the stereo viewer, one may cross their eyes and look at the two images. An image in the middle should appear and it should be 3D. Again, I am not sure if this one works, but I have figured out what to do differently for round two!

the simplicity of winter

2011-02-01T23:54:00.002-06:00

During the process of creating and experimenting, I always find myself venturing down new paths. The path I currently find myself on is full of scientific exploration and a lot of trial and error. Amidst these lengthy processes, I have regained the joy of simplicity.

Kodak T-Max 400

Minolta X-700

ArtWorks for Milwaukee's unique approach to employment

2011-01-22T21:40:00.001-06:00

As part of Gallery Night and Day, ArtWorks for Milwaukee unveiled two separate projects created during their Fall 2010 programs, "Positive Influence Project" and "Safe Place Mural". Each project conveyed positive youth driven messages, including anti-gun/gang/drug and residents who make a difference.

Beyond the messages in the art itself, ArtWorks for Milwaukee sends a strong message to the teens they work with on each project. Their mission is to prepare underserved teens to enter Milwaukee's workforce by utilizing the arts as a method to teach employability skills.

ArtWorks for Milwaukee believes...

Strong employment supports strong communities.
Underserved teens who develop employability skills contribute to strong communities.
Utilizing paid internships is an effective way to engage underserved teens and train highly transferable job skills.

Image Courtesy of 88.9 Radio Milwaukee

To date, with over 50 successful diverse arts-based programs being completed by over 250 Interns since 2001...

75% have gone on to complete high school
51% have secured gainful employment
23% have successfully applied to other Internship projects through ArtWorks

Keep an eye out for ArtWorks for Milwaukee's upcoming spring and summer projects!

In Akkadian, Sabû means “To Paint.”

2011-01-17T22:26:00.000-06:00

"Surviving solely on art in today's society can be extremely difficult...As a pack it will be easier for us to stay strong, thrive off our work, and flourish in our creativity." - creator of Sabû Collective.

Image courtesy of Nick Hartley (blog contributor)

A local artist, Sean Bodley, has developed a communal art blog, Sabû Collective. Launched in August 2010, the Sabû Collective is a community of determined artists. Together, they seek growth in their technical and conceptual skills as working artists. Their strength lies in their ability to share ideas, inspire each other, gather information and resources, document their progress as artists, and have a blast doing what they love doing, making art.

As part of the collective, each member must make two blog posts each much that relate to art. In addition, each member is required to maintain a professional profile, where visitors of the blog can learn more about the contributors.

Check out Sabû Collective at http://sabucollective.com/

a few tid bits

2011-01-15T12:52:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I met with a friend for coffee and a regular catch up session. We got into a rather deep conversation about the current state of our careers and our instinctive abilities to take on as much as we can. He is holding four jobs, working on commissioned paintings, managing a successful collaborative blog (Sabu Collective), creating his own work, and somehow still managing a social life. Although we confessed this lifestyle is somewhat unhealthy at times, I know its part of who we are.. organizers, motivators, creative problem-solvers, visual researchers, entrepreneurs, and sometimes, downright crazies.

I left the coffee shop feeling motivated to take a step forward with my current work. I purchased two cable releases and began photographing stereoscopically. For those who are not familiar, stereoscopic photography is a technique that simulates 3D vision. Two images are taken of the same object, one from the view of the left eye and the other from the view of the right eye. When viewed through a special viewer, the two images become one 3D image.

Traditional stereoscopic cameras:

Image Courtesy of Rick Soloway

My camera set-up:

Yevgeniya Kaganovich at the Ploch Art Gallery

2011-01-13T08:15:00.010-06:00

Yevgeniya Kaganovich has created a site specific installation in the Ploch Art Gallery. The primary medium of this installation consists of sheets of latex that drapes from the ceilings, extends over the walls, and transforms the space. Kaganovich, in writing about her own work says, "inhabit/infest implies that the Center is more than an edifice for art and culture; it is a living organism that we too are a part of."

Image courtesy of the artist's website

Words from Kaganovich's website: "inhabit/infest is an intervention into the unusual interior architecture of the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for the Arts. The Center’s art gallery is carved out with rectilinear shapes and columns that are unconventionally interspersed with small nooks and alcoves. This site-specific installation connects its ceilings, walls and niches with a system of organic forms. Here large and misshapen latex tubes, elongated and inflated volumes, originate from, project towards, and interweave with, the building’s irregular anatomy."

inhibit/infest will open this Friday and continue through Thursday, February 24, 2011.
Location: Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Ploch Art Gallery - Brookfield, WI
Opening Reception: Friday, January 14, 6:00-8:00pm
Slide Lecture: 5:30-6:00pm

"Tiny Furniture" utilizes new technology..

2011-01-11T11:00:00.002-06:00

"Tiny Furniture" is one of the first feature films to utilize a HD SLR still/video camera, the Canon 7D, for the entire film.

Story: 22-year-old Aura returns home to her artist mother's TriBeCa loft with the following: a useless film theory degree, 357 hits on her Youtube page, a boyfriend who's left her to find himself at Burning Man, a dying hamster, and her tail between her legs. Luckily, her trainwreck childhood best friend never left home, the restaurant down the block is hiring, and ill-advised romantic possibilities lurk around every corner. Aura quickly throws away her liberal-arts clogs and careens into her old/new life: a dead-end hostess job, parties on chilly East Village fire escapes, stealing twenties out of her mother's Prada purse, pathetic Brooklyn "art shows," prison-style tattoos done out of sheer boredom, drinking all the wine in her mother's neatly organized cabinets, competing with her prodigious teenage sister, and desperate sex in a giant metal pipe. Surrounded on all sides by what she could become, Aura just wants someone to tell her who she is.

Trailer

World's largest photograph...

2011-01-10T10:42:00.002-06:00

The Legacy Project, a non-profit documentary project, is dedicated to producing comprehensive documentation of the shuttered El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The project, which began in April 2001, will continue over the next decade as the park is created and will employ photographs, video, and oral histories to provide a unique record of an extraordinary development in the history of Southern California.

In the summer of 2006, the six photographic artists of The Legacy Project unveiled the world's largest photograph, The Great Picture. The special reception took place inside the camera that created the world's largest photograph, a gigantic airplane hanger converted into a camera obscura, 44'-2" feet high by 79'-6" feet deep by 161'-6" feet wide. The photograph took 35 minutes to develop!

The Great Picture has been declared the world's largest photograph by The Guinness Book of World Records. It measures three stories high by eleven stories wide and cost $65,000 to produce. The best part about it is that it is, in fact, a silver gelatin print!

Kodachrome's last remaining roll developed

2011-01-02T19:37:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine brought this to my attention and I thought I'd also share...

According to BBC News, the last remaining roll of Kodachrome has been developed in Kansas.

Since Kodak announced it was discontinuing Kodachrome, the number of labs that process the film has declined dramatically. Because of its difficult process and required attention, Dwayne's Photo in Kansas was the last remaining lab up until a few days ago.

Check out the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12095771
A tribute to Kodachrome: http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?id=2388083

Guildess volunteers at Daystar

2010-12-28T21:07:00.001-06:00

Well, here I am almost two weeks without a blog post. I guess that's what happens when you decide to go entirely handmade for the Holidays. Instead of posting photographs of all the wonderful handmade items, I would like to highlight a volunteer project I worked on this Holiday season.

As co-directors of Guildess, a Contemporary Female Artist Guild, Ashley Gustafson and I wanted to develop a simple project to extend a helping hand this time of year. Our dreams of the Holidays have never been without family, food and gifts, but for some they lack all three. As a way to remain true to our artistic background, we developed a project that involved artists from our local community. We sent out a call for artists to create handmade Holiday greeting cards and mail them to us. Our goal was to hand these out a local soup kitchen or shelter with a batch of warm cookies. After a few phone calls, we found ourselves setting up a date and time to visit Daystar, a local transitional shelter program for formerly battered women. Daystar provides shelter and support services to survivors of domestic abuse that allows them to regain their confidence and self-esteem and to break the chain of violence in the lives. Daystar also provides women with the tools to become financially stable and emotionally independent.

Upon hearing of an art room at the shelter, we decided it would be great to organize a card making workshop for the women of Daystar to make their own Holiday cards for family and friends.

All I want for Christmas...

2010-12-15T21:12:00.001-06:00

Everything always happens at once.. extra hours at work, freelance work-both photography and knitting, gifts to make, and Guildess work to get done! I've been coming home too exhausted to open my computer and unwilling to cook myself dinner. Sometimes I could kick myself for taking on too many things, but then I remember how miserable I am when I have nothing going on.

To avoid tackling more work after 8 hours of work, I scanned in a roll of film. Unfortunately, only one picture turned out, which confirmed that something is definitely wrong with my camera. My diagnosis-shutter release is sticking and not reading my settings. Would Santa please fix my camera?

Kristmas Kitsch at The Jazz Gallery!

2010-12-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

Today, from 12-5pm, celebrate the season of giving at The Jazz Gallery. The Riverwest Artists Association will hold an opening celebration with festive hors d’ oeuvres and cider. Enjoy an eccentric installation by RAA members and artist-made giftables to stuff your stockings.

Bring food and clothing donations for the Riverwest Food Pantry and mNSC to help keep our community warm this winter. And have fun creating an artful shopping bag to benefit our neighborhood through the Outpost’s Buy a Bag program.

Fine Line Magazine

2010-12-08T11:40:00.002-06:00

At HoverCraft this weekend, I got a chance to check out the first issue of Fine Line Magazine, a quarterly publication edited and produced by Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith (the ladies of the Armoury Gallery). The best part about it, besides the art of course, was the complete lack of advertisements and reviews! It's refreshing to page through a publication and just see art.

"Fine Line presents only images and text - ideas without definition, questions without answers. It is curated for the viewer's consideration and becomes a tangible guide to a thought, moment or expression. Somewhat like a deep breath, a pause in the daily go, Fine Line Magazine creates a space to stop and consider the moments that make up our lives." - Fine Line website

For the ladies of Fine Line, it is apparent that their ability to curate a physical gallery space translates beautifully to a two-dimensional gallery on paper. Among the list of artists featured in Issues #1, two of the artists grew up locally and the rest are from a variety of regions and countries. Check out their website for a full list of featured artists. Individual issue purchases as well as full subscriptions are available.

Learning science with art and art with science!

2010-12-06T22:38:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine recently brought BigShot to my attention. BigShot is an educational camera designed for kids. It pairs the mediums of science and technology to function as a learning tool as well as a creative tool. First, students learn how a camera works by actually putting the camera together. Then, they learn about the variety of photographic mediums photographers use by using each with the Bigshot rotating lens.

Images courtesy of BigShot website

Pairing art with other subjects has always been an interest of mine, but now its becoming more and more crucial since art is being eliminated from so many schools. In the school I work at, we are instructed to combine math and reading concepts with our daily activities because test scores in those areas are so low. Thus, I have been researching how to add math and reading concepts to art. This demonstrates the power art can have not only as a creative tool for expression, but also as a vehicle for learning. Although BigShot is still in the prototype phase I see it a valuable tool for teaching artists. Check out their website for more information and educational resources: BigShot

Handmade for the Holidays!

2010-12-03T13:39:00.005-06:00

Every year I tell myself I will make handmade gifts for my friends and family. Then, somehow it ends up being the week of Christmas and I still haven't finalized who should get what (and by then I've probably made a million lists of what to do for who). BUT this year will be different and if I run out of time to make things, I will purchase handmade items from my friends.

Here is a list of a few quality handmade items to make and give people during the holidays:

lip balm
chocolate truffles
anything knit - scarves, neckerchief, hand/arm warmers, winter headband
birdseed tree ornaments


Image courtesy of Bargain Hoot

Image courtesy of Cornflower Blue Studio

Image courtesy of Handmade Oddities

Ashley Gustafson makes beautiful Japanese bound journals and catnip fortune cookies (pictured above). I will be purchasing a package of catnip fortune cookies for one of my cat lover friends.

character and beauty

2010-12-01T19:38:00.000-06:00

These are a few examples of the portraits my 4th and 5th grade girls of the Joseph J. Zilber Boys & Girls Club are working on. For some reason, I have always been drawn to portraits created by children. Unlike subject matters such as landscapes and still life's, portrait inaccuracies are forgivable. Often times, the "mistakes" are what give a portrait its character and beauty. A professor once told me to never be afraid of showing imperfections. If done in the right way, it can be very effective.

Despite my thoughts on imperfections, I still feel obligated to teach children the way my art teachers taught me. I started the lesson with a brief explanation of proportions and how to make use of the entire sheet of paper.

A few of the portraits will be submitted to the Boys & Girls Clubs National Fine Art Show, which I organized last year with Ashley Gustafson.

One week from yesterday: HoverCraft!

2010-11-29T13:05:00.002-06:00

One week from yesterday, Laura Gorzek and I will debut our current venture, The Living Photo Booth Project! We will pack up our suitcases and head over to the Bay View Brew Haus for HoverCraft, an event that combines crafts, bands & local businesses to showcase the rad people that make Milwaukee.

HoverCraft

When: Sunday, December 5th.

Location: Bay View Brew Haus

Crafting Time: 12 - 6

Music Time: 8- Midnight

Milwaukee's newest artist collaborative studio space

2010-11-26T09:05:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday I spent my evening with Sean Bodley at Studio 420b, Milwaukee's newest artist collaborative studio space. In addition to Sean, artists Lindsay Marx, Fred Kames, Mark David Gray, and Asher Gray call Studio 420b their creative space.

The idea of a collaborative studio space has always intrigued me, but I never pictured such a large collaborative space. Immediately, I asked Sean how he felt about sharing a studio with a bunch of other artists. He answered, "The main reason I enjoy it is because I always have someone around to give feedback and critique my work. Its nice having that after graduation."

Sean Bodley's studio space

Among the plethora of paintings, I still managed to find the few photographs that call Studio 420b home.

Located just south of the 3rd Ward, in the 5th Ward, Studio 420b is a great place to stop during Gallery Night and Day. Having the chance to check out an artist's studio is a real treat, especially when they display in progress work. Being inside a space of pure creativity makes me feel energized, excited and inspired to create.

avoid Black Friday chaos...

2010-11-24T13:40:00.007-06:00

Avoid Black Friday chaos and check out Art vs. Craft instead. Since 2004, Art vs. Craft has been providing Milwaukeeans with an alternative to major retailers for their holiday shopping.

This year's Art vs. Craft will take place on Saturday, November 27th from 10-6pm at the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center (Downtown Milwaukee, WI).

From drab to fab!

2010-11-20T18:01:00.003-06:00

Amidst my recent internet explorations I discovered an industrial design artist that struck my fancy. Patricia Weusten, of The Netherlands, designed an interactive 3D coloring book, which requires children's imagination and creativity to function properly.

"City in a Box is a series of three toy boxes with each its own theme. The themes are three of the worlds capital cities New York, London and Paris. When the City in a Box is opened it can be unfolded into a play city with the city’s most famous buildings, monuments and streets. It also includes play elements for children. When done playing the city can be folded back into a box for easy storage. City in a Box and all it’s accessories are made of cardboard which make it cheap and easily disposable." - Patricia's website

City in a Box invites children to color or paint the city in order to rid it of its drab cardboard box color and transform it into their own city. This has inspired me to develop an "Our City" project that I will implement in the upcoming weeks with the kids I work with.

unpredictable moments

2010-11-18T11:37:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I don't know why I photograph the things I do. I can never predict when something will hit my eye in just the right way.

2010

Sneak peak!

2010-11-16T19:49:00.005-06:00

While running a few errands today, I decided to stop by the UW-Milwaukee Union Art Gallery and check out their current show. Unfortunately, they were in the process of installing a new show, but a friend of mine, Sean Bodley, works there so I got a sneak peak of the upcoming exhibition. Venerate: Collectors of the Human Condition features two-dimensional drawings and paintings as well as three-dimensional sculptures from found items, this exhibition of mixed-media work by Loren Schwerd and Marco Zamora looks to collections of memory and nostalgia.

The work of Loren Schwerd immediately caught my attention. She uses human hair extensions found outside of St. Claude Beauty Supply in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in her commemorative sculpture work.

Check out Loren Schwerd's work in Venerate: Collectors of the Human Condition between November 18 and December 17, 2010. The opening reception will take place this Thursday, November 18th from 5-7pm. She will give a gallery talk on Thursday, December 2nd at 7pm!

The Living Photo Booth Project

2010-11-15T10:00:00.004-06:00

I spent the better part of my day creating props for The Living Photo Booth Project with Laura Gorzek.

For those of you who do not know, The Living Photo Booth Project was Founded in 2010 by Laura Gorzek and myself, with the hopes of providing a live photo booth experience from start to finish. The Living Photo Booth Project is a great addition to any type of party, gathering or event. Give us a theme and we will show up with an appropriate backdrop and box of costumes, take fun photos of you and your guests, and print a take home photographic token on the spot for a small monetary cost.

Keeping the physical world in touch, our mission is to remind the public of the joy of interacting with one another and holding onto a printed photograph in this digital and disconnected world.

You can catch The Living Photo Booth Project at HoverCraft MKE on December 5 at the Bay View Brew Haus.

Carousel: The Fourth Annual Milwaukee Invitational Slideshow

2010-11-11T22:33:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow evening a unique event will be taking place at the Woodland Pattern Book Center. For the fourth year in a row, Naomi Shersty and Carl Bogner will curate an evening of slideshow images/artworks. This years artists include: Emily Litgens, Stephanie Hutin & Florencio Zavala, Jon Horvath, Patrick Wodsinski, Ken Wood, Annushka Peck & Julia Swanson, Renato Umali, and Matthew Rethaber.

When: Friday, November 12 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Where: Woodland Pattern Book Center -

720 East Locust Street.

Milwaukee, WI 53212-2547

Cost: $4 at the door - free wine & cookies!

It's not the destination, it's the journey...

2010-11-09T23:15:00.009-06:00

Today was one of those non-stop 12 hour days that I have been craving for quite some time. To begin the day, I headed to RedLine Milwaukee for the 4th Annual Emerging Arts Leaders Summit presented by Arts Wisconsin. I have always loved summits/conferences because they leave me inspired and ready to create. The topic of today's summit was It's not the destination, it's the journey, which lent itself nicely to the situation I currently find myself in... an artist with a part time job, plenty of ideas brewing, and a few projects in the works. However, the lack of steady income has led me to question whether or not I should continue down this path. Fortunately, the wonderful insights and comments shared by the panel has inspired me to keep plugging away at what I'm doing.

After leaving the summit, I headed to work to make the money to pay for the summit. As an Arts Coordinator for the Zilber Boys & Girls Club, I have the ability to practice teaching the skills I have been developing since I was little. Today I worked on primary and secondary colors with the 1st graders. Some day I will be looking back on this as just a small piece of the larger picture of my journey.


Post painting results - an attempt to mix all the colors

The final event on my agenda was a Professional Development workshop: "Blogging your A.W.E. Project" with Artists Working in Education. For all the times I have refused to sign up for Twitter, Troy Freund really made it seem like a good idea. The next Professional Development workshop with A.W.E. will be on integrating math concepts into art lessons. Based on MPS math scores, I think this workshop will be of particular importance to my art curriculum at Zilber.

From time to time...

2010-11-08T22:05:00.004-06:00

Lately, my dad has been telling me that I should take photographs of beautiful things because people actually purchase those types of photographs. Every time he tells me this, I cringe. Why would I want to photograph objects and moments that represent beauty in the most traditional sense? Is this the role of a successful modern day photographer? Why can't I take photographs of things people don't normally associate with beauty and make it beautiful! Wouldn't that be more of a challenge than photographing existing beauty?

Despite these feelings, I still feel compelled to photograph something beautiful from time to time. Sure, I bet another passerby has already snapped this exact photograph, but as a photographer there are just some opportunities you cannot pass up.

Process Art

2010-11-08T01:17:00.001-06:00

Process Art, an artistic movement of the mid-1960's, has always been an interest of mine. Process Art is defined as a creative sentiment in which the end product is not the principle focus, and quite often the process is apparent in the end product. I have always found the journey more rewarding than the outcome. All discoveries and new ideas are created along the way.

William Kentridge, a recent feature on Art21, is a man of process. He is best known for his animated films, which are an obvious representation of process. However, William also shows process with his drawings. The constant drawing and erasing marks are apparent, but represent part of his creative process.

In the Art21 film, william kentridge: anything is possible (2010), William takes the viewers into his world of process. Like any artist, his process is unique. A piece titled "Black Box" caught my attention for its interaction of serious and play. For this piece, Kentridge created a miniature theater with mechanical characters performing behind a screen. The use of miniatures to express serious themes such as war, death, violence, etc. is fascinating to me. Kentridge also invites the viewer to enjoy the process behind the piece by allowing all mechanical aspects to be seen.

Trailer for william kentridge: anything is possible:

(full version can be viewed on Art21 website)

On a black and white kick...

2010-11-04T10:15:00.004-05:00

I've always liked Sally Mann's work, but I suppressed this fondness in my early years of school because it seemed like a cliche admiration seeing as I knew very little of the larger world of fine art photography. After being introduced to new photographers on a daily basis, her work got lost in the mix until junior year, when I began research for my senior thesis. This is when I saw What Remains, a documentary film on one of Sally Mann's recent bodies work and it blew me away!

What Remains was inspired by loss of life and what happens when we pass. Sally's literal interpretation of the topic shows her dedication to exploring this topic without boundaries. Based on this work alone, Sally has returned to the top of my list of all time favorite photographers.

Every time I view this work, I regret not taking a large format class in college and I think about how much stronger my work could be.

Daydreams.

2010-11-03T19:25:00.001-05:00

A few images from a recent trip down south. I wish more of the images turned out the way I saw them through the view finder. That is the last time I take only a Holga with me on vacation.

History as Art, Art as History

2010-10-31T20:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a long weekend of packing, driving, unpacking, packing more, driving more, and unpacking more. My boyfriend and I are almost completely moved in and now I can get back to my daily routine.

First, I would like to comment on Dipti Desai's lecture at UW-Milwaukee as part of the Artists Now! Lecture Series. Dipti's lecture was based on a book that her and two other women wrote: History as Art, Art as History: Contemporary Art and Social Studies Education. Within this pedagogical resource, they discuss the usage of art as a way to teach history and how to look at history through a visual lens.

In her lecture, Dipti highlighted art and history as subjective interpretations of culture and the past, and when looking at either, one must keep the creator/author in mind.

Dipti focused heavily on the role of the modern day artist. Here are a few of her comments:

Contemporary Artists are interpreters of the past
Many artists make art only after rigorous historical research
Artists reframe our understanding of historical research and methods

One of the more interesting topics she brought up was photographs as primary historical documents. In my opinion, this is far from the truth. Even in the early 1900's, photography was being used as propaganda, especially during the war. Photographs were being framed and staged with a certain motive in mind, rather than strictly as historical document. Of course, this is not true to all photographs and photographers, but because it is true of some, how is one suppose to know which ones are real primary historical documents? Would this be a case of art as history or history as art?

Artists Now! Lecture Series revisited.

2010-10-26T23:27:00.003-05:00

While attending the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I was always a fan of the weekly artists lecture series: Artists Now! Guest Lecture Series, which featured artists such as Nick Cave, Faythe Levine, Betsy Damon, Nathanial Stern, and Paul Berger. However, I admit that ever since graduation I have failed to take advantage of this great, not to mention free, resource until now!

Tomorrow evening, the lecture series will feature Dipti Desai, an Associate Professor of Art and Art Education at New York University. In this lecture, Desai will explore the historical methods used by contemporary artists in order to understand the past and the ways this might inform how we teach history and art in schools. She sees art for more than its visual qualities, and recognizes the connection art has to social, cultural and historical processes in society.

Desai received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison, but has also studied at Columbia University and Diploma National Institute of Design in India. She has taught art and art history all over the world and is currently the Senior Editor for the Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education.

All lectures take place at 7pm in the Arts Center Lecture Hall on the UWM campus. FREE and open to the public.

Simple delights.

2010-10-23T19:13:00.004-05:00

At breakfast this morning, a few friends and I discussed our delight in rainy weather. I found it appropriate to post a photograph that I took in a small town along the Menomonee River earlier this fall. There is nothing more serene than the gentle sound of light rain on a quiet river.

Shot with my Mamiya 645E, Provia 100F Film

Duarte Amaral Netto

2010-10-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

Filipa. 2007 | 46 x 60 cm

I stumbled upon Duarte Amaral Netto's work through Many, a collective blog project exhibiting fine photography found by fine photographers. His body of work titled, Do que nos lembramos quando nos lembramos de nos, speaks of lost and fading memories. Pieces of the photograph transfers are missing, symbolizing the way pieces of memories get lost in translation over time.


Na relva depois do almoço \| 110 x 142 cm

a Gallery Night review...

2010-10-19T22:46:00.000-05:00

Gallery Night October 2010 ended better than it started. With it's reputation for exposing established and up and coming Milwaukee artists, the Mary Nohl Fellowship Show has always been on my list as a must see. However, this year's exhibition seemed a bit more about the artist's relationships than the art itself. Unlike past shows where each artist's work is designated by a specific area or labeled appropriately, this year's show seemed like a conglomeration of unrelated art randomly placed next to each other. The John Riepenhoff Experience is one of the few pieces that left me thinking, however, I have seen it before. For this piece, John chooses an artist to create a miniature gallery exhibit inside of a white box that has a hole cut out of the bottom. The viewer must climb a latter and stick their head inside the hole to see the miniature gallery scene.

The next show on the list was Clemens Weiss at RedLine Milwaukee. Based on the press image (which I posted in my Gallery Night Guide post) and show description, I was expecting a body of polished drawings heavily influenced by writings of some sort. To my surprise, the drawings were expressive and raw, and most of which were displayed in handmade frames with handmade mattes. The writing aspect was nicely incorporated with newspaper articles and hand written text. The newspaper articles were used as mattes in some cases. The interaction of handmade elements and raw, expression drawings brought an emotional connection to the audience.

My last stop of the evening was the Milwaukee Art Museum for RunUp to the Runway. Here, Shannon Molter and Miranda Levy teamed up for a third time to show their latest couture designs. Shannon's work had such beautiful, intricate design elements, but much of that was lost when viewed from the standing section. I can only imagine how great it looked from the front row. In contrast, Miranda's line was a very simple, yet cohesive body of work. The over-sized elements and drastic cuts were a great reflection of her influence, Metropolis by Fritz Lang.

Work by Miranda K Levy

Floating through the afternoons.

2010-10-18T23:23:00.004-05:00

Today reminded me of fall 2005. It was the perfect day for drinking hot apple cider, wearing a hoodie, and crunching leaves under my shoes.

when it is over - archival inkjet print - 2010

My guide to Gallery Night - October 2010

2010-10-15T09:30:00.004-05:00

Since I missed the summer Gallery Night, I am more than excited to embark on an evening of art adventures throughout Milwaukee.

Work by Clemens Weiss

First, I will be stopping at RedLine Milwaukee to view the work of Clemens Weiss. New York City based, German born artist/philosopher Clemens Weiss exhibits extensively through Europe and the United States. His work moves from writing to drawing to sculpture, pushing viewers from merely seeing to real thinking. This Exhibition begins Clemens' two-month visiting residency at RedLine.

Studio 420b is next on the agenda. Here, a friend of mine, Sean Bodley, will be displaying new paintings along side drawings and paintings by Mark David Gray, Steve Luban, and Lindsay Marx. Urban art by Fred Kames and Kari Borchert.

Work by Harvey Opgenorth

My last stop before heading to the Milwaukee Art Museum for MAM After Dark will be at Inova, the Institute for Visual Arts at the UWM Peck School of Visual Arts. Artists Peter Barrickman and Harvey Opgenorth (Established) and Kimberly Miller and John Riepenhoff (Emerging) report in a year after being selected as 2009 Nohl Fellows as part of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fellowships for Individual Artists program. The exhibition brings together new work in a range of media by four of Greater Milwaukee's most talented established and emerging artists.

As my final stop of the evening, I will make my way to the Milwaukee Art Museum for MAM After Dark: RunUp to the Runway. Two fellow UWM Peck School of the Arts Alum's, Shannon Molter and Miranda Levy, will be showcasing their individual couture designs for their third RunUp event together. I am excited to see what they have been working on for the past few months because they never cease to amaze me. Recently, I saw a sneak peek of what Miranda is working on and I must admit that I was quite impressed at how much she has grown as a designer since her first RunUp event. Good luck ladies!!

Kick in the Grass Arts & Crafts Fair!

2010-10-14T00:28:00.001-05:00

I will be spending my weekend with other Southeastern Wisconsin artists and crafters at the Kick in the Grass Arts & Craft Fair. As a long time soccer enthusiast and player, I am excited to spend my weekend on the fields of the Uihlein Indoor Soccer Park, home of the Milwaukee Kickers. Feel free to stop by... Saturday and Sunday from 10-4pm, admission is free!

Here is an example of an item I will be selling (additional colors are available):

Other items for sale include the popular knitted circle scarf (not pictured above) and arm warmers.

Anything but traditional...

2010-10-11T23:55:00.002-05:00

Last night Laura Gorzek and I had the honor of running a photo booth at Heroes in the Night : Inside the Real Life Superhero book publishing benefit. It was our trial run at doing a nontraditional photo booth, and we succeeded! We raised money for the book publishing and had a great time doing so.

Check out the rest of our photographs on Laura's flickr.

Two for the Road blog

2010-10-09T12:32:00.003-05:00

For a while now I have been following Two for the Road, a blog that takes two images from flickr and places them side by side as an experiment based on the similarities that can be found when photos are presented this way. I enjoy the pairing choices made by James Turnley, especially when the photographs appear very similar, but convey contrasting messages. Artists are invited to submit their work via flickr or email.

A lovely example...

and so the fun begins...

2010-10-07T23:28:00.001-05:00

Today was a long day, but it was one of those that flies by and helps you sleep through the night. The best part by far was starting a six week grant writing course at Alverno College. Grants have always intrigued and intimidated me, but I think it is time I learn how to tackle them, not only for my sake, but for the sake of Guildess.

Although this photograph was taken during the summer,

it reminds me of how the sun felt on my face today.

North Star Camp, Summer 2009

buy art and support great charities

2010-10-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

While discussing the future of Guildess, I learned about a few successful art and charity collaborations: Collect.Give & The Working Proof. Although both of these are strictly internet based, the success of each organization is proof of a simple idea with great supporters. Collect.Give donates 100% of photography sales to wonderful charities chosen by the photographers themselves. The Working Proof donates 15% of art sales to charities of the artist's choosing, as well. Each organization has a great collection of art that is worth checking out!

Here are a few photographs from Collect.Give:

Photographer: Sonja Thomsen

Photographer: Allison V. Smith

And a few prints from The Working Proof:

The Messenger by Natalia Czajkiewicz

We Are Connected by Danna Ray

Antique treasures

2010-10-04T12:34:00.001-05:00

Over the summer I visited a rather large antique store in Duluth, Minnesota. I explored their collection for about an hour before finding the camera/photography section, which was full of beautiful, old expensive cameras including a few brownies. After drooling over these for quite some time, I decided to stop torturing myself and just walk away. To my surprise, I walked right into a table filled with boxes of old photographs. For those who know me, you can imagine my initial delight, and then contemplative sadness towards these photographs of memories and people who no longer exist. I tried imaging the stories behind each photograph and how the individuals in the photographs felt at the time they were taken. Before splurging to purchase all the photographs, I moved on to the next table where I found something even more lovely... a box full of stereographs! Oh how I have loved these treasures ever since I learned about them in a History of Photography class. Now, I could not pass up the opportunity to own a few of these since I have never seen them sold in any capacity other than on the internet. After a while of indecisiveness, I settled on the following three:

I feel connected to each of these for a different reason and love the fact that they are from 1897, 1902, and 1899.

For more information on stereographs, visit:

American Antiguarian Society

A Brief History of Stereographs and Stereoscopes

Riverwest ArtWalk 2010

2010-10-03T01:21:00.002-05:00

Spent the better part of my day at the Riverwest ArtWalk! This annual art walk is organized by the Riverwest Artists Association as a way to introduce the public to the way artists live and work within a local community. My first stop was at the Jazz Gallery to pick up my ticket and a map. Then onto the Feed Shop space located next door where a friend of mine, Laci Coppins, was showing a small collection of her photographic works created while in residence at RedLine Milwaukee.

My favorite part of the day was touring a few artist's studio spaces. Gallery shows are lovely, as always, but there is something more exciting about being able to peak into the life of another artist and see in progress work strewn about their space. Of particular note was the Studio 731 gallery space. Here, there was a diverse collection of work from MFA grads of the UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts. Kristin Haas's studio was open to the public and I was quite impressed by the variety of work she is able to create within the context of her technique. An example of her work:

You can check out more at her website.

In addition, Leah Schreiber was in the midst of a minimalist performance piece that gained the attention of a little girl who insisted on participating herself:

The Riverwest ArtWalk will be going on Sunday, as well, from 12-5pm. (I apologize for the quality of the photographs, they were taken with my cell phone).

Silent Auction Dilemmas

2010-10-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I submitted my piece for the America SCORES Milwaukee Inspired Art Project. I put a lot of time and effort into making it look as professional as I would for any other art show that I participate in. Now, seeing that this piece will be used in a silent auction to benefit the organization, what is fair way to value your work and set a minimum bid (keeping in mind I chose to receive 20% commission)? Do you value your work just the same and set a minimum bid at 1/3 of the value or do you value your work higher as a way to increase the bids? But, if the minimum bid is too high you risk the chance of no one bidding despite how much effort and thought you put into the piece.

This is a bit ironic after having read the chapter on a Christie's auction in Seven Days in the Art World. Here, some pieces sell for one million dollars easily and all that money is headed straight to the pocket of the artist (well, after the dealer has been paid).

nostalgic for spring

2010-10-01T02:12:00.000-05:00

AmeriCorps 2010

Arts & Crafts Sale!

2010-09-28T11:30:00.004-05:00

If you are an artist or crafter in Milwaukee, please consider participating in this event! Guildess, a contemporary female art collective, is undergoing a makeover and would appreciate support from our artist community.

4 years of therapy?

2010-09-27T12:27:00.002-05:00

Author of Sevens Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton, states "for many art world insiders and aficionados of other kinds, concept-driven art is a kind of existential channel through which they bring meaning to their lives."

I find this statement to be quite true! Art of conceptual nature has the strong ability to encourage self reflection, especially for its creator. During my final semester of art school I decided that I may have just paid $40,000 for four years of therapy, but at least I learned how to maintain sanity by channeling negative energy into art production.

A fragment of summer...

2010-09-26T14:02:00.000-05:00

Current reading/viewing material...

2010-09-23T11:33:00.000-05:00

< Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions by Stanley Burns & Elizabeth A. Burns.

"The proprietor and curator of the Burns Archive, a large collection of early medical and 19th-century documentary photography in New York, Stanley Burns and his daughter, Elizabeth, have produced a sumptuous volume of beautifully reproduced postmortem photographs, expanding on his 1991 volume, Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America. Photographs from 15 countries, ranging from the earliest daguerreotypes to present-day color snapshots, show that since the invention of photography survivors have sought to fix their memory of deceased loved ones." - Kathleen Collins

Through my research earlier this year, I stumbled upon these volumes and I am strangely drawn to the images inside. This volume also includes a little story/description of each photograph.

< On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection by Susan Stewart

I first encountered this novel when a professor of photography, Paul Berger, visited our thesis class and recommended I read it. Honestly, I only read "the Miniature" section last time, but this time I plan on reading more because it is a very interesting look into the relationship of narratives and objects.

< Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton

A friend of mine suggested I read this novel about spending time in each division of the art world. The author argues that the art world is a "cluster of intermingling subcultures unified by the belief, whether genuine or feigned, that nothing is more important than the art itself."

Hayward, WI, part 2

2010-09-21T10:15:00.003-05:00

This is Neil.

He is from Manchester, United Kingdom and one of the most interesting characters I met this summer.

Of all the commercial photography I have done, the only type that doesn't make me feeling like I am selling my soul is portraiture. No, not yearbook portraits, but actual portraits where you spend more than 2 minutes with the individual you are photographing. Perhaps I'll pursue this further once I find a studio space.

Hayward, WI

2010-09-20T11:45:00.010-05:00

First set of film images taken during my summer in Hayward, WI.

When I photograph places I like to photograph the finer details, objects and locations that are often times overlooked by the people who pass by them every day.

Inspiration: 3, Thomas Doyle

2010-09-19T11:00:00.004-05:00

I am not quite sure how I managed to discover Thomas Doyle amidst my internet searching, but I am very glad I did.

"My work mines the debris of memory through the creation of intricate worlds sculpted in 1:43 scale and smaller. Often sealed under glass, the works depict the remnants of things past—whether major, transformational experiences, or the quieter moments that resonate loudly throughout a life. In much the way the mind recalls events through the fog of time, the works distort reality through a warped and dreamlike lens." - Thomas Doyle

His work puts me on edge as if something tragic is about to happen, but he goes about it in a very wonderful, well thought out way.

Inspiration: 2, Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz

2010-09-18T10:00:00.005-05:00

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz have amazed and influenced me since I stumbled upon them in 2008. I was putting together a presentation for my thesis class of the many artists that have inspired me when I discovered their miniature scenes, complete with fantasy and close to death encounters.

The first set of photographs are from a their series Islands (2003-2009). I enjoy the forest scenes because they take you closer to the island, which portrays a feeling of endless space.

This next set of images is taken from the series Travelers (2001-2009). These take place in snow globes, which provides a sense of seclusion in much the same way an island does.

Inspiration: 1, Elizabeth Weinberg

2010-09-17T11:00:00.002-05:00

I am not quite sure how I stumbled upon the work of Elizabeth Weinberg, but I continue to go back to her work when I want a glimpse into someone else's life. Recently, she was selected as one of PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2010 and has photographed for many publications and celebrities. Website: Elizabeth Weinberg.

What inspires me about Weinberg is how she uses her daily life and surroundings as the basis for her work. Sometimes I get stuck thinking that I have to go out and find things to photograph, when there are things right in front of my face.

Happy Accidents

2010-09-15T20:49:00.003-05:00

Since May, I have been photographing with my Mamiya and Holga camera's quite regularly. Returning to the mode of shooting all the time was difficult, but for me, it is the only way to produce work that taps into my subconscious. All bodies of work have to start somewhere and a professor of mine, Gina Rymarcsuk, taught me that some of your best work comes from photographing in a way that you don't usually shoot. The following photograph was taken with a Holga and I am fairly certain the back popped off the camera while I was shooting. A few years ago I would not have been happy with the results of the light leak, but another professor of mine, Naomi Shersty, planted the idea in my head that at times, it is more interesting to see the imperfections of a photograph.

Inspired by the North Woods

2010-09-03T22:12:00.010-05:00

Spending a summer in a region surrounded by 50+ lakes and bodies of water, I felt inspired to create a piece of work motivated by their prolific presence in the area.

These were shown during Milwaukee's July Gallery Night at Yama Yoga Studio in the Third Ward.

"Tributaries", 2010, watercolor & found materials, 13x16(2)

My current state of art affairs...

2010-08-31T11:33:00.001-05:00

I recently decided to participate in a fundraiser art show that benefits the America SCORES Milwaukee organization.

"The SCORES Inspired Art Project takes poems produced by America SCORES Milwaukee youth and asks artists to create one of a kind pieces inspired by their words.

Inspired Art introduces the words, reflections, and experiences of SCORES youth into the community. Creative interpretation by artists shows our youth the power and limitless impact of their words and voice. The Project raises money so that this important work and programming can continue to be offered to Milwaukee's urban youth."

For more information on the project, please visit: America SCORES Milwaukee

reunited with the city, part 2 of 2

2010-08-29T15:17:00.007-05:00

Here are some more photographs! A few campers display their final products:

reunited with the city, part 1 of 2

2010-08-27T14:31:00.023-05:00

I'm finally back in Milwaukee and now it is time to share some tales of my adventure in Wisconsin's North Woods. Sometimes, pictures tell better stories:

Below is the only photograph I have of the space I worked in. Not pictured: sink area, kiln, throwing wheel, woodworking tools and supplies, and lots of extra supply storage. You can hardly see the funky lounge area on the left, complete with homemade disc ball (my addition to the space).

The rest of these photographs were taken during project periods:

Summer Update

2010-08-04T12:24:00.004-05:00

First of all, I would like to apologize for not updating regularly while up in the North Woods. The internet connection is rather moody and I have to drive 30 minutes into town in order to get decent internet connection.

I have always enjoyed venturing away from home for long periods of time. Doing this has given me the opportunity to evaluate my life and ponder the next step. Since graduation, I have enjoyed pondering my next career move, or at least a move that could potentially lead to a fulfilling career.

This summer has solidified the direction I want to take and the only question now is what roads and paths do I need to take in order to get there. Don't get me wrong, this summer has been wonderful and full of joy, reflection, hard work, and ambition. I have learned some very important lessons that will help me grow as a person.

When I get another chance, I will post photographs of projects, places, and people from the entire summer! I am excited to share the mystery of the past two months of my life.

Farewell Milwaukee, WI

2010-06-09T17:49:00.008-05:00

I think this is the first time in my life I am apprehensive to embark on a journey.

This image was created 12/2008, but I haven't seen it fit for anything until now.

Goodbye, AmeriCorps

2010-05-30T10:58:00.004-05:00

My AmeriCorps term with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee is officially over (despite having a bunch of paperwork stuff to finish up). It was definitely a roller coaster ride, but I learned so much about Milwaukee that I never knew. I bonded with people I never thought I would and I hope I taught Milwaukee's youth a thing or two about photography!

I hope the next year tests my abilities and limits as much as this job has...

Feelin' a bit diptychy...

2010-05-25T23:52:00.009-05:00

How-To Make Your Own Natural Dye

2010-05-23T11:47:00.002-05:00

As I am getting prepared for my summer in Northern Wisconsin.. I have stumbled across some really great recycled and natural craft ideas. Below is a video tutorial on using red cabbage, turmeric, and onion skins as natural dyes. I am excited to explore these options.

Inspiration: Bill Jacobson

2010-05-17T23:10:00.009-05:00

I cannot stop thinking about the way Bill Jacobson's work makes me feel. The mute fogginess, monochromatic tones and simple subject matter create a sense of helplessness. For as long as I stare at his images, I still feel concerned for the subjects.. as if they are displaced from their own emotions and surroundings.

Here are a couple of pinhole photographs that are my attempt to convey the same feeling:

I enjoy the dark quality of these. However, I would also like to try the white on white method.

Summer plans...

2010-05-06T21:51:00.016-05:00

As I prepare myself for teaching art at a summer camp in Wisconsin's north woods, I have rediscovered my appreciations for our Native American ancestors. All materials used in their daily lives were used to their fullest and with the highest regard for mother nature.

Art was both beautiful and functionable, a concept I have been exploring in my own craft work lately. What makes each piece even more beautiful is the way Native American's were able to successfully manipulate natures resources to enhance their natural beauty.

On a recent trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum, I photographed some of the functionable art in the Native American exhibit, which I hope to reference this summer.

As a result of these rediscoveries, my main focuses for the summer are to facilitate the creation of work that is inspired by Native American lifestyle and to use recycled materials for at least one aspect of each project.

This last photographs is just a side note, but I had to include it for the awe factor...

2010-04-28T11:39:00.012-05:00

Out of words at the moment... I'll let my photography speak for me today.

FLOW was a success!

2010-04-19T23:42:00.011-05:00

Gallery Night was a huge success for Guildess and the Great Lakes WATER Institute! FLOW brought in over 300 guests throughout the evening. The show looked amazing and we have many people to thank... GLWI, Live Artists Studio, the artists, and each other. Here are a few images from the show:

For more information about Guildess and what we do, please visit our blog. If you'd like to know more about the charity we are donating to, check out their website: Great Lakes WATER Institute.

"Grandmother's Hands"

2010-04-07T10:08:00.013-05:00

As of late, I have been exploring the ideas of time in my art. Time has a direct correlation to death, the moment at which our ticking clock ceases. Photography is the perfect medium to use in this exploration due to the camera's ability to record one specific moment in time.

This is a recent piece I have been working on.

Grandmother's Hands

A friend of mine has offered to assist in my desires to delve into film/video. She would love to see my ideas for my Live Your Demise series in motion and so would I! Stay tuned...

FLOW Gallery Night show

2010-03-30T20:05:00.009-05:00

I have a gallery show coming up! The lovely ladies of Guildess and I are hosting FLOW, a Gallery Night exhibition featuring the work of diverse Milwaukee artists with the underlying theme of water. 25% of the show's profits will be donated to the Great Lakes WATER Institute!

(p.s. I designed the post card!)

RedLine Milwaukee

2010-03-25T21:37:00.013-05:00

I am finding it harder to keep up with my readings and analytical thought these days. Work has gotten the best of me. With only 2 months left in my AmeriCorps term, I am desperately trying to tie up all loose ends and leave a lasting legacy of hard work and determination.

Today, we visited RedLine Milwaukee with Club members from the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club. RedLine Milwaukee is a "space that encourages artists and visitors alike to enter a realm where inspiration remains absolutely unchecked, to bring art and beauty to the surrounding neighborhood and community by incorporating as many environmentally friendly nuances as possible." I wished the youth understood what a great opportunity it is to be working with an organization like this. Despite all the frustration and miscommunications that have made our collaboration quite rocky at times, I still look forward to our Thursday workshops.

A few photographs from today's tour...

RedLine Milwaukee programs: http://www.redlineartmke.org/programs.htm

Silly Portraits

2010-03-21T20:59:00.011-05:00

I've been really busy this past week! Besides lots of work stuff, I was trying to catch up with the things that have been on my to do list for a while. It's funny how my master to do list grows longer by the hour, ugh.

Anyways, last week I had another very successful day of programming at the Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Club. We did silly dress up portraits. As I look back on all the programs I have developed, this one stands out as one of the most successful. Watching each child's inner character shine through was a very beautiful and rewarding experience. I believe that this program has given them the chance to momentarily flee their realities and change back into free-spirited children.

Unfortunately, I am not able to post any of the amazing portraits of them, but I did let them dress me up. Wig and all...

William Eggleston at The Art Institute of Chicago

2010-03-14T19:47:00.015-05:00

On Friday, I ventured down to Chicago with a friend to visit the William Eggleston show at The Art Institute of Chicago. Her and I both have photography degrees, so it was an interesting mix of critique and awe while walking through the gallery.

I was amazed by the clarity and vibrancy of Eggleston's Kodachrome images from the Los Alamos and Troubled Waters collections, but seeing these dye imbibition prints made it hard to look at everything else. Granted, it was still a real treat to see some of his early work, including a few black and white photographs.

This has always been my favorite photograph taken by Eggleston. Although, it didn't really hit me why until my nose was almost smudging the glass of the frame. Besides the lovely clash of colors and patterns, I can almost hear the rusty springs creek as she sat down, feel the slight summer breeze on my face, and smell the musty weather damaged cushion. I imagine that she is a closet smoker and this is her backyard hide out, a place where her husband can't spot her from the kitchen window.

All in all, I am very glad to have seen some of the photographs that made me fall in love with photography and learn a thing or two about the medium, as well!

Links: Dye Imbibition Process, Kodachrome Project, William Eggleston portfolios

Soft focus

2010-03-10T21:51:00.011-06:00

Today was successful and inspiring.

I had a wonderful evening of photography programming at the Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Club. We explored old film cameras and compared them to digital point and shoot and SLR cameras! I broke down photography into a few categories: portrait, documentary, snapshot, and narrative based on the four books I brought. This introduced the Club members to different ways of seeing the world and how photography can be incorporated into daily life. Then, we went on a photo adventure around the club so I could get a better feel for their skill levels and interests. Next week is silly dress-up portraits week (and yes, I said they could dress me up in any of the clothes/hats/accessories I bring, haha).

The drive home was a bit scary because of dense fog, but it did remind me of Bill Jacobson's photography work. He is known mostly for his soft focus photographs of people and New York City. What really strikes me are the portraits because they suggest foggy or lost memories.

Wrapping up...

2010-03-05T15:38:00.003-06:00

I am officially done with Secure the Shadow and there are a few final remarks I would like to make about it. First, it introduced me to a lot of new, fascinating topics that I will continue to take interest in. These include: tombstones inlaid with photographs, mourning jewelry, the replacement of photographs with family videos, and an overall interest in the lost art of post mortem photography. Before this book, I didn't really know the act of photographing the dead was a widely accepted practice during the 19th century, let alone one that could make someone money. With this newly acquired knowledge, I believe I have a better understanding for the medium I love so dearly and perhaps even why photography and death are so closely related.

Moving on, I am now in the midst of exploring the catalogue in conjunction with the exhibition "The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult," held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2005. This exhibition highlights "what the first spirit photographs revealed of attitudes and beliefs in an America traumatized by the civil war." Interestingly enough, this was taking place around the same time as post mortem photography. I am excited to draw connections between the two!

I will leave you with an image of Staveley Bulford, who built an oversized camera that he and another person could enter, in hopes of observing the mystery of capturing an image of a supernatural being.

Terry McCormick Gallery

2010-03-02T14:51:00.010-06:00

Although I have finished Secure the Shadow and would like to wrap up my thoughts on that, I was intrigued by something I heard on 88.9 Radio Milwaukee last night. As part of the latest 88Nine campaign, local art lovers are asked to venture the city and expose the diverse range of art that Milwaukee has to offer. Accompanied by interviews and video documentation, the goal is to prove that Milwaukee is a creative city and incredible art organizations, movements, and events are happening here.

Yesterday's destination was the new Terry McCormick Gallery on 18th and Wright. The gallery was started by Evelyn Terry as a way to remember and exhibit the work of her lifelong partner, George Ray McCormick. Evelyn, also a professional artist, writer, and educator, decided to convert the bottom level of her home into a gallery instead of relocating.

Click here for the full story and interview: http://unifiedmilwaukee2.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/make-milwaukee-week-5-the-terry-mccormick-gallery/

I am very inspired by DIY galleries like this! I love galleries that have a history, whether it be a converted house, old jazz club, or factory. It would be really great to help establish and run a DIY gallery one day.

Mute

2010-02-25T00:34:00.009-06:00

I don't have much to say today. I have already spent most of my words. I will leave you with this image taken in November at the Wisconsin Dells.

Taken with a Mamiya 645 E, Kodak portra 800

Life & Death

2010-02-22T13:29:00.014-06:00

This morning I met up with a new friend for tea to discuss some future travel plans. Eventually, we landed on the topic of our current studio practices. While discussing our own work, parallels began to emerge: the fragility of life and cultural numbness towards death. He suggested I check out the artist Bill Viola for a particular video installation: Nantes Triptych.

"Three large-scale panels of projected video images form a configuration based on the triptych alterpiece. The left panel shows an image of a young woman in the process of giving birth. The right panel shows an image of an old woman in the process of dying. Both are documents of actual events. The central panel shows an image of a clothed man underwater moving through alternate stages of turbulence and undulating stillness, held in fragile suspension before an indistinct, shadowy space, suspended between birth and death."

I have not seen the installation, but I can image having a strong emotional response to the work. Video is something I have always been interested in, but never really experimented with. I highly value the medium in comparison to photography for a few reasons: the sheer volume of footage and the amount of thought/preparation that goes into each scene. I respect actual film more because I think of each frame as a photograph, and sometimes, it takes millions of "photographs" to make one film. One of my professors, Gina Rymarcsuk, suggested I take a film class because I might just love it more than photography. I have yet to do so, but I have been contemplating purchasing my own video camera. I guess if I am going to tackle my studio work from every angle possible, video might have to take precedent one of these days.

Kodak Brownie camera

2010-02-18T23:09:00.015-06:00

In my last post I briefly mentioned Mr. George Eastman and his unforgettable invention: the Kodak Brownie reusable box camera and compatible rolled film. This invention completely revolutionized the photographic industry.

Consequently, any "school boy or girl" had access to a camera because of the price and service of having someone else load, develop, and print their photographs. Great, right?! Well, there are always two sides to every story. Now, the professional photographers, who had already replaced most of the portrait painters, were competing against the average citizen. Perhaps this was karma, coming back to bite them in their behind for the work they took away from the painters. I am not positive which side I agree with more, but the one thing I do know is that history repeats itself... and once again, photography has been completely revolutionized. This time, it's by the digital world. Again, I am torn as to which is better. Both film and digital have their places. Does it mean I have to decide one? I hope not! If you were being sent to a dessert island and could only use film and a darkroom or digital with computer, scanner, and output, which would you choose?

"Mitigating the finality of death"

2010-02-15T20:58:00.034-06:00

Update: Secure the Shadow is fascinating.

Much like portrait paintings, portrait photographs were fairly exclusive to the upper class because of the cost associated with it. This happened to be the same trend with postmortem photographs (for awhile). Plus, unlike today, people really didn't own their own cameras in the mid 1800's {not until the late 1800's/early 1900's did photography get to the masses thanks (or not?) to Mr. George Eastman and his kodak brownie box camera}.

Without access to personal cameras, families did not own "snapshots", which are typically used today as a way to remember someone. When photography became more popular and available to the masses, suddenly the lower middle class were more likely to call upon a photographer to take a photo of a dead family member. I am still investigating why this change happened.. but one thing is for sure, suddenly, around the end of the 19th century, and into the first part of the 20th century, postmortem photography kinda disappeared, or at least, disappeared from advertisement. This might be when people began to think it was creepy or against the wishes of the deceased (or, because cameras started being massed produced, the family could take their own). Now, this is what really fascinates me. Granted, I don't know how I would react if someone called me up to take a photo of their grandmother who recently passed, but why is it so taboo?

(I thought this would lighten the mood)

I've thought about writing a letter to Sally Mann asking her thoughts on the matter because of her work in What Remains, "a five part meditation on mortality".

Further reads (as suggested by Jay Ruby): Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy and Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America by Stanley Burns.

Secure the Shadow

2010-02-05T12:32:00.012-06:00

I was recently perusing the 770's at Milwaukee's Central Library as research for my job. I have been in search of photography books that will inspire children to think outside of the box. This is not an easy task. I am trying to stay away from portrait books that might encourage kids to take silly photographs of their friends (don't get me wrong, this may be of value in certain situations). I am also trying to stay away from boring landscapes and nudes. Much to my dismay, the majority of the library's selection of photography books were just that and, on top of that, they were all in black and white. At this point, I began to stray from my original mission and browse according to my interests.

Although I checked out books with photographs by Robert Frank, Francesca Woodman, Sally Mann, and Bill Jacobson, my most prized find was Secure the Shadow by Jay Ruby. Secure the Shadow explores how photography and death became interconnected throughout history. It takes a look at the widely accepted historical practice of photographing the dead.

Although my interests lie more within the realm of how photography captures death while attempting to preserve life, I definitely could have used this a year ago when I was in the midst of my thesis work!

Introductions

2010-01-18T14:29:00.019-06:00

As this is my first post, I would like to properly introduce myself.

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. My interest in photography started in high school and grew immensely during college. With a lot of investigating and researching, I eventually realized WHY exactly I am drawn to the medium. Photography has this strange, overwhelming connection to death. "Not only does a photograph function as an object that can, and often times will, outlive the person/s being photographed, it also captures time, a specific moment in time that will never return again in the same way. Consequently, the fleeting moment becomes the object of my desire. Just like our fleeting selves, these moments, memories, and mysteries within us become lost as our body begins to breakdown. Thus, photographs function as an attempt to capture the impermanence of life and make it permanent" - An excerpt from my artist statement.

One of my professors, Naomi Shersty, directed me towards the book, Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes. Barthes shares this strange curiosity and interest in photography as it relates to death. It is one of the many books I continue to pull much of my inspiration from.

My intentions for this blog are to explore and investigate the many questions I have about life and death in visual form. I will also attempt new bodies of work with the intent to finish them once all possible angles and directions have been explored.