MFA Thesis exhibit round 1

I recently went to see the masters thesis show at the Anderson Gallery. The Anderson gallery is one of my favorites in this area and always seems to show work in a very organized and clean way that I really appreciate. I'm always curious to see art that comes out of VCU and usually leave impressed. I enjoyed several of the artists pieces but I want to talk about Hassan's in particular. I have only recently started to try to understand short art films so I'm sometimes confused or not as sure about what I'm seeing as I am with other mediums. With that being said, this is my inexperienced opinion. The dimly lit intimate space the film was shown in helped create a mood for watching it. I found the whole film to be very menacing. The transformation of shaving was made in to so much more than just shaving by the use of strong sound effects. The sound was eerie and intensified the already nerve wrecking act of shaving. Instead of making guesses about the concept, I can better explain the specific parts that effected me most. When you/he put a stud back in a tongue piercing it was almost hard to watch but I felt like it fit well in to the feeling of the whole piece. One of the most powerful and unsettling parts was when the greenish yellow tint shaving cream was introduced. I kept thinking about the sensation of putting that on and how it must have felt to have that over my mouth or my eyes, and it was not a pleasant feeling. Basically I related most to the work by trying to experience each sensation as I watched. Producing a physical reaction in a viewer, to me, seems like proof of successfully delivering a concept through a piece of art.

Past 2 First Fridays Artwalks

As the weather gets warmer hundreds more people from the city and beyond swarm to First Fridays, and in turn, my patience with the event dwindles. I don't hate the function all together and I usually manage to see at least one exhibit that I enjoy after squeezing by as many people as possible. So after several awkward run-ins with my previous high school art teachers, (who pretend not to see me) I'll fill you in on what I thought were the highlights of the past two months. 

    In April my favorite work was shown in 1708 gallery. It seemed to be some type of book art/print work exhibit. I responded most to a series of mixed media pieces that illustrated a mans struggle with dieting and food. There were illustrations of favorite guilty pleasure foods and little sculptures and quotes about body image. It was successful to me because the work was refreshingly funny but still got it's message across in a clear way. I believe this was also when Susanne Whittier's art was up in Quirk gallery. I remember being impressed with the quality and consistency of the work in her show. I appreciated her innovation and originality of each piece because it stood out from all of the all too common 'new' work I've seen lately. 

  This month (May) I was looking forward to seeing all of the student shows. I saw the Senior photography show first and it is really interesting to picture myself being in the same place in a few years. I paid a lot of attention to how everything was presented and some people seemed to pay attention to that more than others. When we are seniors I expect the quality of artwork to be very close to the level of recent professional work in the art world. So there was a mixture of work that looked professional and thought out and some that was not quite there. I noticed a lot of color and hardly any black and white printing. The black and white series I did see was not even film/darkroom created and that's quite disappointing. I hope by the time I am a senior I will stick with what I love to do and continue to make prints in the darkroom the dinosaur way. Overall I still enjoyed that exhibit and found several of the projects and concepts interesting and impressive. The other art that stood out to me was shown in the Quirk gallery. There was a series of drawings that were mostly black negative space that enclosed a very small detailed drawing of some type of little creature in each. It was drawing done in a masterful traditional way, with a more modern less traditional subject. I really appreciated the attention to detail that made the work engaging. Also, I've noticed that woodland creatures seem to be quite popular in the world of the arts over the past year or two. 

Artist Statement

This is a one page statement that I wrote explaining why I make art and why I am at VCU

    I relate to my art making kind of like it is and extra appendage or body part. It’s there all the time and I can’t make it go away even if I tried. I like to think I am talented at other art forms like drawing and painting, but I made a natural progression in to photography because it became the best medium for me to clearly express my ideas. I feel like my concepts and thoughts are best translated in photographic form, and I recognize my photography as a way for other people to understand what is going on inside my head in a way that nothing else could illustrate. So much of the art I make is connected with the rest of my thought processes and emotions. I use my photography as a way to answer my own questions, make sense of my curiosities, understand my relationship to other people and things, and grow as a person. I have a need to be understood. I’m always subconsciously trying to make connections between myself and the people around me and making photography a part of my life helps me take a step back from these things and look at them in a more tangible form. Through this process I can study my unspeakable feelings as objects. I learn from every assignment I complete and every picture I take. I love looking at a contact sheet and figuring out idiosyncrasies about my personality at the same time. Everything I make is a direct product of myself. If I didn’t have this art form as an outlet I would feel less whole as an individual. I chose VCU Arts intentionally and do not wish to be anywhere else. Every situation is what we choose to make it, so if I continue to have the desire to learn and absorb all I can now, then in turn, my future can be limitlessly successful.