Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Gruesome Roots
Gruesome Roots illustrates original versions of fairy tales containing murder, suicide, and cannibalism. Rooted deep in our subconscious, fairy tales started off as something much different than the watered-down Disney versions that so many of us are familiar with today. I am interested in how dark and gruesome stories were told to children and adults to teach morals and to entertain.
In my work, I use one model to re-enact original versions of fairy tales. In doing so, I am referencing the idea of acting out the tales, and how as a child I would imagine myself as the main character when I was told some of these stories. This has influenced the construction of my photographs because I am using location and costuming that I imagined as a child to illustrate these stories.
I enjoy constructing images using everything that is available to me. This includes models, set design, costuming, lighting, and post-production in Adobe Photoshop. The desire to create work this way is inspired by films such as Pan’s Labyrinth, Ink, and Sleepy Hollow. By drawing influence from films that have beautiful cinematography but are dark in nature I create images that are visually pleasing at first glance but upon further inspection contain sinister content. I want viewers to comprehend the dark nature of how these tales were originally told. The fairy tales that are re-enacted in Gruesome Roots are tales that I have deconstructed in ways that I could not do as a child to gain a better understanding of how dark these tales actually are.
BFA Graduating Show
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I can't believe how quickly the show went. It was nice to hear so many compliments from strangers. I was also excited to learn that the Vindicator used my photo for the ad in the paper about the show!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Aliens are something that I have always believed in. As a child I remember having an experience of fascination and fear as I watched an episode of The X-Files with my parents. Although I have never experienced anything extra-terrestrial, I am still a firm believer that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe.
In my work I use photography to show extra-terrestrial ideas. Since aliens are such a mystery, I use photography as a way to show what could be happening around us. I think of these photographs as fictional evidence of alien life. This work was inspired by movies featuring extra-terrestrial life such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Fourth Kind, War of the Worlds, and Signs. I loosely recreate scenes from these movies and draw inspiration from their beautiful cinematography.
For this series I’m using photography as a way to create fictional photographic evidence of alien life. I want the viewers of this work question their beliefs on the topic. Since images can be so easily manipulated using programs such as Photoshop many believe there is no photographic evidence of alien life. I want to leave it up to the viewer to make their own decision about what is truth and what is fiction.
Monday, March 1, 2010
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