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What impact do you think commercialism and the media have had on your work? Is this good or bad?

I kind of discussed part of this in my last question of the week post. In terms of commercialism and the media together, I mean the media obviously influences photography a ton, as I previously stated. Commercialism comes into play when you start talking about any sort of portraiture really unless you’re doing a photoshoot just for fun. You get paid for your work. For my work specifically, a lot of my work is done just for fun or to complete projects and create memories, it’s for me and for my subject - it hasn’t really been about the profit if we’re speaking in terms of money, but instead it’s made the memories and the stories my “profit.” I have been paid for some of my work however, but it’s never been about the money for me, so I wouldn’t say that the impact of commercialism and the media on my work specifically is “bad.”

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What research do you do as an artist?

Well, as my main medium is photography, I’d say I honestly do research everyday whether I realize it or not. I mean, with the media constantly at our fingertips, I am consistently seeing photography and practicing photography and thinking about and evaluating things like lighting and composition, angles, subject matter, the background, etc etc. I take hundreds of photos a day through the media, and thousands of mental notes when I look at a photo. Of course not every single photo is strategically planned out, but even so, as an artist my brain is trained to notice the details in a photo and I take my “research” based off of that.

[advntroussoul]

What specific artworks or artists have been meaningful to your art practice and development?

Hmm..interesting question. Honestly, I wouldn’t say there’s any super specific artworks or artists that have been super influential in my work. I tend to explore more styles that I like, but I don’t always look at the artist or specific pieces. In terms of photography though, I would say that people like Brandon Woelfel, who is quite an accomplished photography and not much older than myself, and smaller nature and portrait photographers have been influential in my work in terms of style and editing. Most of the time I try keep my own style while somewhat incorporating ideas from these other artists’ pieces or photos.

[advntroussoul]

Do you see your work as relating to any current movement or direction in visual art or culture?

Hmm..interesting question. I don’t know that I would say that it relates or is involved with any particular “movement” within the visual art world, but I would say that my photography and various other works definitely fit a certain “vibe” or “look” within the visual art/photography culture/world. A lot of photography revolves around nature and mixing portaits with nature, so I would say that a lot of my work fits in or relates with that, probably. 

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Sarah Sze, Installation Artist

The artist from the installation exerp we read this week that I decided to do some further research on is Sarah Sze, a contemporary American installation artist. Ironically enough, when we were initially going through the selection process for artists to do our research presentations on, Sze was one of my top three choices! There is just something about her works that is so captivating. 

Sze was born in Boston, MA in 1969. She attended Yale University and recieved her BA in architecture and painting, and then went on to recieve her MFA in 1997 from the School of Visual Arts. Her pieces often include multiple materials, such as found objects, photographys, wire, plants, and sometimes even food detritus. (I think this is one of the reasons her work is so intriguing) Each of her intricate works is assembled by hand and they often fill entire exhibition spaces. Through her works’ organic and transitional state, they often suggest or hint at the process of growth and decay. Today, her works can be found in several different art museums and art centers in some of the biggest cities in the United States, such a The Museum of Modern Art in NY (which is where she actually lives now), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, just to name a few!

If you’d like to check out some of her amazing work, click the link to her website!

http://www.sarahsze.com/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/sarah-sze/