Nina Katchadourian and Cordy Ryman 11/20
Nina Katchadourian specializes in multiple mediums such as photography and video. When visiting her studio, she showed us some of her current work that involved her traveling on a plane. The materials that Katchadourian uses in her photographs are anything that you get from a flight; in-flight magazine, napkins, drink cups etc. One of the photographs that she showed us was a picture of water crackers taken from a view that they looked like the twin-towers. It gives the idea of the “see something, say something” motto that all airlines and public transportation say. Another photo called “Sugar Fox” consists of sugar from a sugar packet and pouring it on a page that has a picture of a fox on it. This shows that photography can be manipulated through simple objects around you such as a magazine or snacks, instead of overly editing photos on Photoshop.
The next artist we saw was Corey Ryman, who’s work is made from wood, cardboard, paint etc. One of the interesting pieces I saw was this sculpture that was created from long, rectangular wood pieces where some were painted white and some had a different color. He then layered the pieces on top of each other to create the composition. Usually I’m not a fan of abstract art, but his in particular is unique because it’s not a Donald Judd like piece where it’s just a hallow, steel square in the center of the room. There was clear thought and effort put into this work. What also made Ryman so interest that he was so open about having the class give comments on his work, which I feel like most artists wouldn’t do that.
The overall experience was excellent and one of my favorite studio visits. Both artists were so laid back and didn’t try to make themselves better than anyone else. They also weren’t negative about us pursing a career in the arts.