Sasha Waters Freyer described herself as a "video experimental feminist", a title which I think is pretty cool. She seems kinda like a superhero as by day, she is a professor at VCU arts for photography and film, but by night/day when she isn't teaching, she creates films by "optically reprinting" by mixing "old and new footage for lyrical exploration". I can sort of relate myself to her because she mentioned that she wanted to go into a career in both art and the marketplace, which is a happy medium that I am currently trying to find in a career. Freyer studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York where she earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts when she began to shift her focus away from photography and more into documentary film. After her interest in film grew, she began to work in experimental film which dials in on the medium of the film specifically just like how paint and clay are considered mediums of art. She views this as more of the poetry of film versus a story where the color and form accumulate to create a more personal and individual meaning. She recently created a film titled Winogrand: All Things are Photographable after the famous street photographer who was viewed as controversial during his time and is considered the first digital photographer as he shot images without considering "the economy of film". This film was picked up by American Masters, an Emmy award winning show, which will be broadcasted on PBS on April 19th. This just shows how if you truly are passionate about something, you can become successful and enjoy what you are doing. I came away from this lecture with a new outlook on art and life in general where Freyer really stressed the importance of studying what you are passionate about and how art can teach you a variety of skills that you wouldn't have otherwise learned. She also is a true example of how hard work and a passion for what you do, combined with having experience and actually being good at it of course, can lead you to a successful path in life. I really am in awe at her story and her work, where I can find some parallels to what she does with film and with what I do with my digital editing which is neat, because she is able to do it all, being a wife and mother, a teacher, and a filmmaker, and not only that, but she is able to do it all well. It seems extraordinary that she can find time to do everything she loves along with her job and chores and still win awards and gain fame and notoriety for her work. Here is a link to her website where you can view her work: www.pieshake.com/ Here is video of the official trailer of Winogrand: All Things are Photographable:
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So I think I'm done! This has, by far, been the fastest and most fun art project I think we have done all year. My finished piece is what Raina describes as "cake frosting and Jackson Pollock" mushed into one canvas and I'm kinda proud about that. I guess I'm technically not 100% finished because I still need to have a title and I'm still fiddling with the whole dragonflies thing and how that would relate to my content. But overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out- it's like kinda a hot mess (which I relate to) but it also has pink and purple which makes me happy because while those colors were unintentional, I'm glad they made their way onto the canvas and idk it was just a really fun piece to create.
So after looking at my art so far, I would like to make a few changes. First, I don't really like how linear and symmetrical the pink ink splatters are at the top half of my painting so I'm thinking of covering some of them and then re-splattering the ink. I also don't like that there aren't many thick strokes nearer/going off the edges of the painting. It's harder to see here because it is slightly cropped but there are almost no black strokes touching the edges, giving a very closed sense that I'm not a huge fan of. I also need to remember to paint the bottom of the canvas that is touching the easel because I've painted the sides and top and parts of the bottom so it would look very strange if I left that part out. I also have some inspiration for the name, given to me by Amelia who said it reminded her of dragonflies and I actually kinda like that so something to do with dragonflies maybe dance of the dragonflies? or flight? I'm not 100% sure yet.
So today I was just playing around and messing with colors and textures. I added the pink and liked that but then I added the blue and didn't particularly enjoy the effect it had on my painting. But after I messed with it and covered up the brighter bits while mixing it in with the pre-existing purple, I didn't hate it as much and I think it works.
Yeah so it's been a hot sec since I last posted about an art project so here it is! After spending a few class periods doing a couple practice pieces, we have finally started our final abstract expressionist paintings. Right now, I don't really have a specific idea of where I want my painting to go, I'm just kinda goings for it and seeing what happens. I'm not really sure if I love the color I initially picked out because it's kinda muted and while it is a very nice shade of purple I don't really know if I'm gonna keep it.
So to prep and kinda try out a few different methods, we did a couple practice canvasses in class. These are how mine turned out and I'm pretty happy with them, mostly because they both have sparkless and are really fun texturally. I got most of my inspiration from my first piece, the one that is neon pink and yellow, where I used the same techniques with the ink splatters and quick, textured strokes. It is kinda the polar opposite of my second practice canvas, which I like to call The Guinea Pig, in terms of color, process, and overall vibe. I used a much more methodical and slower process with the zips and paint pouring, creating more of a cooler, calmer painting than my first. |
AuthorNatalie Kim is a senior at MLWGS who likes to do art, take pics, and pet puppers. Archives
May 2020
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