Luis Gispert

I've been wanting to show Luis Gispert's work for a little while. I think, as we venture home for the holidays, it is important to remember the journey. Let's just think about all the other folks around the globe who are doing the same thing: hitting the road. Though Gispert's recent work does not necessarily comment on traveling, his vehicle interiors against lewd backgrounds have a marvelous unpredictability and eccentricity, kind of like the holidays.

Venturing away from the holidays for a second, Gispert's photographs recreate sitting in many iconic vehicles: Airplanes such as the B17, & even the Knight Rider. Teasing are these photographs: we are unable to explore further the intricacies of the machineries nor are we able to really explore the scene behind the windshields.

I take this, and much of Gispert's work both very seriously and humorous. On one level his work seems to be  about baseline curiosity. But on another, there are very deeply troubling. The level of ambiguity alone- both marked physically by the compositions of the vehicles and marked by questions of 'where' (did these vehicles come from) 'why' (are they here) 'what) (is going on)- can be highly thought provoking. One of my favorite images, L.V. Escalade, acts as a good example. Sure, the fact that such a vehicle exists is humorous and kind of troubling. However, I am most intrigued by the angle at which the vehicle is situated against the background scene. It is an automobile, yet it seems to be ascending as would an airplane. Yet I can't really know, because its a photograph- an instance in time. I am left wondering 'why here', on a snowy desolate background would a very out-of-place automobile be travelling? Also fascinating for me is how close the driver's seat is to the steering wheel. Beyond telling me that a very short person must be driving this very big car, it, aided by the colors and patterns of the car's leather, implies a gender which aids in the mystery of the scene at hand.

For my work, I've taken inspiration from Gispert's color palate (which glows neon metallic with a strongly digital luster) and from his ideas. I aim in the work I am pursuing now to have the same level of interest and curiosity.

Have a safe trip everyone.

Huey 64x110"

Oh Lory Lory 72x105"

The Knight Rider 65x120"

L.V. Escalade 72x107"

All images from http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/featured/luis-gispert-ohwow/
All images courtesy of Luis Gispert 2010

Lori Nix

Photography and disaster go together like peanut butter and jelly

Lori Nix is a NYC based photographer who specializes in creating miniatures. I have utilized her models for influence of the disaster models of my images. Though I have focused less on a whole diorama and more on the models, Ms. Nix's dioramas have been proof of the fruitfulness that comes from enjoying what you do. 

Nix's subject matter, though constructed and not found, certainly derives from a vast imagination. It should not be lost that the world shows a great influence in her work. I believe, like myself, Ms. Nix uses colors in her images to methodically pinpoint the ways in which we interpret the world around us. She also uses depth of field, quite uniquely which has influenced the importance of depth of field in my work. Because of her work, I believe I have the ingrained idea that light and depth of field can create interest and narratives in an image. 

Nix is daring and also works in film (as must be made known by the dates of the images below.) Film, and the palates it ensues, aids to the quality and ideas of her work. This has been one of the hardest aspects to replicate in digital photography.

There is something about Snow Storm which really attracts me. The work is flat and painterly- kind of like 15 minute masterpieces- but it is also exceptionally composed, a paradoxically subtle and bright palate: all of which make the disaster even more profound. 

Her work is fun to look at, and, from my experience with models, it must have been fun to build. Art should be fun and insightful even when time consuming..

Blimp, 1998

California Forest Fire, 2001

Ice Storm, 1999

Junkyard, 2003

Nevada, 2003

Snow Storm, 1998 

Train, 1998

All images taken from http://www.lorinix.net/index.html

Christine Shank

By now, you may know that I like to look at the minute details. Christine Shank is a photographer whose work keeps coming back to me, pushing me to consider, though, oddly, I've rarely done so, until now. Her photographs are honest and surreal: implausibly eloquent. Every image reminds me of a miniature, however I'm just not sure how they could be. Her work is brilliant.

All praise aside, I'm take from Shank's Interior series of photographs how to formulaically make a large body of alike images interesting even after producing the images for months. This is a problem I often run into, and until recently, I have become sidetracked with long running projects- trying to reinterpret or totally run a clean slate underneath projects that just might not actually be finished.

Technically, Shank's images have a strong presence of, as I call it, creeping light; or little inflows of sunlight from windows and passageways. Creeping light really makes the allure of these images so much stronger. They do not look like faked scenes.

Conceptually, her Interior series reflects on loss, through neurosis, collectivism, or simple tragedy. These images have a profound emptiness and longing quality which I greatly admire. I wish I could step back from the works a little bit, but I become highly sensitized to them.

1035 unforgettable little mistakes

Against our better judgement, we simply watched 

The expectation continued to remain

Their relationship was reduced to habits 

They choose to smile and pretend nothing had changed 

You promised to listen

All images 24" x 30", 2006
All Images courtesy of the Artist
http://www.christineshank.com/index.html
Christine also has a book on display at Booksmart Studios in Rochester
She also had a show up in Harnett Gallery at the University of Rochester in 2006