Q: What initially inspired this project?
A: The first photos I took for it were a project for my photography class. But in general, I had been really lost about what I wanted to say with my work. I was struggling because I didn't want to be too literal or on the nose as I was thinking about this concept of letting go of knowing. I guess that pushed me into creating this more abstract imagery. I've always been interested in abstraction, so when I realized I could do that with photos, I got excited.
Q: Can you talk about why you’re interested in abstraction?
A: I think it comes down to the fact that my favorite thing about art is the ability to create something entirely new. So I personally am more interested in experimentation. Given the power of art to change the way we see things, I think I enjoy showing things in a new and less recognizable way, rather than just try to recreate something representational.
Q: Do you feel that the circumstances have created an entirely new work? Or is this still the project that you set out to make?
A: I think the message that I'm trying to send is more universal. So I wouldn't say being in a different place changes the message or my ability to create the work… Being in a new space almost expands what I can do because I'm now surrounded by new materials and objects.
Q: How has your quarantine experience been?
A: It’s alright. I'm at home in Michigan, and I have lots of siblings and a big house so space hasn't really been an issue. I’m trying to look at the bright side, and to use this as an opportunity to slow down and be grateful for my health and my family. But obviously we're all thrown into this experience not really knowing how to feel… so yeah, a lot of a lot of conflicting emotions right now.
Sometimes limitations can inspire innovation.
Q: You’ve written about the importance of rejecting binaries “to discard reductive ideas about our own identities and the identities of others.” So how would you describe or define yourself?
A: I think identity falls into that category of things that we always try to pin down, when in reality, it’s not actually stable or necessarily “definable.” I see my identity as something that is always changing. So I tend to reject the feeling that I need to cling to any of those or use any of those to describe myself.
Q: Have you always felt that way?
A: I always have on some level. I've always been kind of stumped by questions like, “What’s a key part of your identity?” I internalized that as me being too lost or something was wrong or there was something missing that I needed to find. But I think I've eventually come around to the idea that it's okay not to know who you are, because even if you think you know, deciding that something is a part of your identity can keep you from growing or changing or questioning things… which I think is dangerous territory.
Q: How does this translate into your work?
A: I’m trying to take these ideas about ambiguity into a visual realm. So the idea of looking at somebody and defining them as a certain thing, or looking at a picture of a tree, for example, and then using mental shortcuts to recognize the tree and then move on from that image; in my work I’m trying to create photographs that aren’t nameable, and leave you searching for an answer or definition. I want to subvert the habit of seeing and defining.
Q: What artists are you drawing inspiration from in this collection?
A: Something that really got me interested in a lot of these ideas about defining something but not actually seeing it for what it is, was The New Landscape by György Kepes. He writes about viewing the world as a complex interaction of all of the elements that it's made up of, rather than finite objects. He also does a lot of photography and compares the macro versus the micro. So he has a photo book comparing things that look very similar but are on wildly different scales or different contexts -- like a root system next to an aerial view of a city.
Q: Why did you decide to go with photography for your work?
A: I wanted to facilitate a new way of seeing with this project. I wanted to utilize things in the actual, physical world to create a new perspective or way of seeing things that are already there.
Q: Do you always gravitate towards photography?
A: I don't always work with photography – it's been sort of a more recent thing. I like to experiment with all different kinds of mediums. I think that's a cool thing about IC’s art program. They really encourage you to use whatever medium is best going to suit the work that you're doing. I like the philosophy of not having to be a painter or a sculptor, but just sort of calling yourself an artist and doing whatever seems fit. I do tend to gravitate toward sculpture, just because I like more tactile, immediate things.
Q: How have you changed during your time at IC?
A: Circling back to what we were first talking about, I think I’ve become more okay with not having a concrete identity as an artist, rather I’ve incorporated that “lack” into my work. I was originally kind of distressed about the idea that I didn't know how to define myself as an artist or what box I fit into. Over time I've realized I turned my aimlessness into my message.
Q: A lot of seniors have expressed feeling robbed of an opportunity to celebrate years of hard work. What are you most proud of?
A: I'm most proud that I didn't cave into my fears of not knowing who I am. I turned it around to make a statement about not having to know. I’m proud that I’ve found a way to say something that I really care about without compromising the things that I believe in.