A Conversation with Mairin Narron

Mairin Narron

No Added Sugar!

KP: Where do you see this work existing long term? Like a gallery, commercial building, hotel?

MN: Gallery or community center.

 
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KP: Will this be an ongoing project for you?

 MN: Yes! I think I will always create work pertaining to women's rights.

KP: For those that may not know, what's the significance of the materials used?

MN: I make and use hard candy in all of my work to be ironic. My series, which includes No Added Sugar!, is called Unsweet and it equates overwhelming sexist ideals, such as being sweet, to over-indulging in sugar. The series is called Unsweet because I like to think of myself as rebelling against these ideals.

 

A Conversation with May McCalmon

May McCalmon

One of My Homes

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KP: If you were to give an artist talk about the work, what would be the key thing you would want us to take away from it that we may not automatically see? 

MM: My goal is for viewers to take away a feeling of nostalgia of their own lives. I realize that many people may not have had a positive childhood experience, but I also hope to address how those memories may be bittersweet. If someone decided to call their mom after seeing my show, I would find that an extremely endearing response to my work. Connections to loved ones are so important when life gets away from us.

 

KP: With your paintings, was there any or what painting do you feel was the most challenging to create?

MM: My painting "Phyllis" is based of a photograph of my grandmother, so I felt a lot of pressure to capture her energy in that painting as well as to represent her features accurately. In other paintings that have more blocks of color I found some challenges because I was painting in a newer style by incorporating those flatter aspects. 

 

A Conversation with Epiphany Knedler

Epiphany Knedler

Wish You Were Here

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KP: What was the starting point for your body of work Wish You Were Here?

EK: Plans for Wish You Were Here began during my second year of graduate school. After focusing the first year and a half on a heavily socio-political community project, I decided it was time to switch gears. I had some trouble finding inspiration and went back to my roots. I realized most of my favorite moments of looking and seeing came from when my dad would take us on roadtrips around South Dakota when we were kids, since there wasn't a lot to do in our hometown. From there, I started to think more about the Midwest and what would bring people from outside to the area.

KP: Is this going to be an ongoing project?

EK: I hope so! My partner and I had a great time traveling. We are considering making trips with other region-specific attractions in the near future.

 

KP: In your recent installation at Wellington B. Gray Gallery, what is the significance of the variety of sizes you choose for display?

EK: With this exhibition, I wanted to play with the idea of what is real and artificial. Gift shops and museums at these roadside attractions often recreate a moment of history or story with their displays. I wanted to recreate this sense with my images, where the viewer takes on the role of the tourist within the space. The large images are meant to be able to interact with, whether it is sitting on the bench viewing the Crazy Horse Memorial or taking a selfie at Mount Rushmore. The other images hung salon-style are representative of the Americana or kitsch style of the Midwest. These places are often filled with iconography of the Wild West and landscapes with more than there is space to fill the walls. The remaining images took up as much wall space as possible. The postcards were printed to postcard size, as they were actually sent in the mail. These images give all types of opportunities for interaction, from hand-held to full-body interaction.

Featured Artist: Asad Badat

MEET CREATIVE ASAD BADAT

 

Asad Badat is an artist whose photographic approach includes documentation and digital collaging. He transforms everyday objects into pattern designs to bring attention to their formal qualities. His images celebrate the coexistence of his American, Muslim, and Pakistani identities.

Badat has exhibited in Texas and Illinois, at venues including Alabama Song; Aurora Picture Show; Blaffer Art Museum; Block 37; BLUEorange Gallery; Center for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Houston; and M.D. Anderson Library. He has also published work in The Aletheia Journal, The Public Eye Magazine, and Glass Mountain Magazine.

Badat was born in the 90s and raised in Houston, TX. He received his BFA in Photography - Digital Media at the University of Houston and Post-Baccalaureate in Fashion, Body, and Garment at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

I’ve had the pleasure of going to school with Asad back in Texas. I came across his recent work about 2 months ago and was blown away by the imagery he was creating. It was contemporary and repetitive ( two of my favorites), yet representative of real life. The images are easy to delve into, and then they become thought provoking. That’s the best kind of photography!

To put a face with the name be sure to check out his website here & be sure to follow him on social media

Instagram: @asadbadat.art | www.instagram.com/asadbadat.art 

Tumblr: www.asadbadat.tumblr.com

Featured Artist: Jason Ward by Adam Grimm

Meet Creative Jason Ward

 
 

Jason Ward is a Los Angeles based street and documentary photographer whose work has been seen in Los Angeles Magazine, Eyeshot Magazine, and the Social Documentary Network.  “Chosen Ones” is his first portrait series from inspiration of his long-time obsession with stock portrait photographs of the 1960s.  His images capture detail and imagination in a way seldom created.  You laugh, you wonder, you cringe.  But you continually want to look again.  He is an up and coming artist worth keeping an eye on.

Feature by Adam Grimm

AGrimmArts.Photography

Dore Contributor

Campbell Washington

Campbell Washington attends the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and is completing an MFA program in photography.  She has traveled extensively in North America and Europe, and has focused her craft on cityscapes and landscapes capturing the character of the respective locales.  Her favorite genre of photography is street photography, but she also captures portraiture on location. She finds herself influenced by the format. The look of her imagery is defined by the specific camera medium she is using at the time. Washington’s current work chronicles her travels to places that are consistent with childhood memories and cause her to reflect on her growth and future. Currently, she is using “road trips” as a metaphor and mediation in order for her to reflect on her past to enter her unknown future.

website: www.campbellwashington.com      instagram: @theblamcam

 

Artist Statement:

One of the most valuable human characteristics is memory.  If we did not have memory we would not be able to remember how to communicate, and amongst other things we would not be able to recall what has happened in the past- near-term or distant.  My memory is most easily triggered by sight, most notable through photographs. Looking at an old photograph of a moment of which one was apart, can immediately allow one to recall certain segments of this moment.

I am using the act of photographing road trips as a metaphor for my transition into a complete state of adultism. As I grow older, many things in my life are starting to change and these changes have caused me to reminisce about the past. Most things that I remember as a child have to do with travel and family. As one gets older, one develops her or his own independence and becomes a person who is self-sufficient and dependent on one’s self. In many ways, this transition makes lasting changes.  The past and memories associated with that past shape the transition into adulthood and a new person emerges.

Gabrielle Arduini

Gabrielle was born in Pensacola, Florida but does not call it home due to being in a military family. She began her photography career when she was twelve; today, Gabrielle is continuing to follow that dream. 

She has photographed in the US, Italy and Nassau, Bahamas. Upon graduating, Gabrielle went back to her Italian roots and studied in Rome, Italy and she now attends Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta. She is a current senior studying for a Bachelor of the Fine Arts in Photography.

website: www.gabriellearduini.com      instagram: @gabriellearduini

Land of Adoption

The starting point of this work began in Between Existing (2016-2017) which referenced
vast, colorful landscapes and a single figure wearing red in one of Italy’s bloodiest battlegrounds.
Reoccurring themes in these works are vast landscapes, memory, passage of time, and using
objects to reference self-portraiture. In Between Existing, the common thread throughout the
series was the red object and the current work now embodies this grey figure. It seems at first a
simple landscape, but when studied further, symmetry is apparent. Land of Adoption
encompasses my image in nature while dealing with two cultures: my own identity and the
identity of the landscape.

These are portraits of self without a specific or formulated pose. The work has been
inspired by the land artist, Richard Long. His work in 1967, A Line Made By Walking,
documents his path as he walked back and forth in the same spot which created an impact on the
land. Similarly, the subject is marking the space, adjusting the landscape for only a certain time,
and then nature continues on its course as is. As I discover these different landscapes, the end
result is not just a photograph, but the act of creating a pattern of identity in the space.