Final Project: Lesbotypes

Artist Statement:

There is an old-fashioned conception of the way that a lesbian must look, act, and dress. Yet in reality there are as many different “types” of queer women as there are women in the world. As more attention is given to queer identities and issues in mainstream media, more stereotypes of what a lesbian looks like are emerging. I am interested in this idea of self-representation, and the blend of truth and fiction that is present in all stereotypes. With this project, I set out to depict 6 different stereotypes or personas that have been attributed to lesbians/dykes in the past as well as today. I could continue this project with many more, and I will. The idea is that through this exploration of the stereotypes within one sub-group of people, questions will emerge about what stereotypes are placed on other groups as well. How do others label you? How do you label yourself? How do those two match up? These are important questions in thinking about identity and self-representation. For me, it just depends on the day.

Free Assignment

This was a free assignment week.  These pictures are also on the topic of alter-egos and drag.  However, the drag performance is of my femme side this time.  Taken with a canon digital rebel.  Exposures are about 8 sec. or so.

Alter Ego Assignment

After doing an alter-ego for the photobooth assignment, I found out that our next assignment was to create an alter-ego, using any method of our choosing.  So, this is sort of a similar alter-ego, depicted differently.  This is my drag-king persona.  The bad-boi, gender outlaw, who lives for danger and wanders alone at night.  ha, yeah.  This person is much tougher than I, and is not afraid to be exactly who they are, despite the rejection of societal norms.  I consider my gender to be rather fluid, and fluctuating, depending on factors such as mood, surroundings, time in my life, etc.  I am more feminine than masculine, however, and people certainly seem to label me as such.  So, I suppose that must be how I present.  I have been told by friends that there is something inherently feminine about me.  *shrugs*  I guess.  I don't necessarily ALWAYS feel that way.  So, this personal or alter-ego is the embodiment of that other side that is much more masculine.  I think gender is fascinating, and I enjoy thinking about the ways that people perform their gender through clothing, mannerisms, and the like. 

Photobooth Assignment

We were instructed to take a photobooth image, and then do something different with the image(s).  I scanned 4 different strips, then selected three images to work into a series.  I call this my alter-ego, or one of them.  I have many.  I think it came out kind of looking like a descent into madness.  I was going for kind of a "wanted" poster from the old west.  I think that comes through quite nicely.

Midterm Project for Self as subject

These images really don't do the real things any justice, but I guess you can get the idea. These were very tricky to photograph due to them involving multiple layers framed in shadow boxes. They are emulsion lifts, which I scanned and printed on Pictorico OHP film. They have mixed-media collages on 1-3 layers of plexiglass beneath the image. I'm proud of them, but not so proud of these reproductions. : /

Self-as-subject: Free Assignment week 7

Silver Gelatin prints. Illford Pan F 50.

Brave

This assignment was to take a self-portrait that is "brave."  What did I think of first?  Nude.  Nude in public = enhanced bravery.  I took these shots on a nude beach, so as not to be arrested.  Luckily, I had the whole beach to myself.  I used a Holgaroid (Holga + polaroid back) and type 669 film.  Later made my emulsion lifts on Arches cold pressed "grain fin" watercolor paper. 

After Frida

I'm not all that happy with this piece. . . though I still very much like the concept behind it.  It is the second project for self-as-subject, which was to create a "psychological self-portrait."  Having just seen the Frida Kahlo show at SF MOMA, I thought of doing this piece that I've had in mind for a while now.  This is my own personal version of "The Two Fridas."  It didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, though.  I tried to do a gel transfer with semi-matte golden's gel medium and an image printed on avery transparency.  I haven't had luck with this in the past, and this was no exception.  I spread the gel over the canvas with my fingers, making a reasonably thick layer, then while it was still wet I layed the image on top.  I used a brayer to burnish the image into the medium, which wasn't very successful.  The transparency kept buckling and not making good contact with the medium.  Also, only a few layers of color transfered, leaving little detail and a bright teal image. . . not what I was going for.  I repeated the process to see if maybe I could get a more defined image through additional layers.  Not so much.  Finally, I printed the image on plain white paper, and did a medium transfer with that.  Letting the medium dry, and then getting the paper backing wet to peel it off.  This still didn't yield an image with that much detail.  My solution was to then draw in the figures with sharpee.  I actually liked how that looked, but still wished the photo would've been more evident.  I painted the background to extend the photograph with acrylics, adding the clouds and heart, which are also in Kahlo's piece, and add a more surreal effect.

Self as subject-project 1

From this post onward, I will be blogging about the work that I am doing for my current course, Self-as-Subject.  This is the first piece I did for the class.  Polaroid emulsion lifts on canvas with acrylics and graphite.  A fun process. . . just the beginning.  I'm not satisfied with this yet.  It feels unfinished.  I need to figure out how to make the emulsion lifts not feel so separate from the background.

final project part 2

the last few images from the final project. . .

diana pinhole

shot with the diana set on 'P' I think it was about a 20 sec. exposure around dusk, with 400 tri-x film. i really like this one. . . it represents a new direction i'm exploring.

Final project part 1

these are all taken around my home town in Cambria, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo, CA. Illford black and white film 50 - 100 speed. Long exposures with neutral density filters, shot on bulb setting.

From the beginning of class. . .

this is one of the first images I took with the Holga camera for this class. At the Presidio. Set on bulb, 2 second exposure, one second with me in the frame, one without. It is a c-print.

more from the sutro baths

Plastic pinhole

these images are all taken with the pinholga and the diana set on the pinhole setting. Taken at sutro baths.

Beginning at the end

Image 5

Mid-term Project cont. . .

Image 4

Mid-term Project cont. . .

Image 3

Mid-term Project cont. . .

Image 2

Mid-term Project for Pinhole and Plastic Cameras

The first image. . .
I posted them all separately, because they looked bad when I tried to upload all the images into one post.

Anyway, this was my mid-term project. Used black and white Illford 100 speed film, shot with a Holga with ND 4 soft surround filter. Printed in color on Fuji crystal archive paper.

All self-portraits.