Polaroid emulsion lifts

These images are the foundation of my mixed media work, the inspiration. These are the "straight" images, if you can say that about emulsion lifts. : ) They have been scanned, and worked on in photoshop just a little bit to preserve the original polaroid look, feel, tones, etc. Please let me know what you think of the images, constructive criticism is always welcomed. : )

p.s. they look a bit desaturated here. the colors are slightly more vibrant in the originals

Group Directed Study with Alyson Belcher

My final project for GDS Fine Art. With this series I'm working towards my final thesis project, and many of these images will probably be in that final grouping. They are photography based mixed media, the original photograph being a polaroid emulsion lift that has been scanned and printed larger on digital transparency film (pictorico OHP). I apologize for the quality of my documentation. These are just some quick pics. Suffice to say, they are much nicer to look at in person. The digital photograph doesn't show the depth of the different layers behind the image. Anyway, you'll get an idea of what they are. Thanks for looking!

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. : /