The artist that I found recently in an art show online was Allison Grant. I found that her work was not only interesting but entirely appropriatefor our final project. In her one portfolio titled Soiled, she creates these scenes of landscapes including mountains, rivers and forests. She likes to take artificial items and make them “coexist” with organic forms. Grant is able to form a mountain scene and what looks to be melted black plastic, she then forms forest scenes with plastic taking up most of the foreground. I think this is a very interesting portfolio and it seems to coincide with her other works. The quality of the photo is also very pleasing and there seems to be great contrast, depth of field and sharpness to her prints. The colors at first seem rather bland, but as you further move into her forest scenes they become rich and vibrant. Although there are no figures in this line, Grant reminds me of previous artists we discussed in class such as, Laurie Simmons and Sandy Skoglund. I really enjoy the textures she used and the different types of material for each of the photographs. I find it interesting and wonder how each item represents the scene for Grant. Unfortunately I was unable to find any comment on the artwork online, but she did talk about her other work and she does try to use items to “overlap harmoniously with nature”. This seems to capture everyday beautiful scenic views and cover them with things we as people in today’s society consider unpleasant. I really found her work appealing and a great reference in trying to figure out my own contorted reality.
Here is the website: http://www.allisongrant.com/
These pictures are great, and really do fit in with what we're doing for our final project. I looked through her works in her "Unsoiled" portfolio and they're all pretty interesting. There are actually a few that do a pretty good job of looking like a very real landscape. I think this is due to some of the things Liz pointed out such as the textures she uses and definitely the depth of field. In one of her shots titled "Macintosh Forest" there is a path leading through a forest filled with trees and because of the path it really makes you feel like you could walk straight through it. The other thing that I really like that she does in her shots is the way that she plays with making the water appear real. In her photo "Radiator Falls" she uses what looks like thin plastic or saran wrap which takes on a white color imitating the look of moving water. Also, in "Ocean Sunset" she uses a similar technique but mixes in some blues as well to get the look of an ocean. Like I wrote before, some of her photos do a good job of fooling you thinking you're looking at an actual landscape, however I assume that it is her intent to make sure you know they are fake. Especially because of the portfolio being titled "Unsoiled"
ReplyDelete