New Blog

Since I am no longer in Photo Seminar and have started another set of material, I have created a blog for my own work on Tumblr. If you care to take a peek and keep up with me, please take the time to head on over there.

Thanks a lot guys!

Click Image.

The End

Well this is the end of the semester. I had a very interesting time in this class, giving me huge opportunities to branch out of my lazy and boring apartment life.

Thank you for this opportunity to get my stuff out there.

Please inform me if I am missing anything. As far as I am concerned, I have everything that was asked for. :]

Interstitial

Where to begin. First and for most, I must admit I have no idea what the reason was behind this piece. I normally look at pieces by quality first. Although I found it very awkward walking into this short film half way in the middle, I don't believe I missed much of the beginning. The overlaying of the body, making different gestures and actions, made this piece most powerful. I especially found it strong towards the end when it looked like an inner spirit digging out of your scalp, almost screaming in fear. At least that is what I took from it. I believe the placement was very good. The blue on top made a good contrast when the shaving cream was on your scalp. The one thing I did not like was at the beginning it had you with the green mask like on, I don't think it was necessary to foreshadow that part.

Undergrad Show at Anderson Gallery(3rd writing)

Although I did not make it into the Undergrad Show, displayed at Anderson Gallery, I was able to walk through the exhibit to catch all the works that were recognizable to the juror. I was very impressed overall. To be honest, the photography work was not really of my liking. One piece in particular that was in the front room of the two wooden cabin like things... I remember when it was hanging int he hallway in Pollak, I could not stop critiquing the horrible photoshop job. Just my opinion that through me off. The only photo piece that was of liking was the Hockney/scanned feeling of a piece of two individuals. The detail was very clever and it was actually interesting to look at, for all the pieces of the prints were different in some way or another. I found that the AFO students that got into the show were really strong, one of them being of a mixed media on a panel. I think they used paint then wax over top and sketched a boat on top. The colors and texture were very clever. As for the videos, all I can say is that I am sick of stop motion. The sculptures, as far as I remember were VERY strong in the gallery. They really pushed the idea of space by making extremely huge pieces.

First Friday Art Walk, April 09

This post on First Friday is pretty delayed, but people stay busy and I didn't get out to the galleries till today, Monday April 13th. I didn't miss much though, surprise surprise.

Katie and I ventured off down Broad Street towards 1708 and Quirk. Once we hit 1708 we realized that this past First Friday show was the same as last. And today we saw the gallery painting the walls, preparing for the up and coming show.

Next we hit up Quirk. And again, the same old show, but a few small pieces added to compliment the artists work. There were new pieces in The Vault in the back, some pottery pieces in the shape of rumps that extend down to the mid leg section. The glazes were very well used and I found the pieces to be likable. In the front there were a few pieces of snow globes with little plastic cards above. One of these globes had a light bulb in it in which I found kind of "crazy cool." I laughed when I saw Pikachu, the Pokemon, on one of the plastic cards embodying Asian influences.

We also took notice of artwork within the Photography Gallery. This work was presented very nicely in well matted frames. The artwork was that of Panoramic landscapes. The lighting was amazing in each piece and the use of sepia tone was very beneficial to the pieces. It gave the work a very rustic and homey feel to these areas that were pictured.

The Metro Gallery was the last on our list. Although it was closed, we looked through the window to take notice of the printmaking hung up on the white walls. The use of color and dark black lines identified the subjects so clearly. I found these works to be very interesting in shape and placement on big white sheets of paper.

Artist Statement

Current work of mine alludes to the idea of capturing images without the use of a foreground subject to create a main focus. Recently I have been studying over the works and ideas of photographer Uta Barth and her visual perception of identifying time lapse through the use of blurring in order to capture illustrated scenes. From this, I believe that my work tries to capture surfaces in which light falls onto, and abstracting these areas to cause an uncertain identity. With the use of bracketing and blurring, I try to focus more on how multiple exposures effect the eye rather than the actual meaning behind the photograph. With this in mind, I do not believe my work should be thought about or questioned, but yet observed.

CV

Elizabeth Carney

Education

BFA 2007-Present Photography and Film Virginia Commonwealth University(VCU)
2008-Present Photography and Film VCU Dean’s List


Teaching Experience

2006-07 Teacher’s Assistant, Maury High School
Norfolk, VA (Drawing, Painting)

Group Exhibition

2007 Hermitage Foundation Spring Juried Show, Norfolk, VA
1st Place Award Recipient, Printmaking

2007 Student Gallery Juried Show, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
Finalist, Sculpture and Photography

2007 Senior Art Show, Maury High School, Norfolk, VA
Best in Show, Best in Sculpture

2005 Group Show displayed in Military Circle Mall, Norfolk, VA
Photography

2005 Hermitage Foundation Spring Juried Show, Norfolk, VA
1st Place Award Recipient, Photography

Technical Expertise

- Adobe Photoshop CS3, iMovie(Mac), Microsoft Office
- Nikon D80(Digital), Nikon N65(35mm Film), Pentax K1000(35mm Film), Lubitel 166B(120mm Film)
- Darkroom, Digital, Studio Photography


















Sorry. The format of this CV on Blogger is a bit messy compared to my Word Document.

29th Annual Spring Photography Contest

I am pretty excited about this contest. I submitted a work of mine into Photography Forum's 26th Annual Spring Photography Contest. Finalist will be published into their November 2009 zine issue.

The above picture is what I submitted.

Call for entries.

Today was the last day to apply to the Juried Student Fine Arts Exhibition at Anderson Gallery. Luckily I just finished up a 4 piece series in my Intermediate Darkroom class that I was able to submit. Hopefully things go well...

On the downside, non-accepted work is to be picked up on Friday. I was planned to work Friday, but I guess I will have to call off and head home later than sooner.

Edited: Raney is helping me out and picking up my work if it is not accepted. Thank you Raney!

Artists Emerge

This morning I submitted a piece of work of mine into the Artists Emerge juried show entitled "Color Temperature." Let's just wait till April to see how I do.

Coming up: I am submitting work to a show back home in Norfolk entitled "Renewal."

2nd writing

Sorry guys. I was unaware of the second writing on a gallery I was unable to attend, but instead attended another.

So we were supposed to attend the Best of 2008 Photography exhibit that was on campus at a small, quaint coffee shop called Harrison Street Cafe. As many of times I have walked by this place thinking I should hop in to snag a cup of brew, I have never set foot into this place until one Sunday a few weeks back I decided to go look at the show.

Immediately after I walked in the doors, I felt squished. The space is unsuitable to display art, and I found it very unflattering breathing over the heads of other customers enjoying their lunch and warm coffee. On the other hand, I really love the coffee shop as a coffee shop. The wood and unique layout made this place stick out from any other.

As for the art itself, I could not say I was impressed. A picture of a cat... a girl in the middle of an alley way... President Obama at a campaign... All seemed too uncaring of perspective and creativity. I've gone to band shows and I have had my fair share of photographing the action, this did not impress. The one photograph that I do recall being of my liking was that of an arm cut off on the edge of the frame with leaves filling the rest of the frame. Simple. Interesting composition. Colors flow. Great lighting. That's what I want to see. Not just the quickie I found in the others. Maybe that's just me being picky, but don't we all have our likes and dislikes?

I did feel ashamed after hearing the guy who put this show together. He seemed like a really cool guy and who actually has fun in this town of Richmond (must I inform you I hate taking pictures in this city, and I do not find any sort of inspiration). So I thought it was cool to see how he works and how he produces work in this community.

Sorry for the late entry. Hope to post back soon.

March 09 First Friday Artwalk

Though I was unable to attend the crowded walk down Broad Street, or even make it out the week after the First Friday due to Spring Break. Fortunately Katie Stanton had not attended the art walk either, so we decided to take a nice walk this past Thursday afternoon.

1708: Took a while to get into this gallery due to the struggle of the stuck door, but we finally got in before we walked off. At first I laughed at this art work. I mean... come on. A journal of stuff like eating toast or doing math. But then I thought about it. Some people can make ugly, unimportant art look somewhat enjoyable and entertaining. So I ended up liking its vastness. Moving around the room, we move to an artist whose work is concentrated on found objects and cheap material such as cardboard. I found this to be cool, as it allows us artists to think that something so simple can be used in such a different way. I always like to look for humor in art, and what made me laugh for about 5 years was a cardboard box and inside there was a drawing of a McChicken Nugget crossed with Chewy. I forget what the caption said, but I died.

Quirk: Not really my kind of art style. This artist used fabric as her medium and painted arms and hands, or legs and heels onto these canvases. But one piece I found interesting was the collared shirts with the button down still attached. For some reason I found this visually attractive and interesting.

Visual Art Studio: Upon walking in Katie and I came in contact with the owner's daughter screaming that she wanted more coffee. Must I inform you, this little girl had to be roughly 5 years old. The owner/artists was very nice. She questioned if we were students, and we talked about this course to her. She found that this Sophomore Seminar class to be very helpful and something she wished was there for her when she was in the Painting and Printmaking Department at VCU some years back. She showed us her studio area and all the work of artists she is acquainted with. She explained how when she attended VCU she studied abroad and thought that would be something we should look into in our near future. But now lets talk about the art. Nothing really attractive. There were a few photographs in the back that were not of my liking. Once piece next to the photographs, on the other hand, did strike my interest. It was a digitally printed work of a woman and a man sculpture of the Greek style. They were being struck by arrows while they hang in shame on their crosses. I found this piece to be interesting due to its 3D-ness and the irony of this classic piece on the background of a modern city.

Anywho. Saw some good stuff, and I saw some bad.

Taxidermy is my friend.

Who: Amy Stein
What: Artist Lecture
When: March 4th, 2009
Where: VCU Student Commons Theater
WHY?

As we all spend majority of our days in the Pollak building, we are well aware of the many fliers and posters hung on the cork boards in the hall. Well when I stumbled upon Amy Stein's artist lecture flier, I finally had the courage to admit that Fine Art Photography could be worth while.

As most of our views were very unenlightening when Stein first admitted she jumped right into the photography scene due to unemployment, I believe we all came out of this lecture with a since of change. To be honest, this lady is inspiring. For one, I don't like Fine Art Photography, I am more commercial, but Stein works with this aspect. Her series entitled Stranded are portraits of individuals caught with flats or blown heaters. What got me is that Stein went out to travel the roads, meet strangers in uncomfortable situations and was able to shoot these photographs that captures the humiliating sides of these poor, stranded people.

I like the way Stein works. In her series called Domesticated, Stein became one with a community, learning about a small town place outside of her own state of residence, and made brilliant art. At first you may want to believe the animals placed in each frame are living, wild animals, but in fact they are not. Taxidermy is very helpful in times like these. So much that even myself have been out on the search looking to find a bird to use in a piece I am submitting to a show soon.

All in all, I believe Stein to be a strong figure and artist in my mind. After leaving her lecture I jumped up and said "let's go and make a series." And so I have yet to find that one thing I want to capture.

Samtime 1:04

I would say this is a clever idea, a clever idea by Sametime 7:15. When Michael Lease showed our class his side project, I found it very likable in a diarist sense, a moment captured in a split second, the documentation of the life we walk upon. What is great about this work is that it goes out side the whole "fine art" story of conception and meaning which is why I like this kind of work. I guess that is where I differ from others at this school.

People always have to believe that there is a message behind a photograph. To me, photography documents a time, a place, a person. I view each shot as a piece of beauty, an image to be attractive. I mean isn't that where the elements of art and principles of design came from? Line, shape, color, form, texture, space, value... balance, emphasis, pattern, repetition, contrast, movement, rythm, proportion, unity. I guess being a designer with my work is where I fault from all this conceptual crap.

Anyway, ranting carried on for way too long, but in all I believe this Sametime 1:04 is alright. I preferred what was happening at 7:15, but that's just me.

American Power.

Who: Paul Shambroom
What: Artist Lecture
When: February 11th, 2009
Where: Student Commons Theater
Why?

Amazing speaker and inspiring artist. Shambroom is surely a man worth running into. Within his work he discovers and presents his audience with the reality of power and culture. Though I was not fond of his subjects prior to attending this lecture, being nuclear weapons and homeland security, I became rather intrigued with his processes of achieving his work. His style of documenting behind the scenes work places allows Americans to understand that nuclear power is not just the talk of the town, but it is something real. His compositions are straight forward and somewhat expresses humor, at least to me.

Going beyond his love for weaponry, Shambroom explores the power in the hand of corporations and even the poeple of small towns. I found this work to be my favorite as it still shows viewers that there is even power in smaller hands. His series entitled Meetings, to me, is the most entertaining and inspiring to my own work. With this work Shambroom captures moments within small city councils. He places his subject in a way to portray a portrait, as he compared them close to da Vinci's Last Supper. I believe the simplicity of composure and lightly saturated colors really gets to me. The panoramic feel really plays a huge role within this series as well. I really can't explain my love for this work, for my eyes and not my mouth can only intake the beauty.

All in all, Shambroom is an amazing photographer. Not only does this man have the knowledge behind his subjects through research, he also has a witty humorous side that left me laughing for minutes on end. Although some of his subject matter is not of my like(ie. nuclear weapons), his work has surely given me ideas on how to compose an amazing photograph.

First Friday Art Walk

I remember the last time I attended this art walk, burning up with the flu and wanting to punch the ever so close standing critics in each jam packed gallery. This time around was nothing new, besides more anger at those who block the sidewalks while they talk to their 20 person crowd of friends they stumbled upon.

But onto the work. It had its ups and its downs. 1708 proved to be the only eye candy of the night. Though produced by two different people, the two artists works exhibited cohesiveness in the sense of line, form, color, and texture. The simplicity of the smaller works(I do believe were done by Nichole Maury) composed of geometric shapes that carried on throughout several different pieces. I found these works to be quite interesting as I have the love for simple black on white pieces. And if you have seen my own work, I have the love for horizontal and vertical lines, often producing flat and minimalistic art. This is why these pieces stuck out to me most. On the contrast, Christopher Quirk's large canvases complimented the small, as they brought more texture from the build up of oil and acrylic. The colors used were very soothing and of my liking.

Though my time fell short Friday night due to my impatience, I did manage to stop by Quirk the proceeding Monday. To my liking there were two pieces that really took to my liking, both being that of protruding wall mounts. A piece by Elizabeth Kendall really took me in. As circular layered pieces brought similar relevance to the form of a flower, the line work of the dowel like beams popped the work into my own element. The shadows produced a wonderful effect on the wall behind, making this piece even more intriguing. Another eye popping piece that considerably took up a whole wall was that of twisted ceramic green figures. Like the previous sculpture I had explained, the shadows produced from this piece extended beautifully through extreme shape and form.

The idea of the art walk is quite smart, but since it takes place in this small, tight packed area, I do not believe it is worth my while as I get paranoid with snooty and loud cliques.

Like father, like son.

Who: Emmet & Elijah Gowin
What: Maggie
When: Now
Where: Page Bond Gallery
Why?

This gallery is beautiful. It displays the modern day gallery feel of big open spaces in order to walk around and converse. With this only being a photographic exhibit, the sequences of images plays a major role in moving the viewer around the room. We as viewers come to know this woman named Maggie, hence the name of the exhibit. I found these pictures to be intriguing, as they are a bit mysterious in the way the camera was used to capture unusual focal lengths and imagery. The use of vignetting captures a mysterious haze on the old fashioned country home. Some pictures even capture these old women in unusual circumstances, peeping from the back of the frame, or playing with objects I have never seen in my life. There is also this feel of a journalistic view of the life around this family, documenting the years that pass.

The display of the photo's were very plain and simple, making it hard to distract the viewers attention on the photograph. The use of white matte with a light wood frame pleases the eyes when it is mounted on such white walls. This allows the eye to focus more on the image first, presentation second. We come to shows to acknowledge the works of others and to gather ideas of what is being done outside of our own work. Keep the presentation plain, and simple. This exhibit is a great example of this.

truth. Why?

Who: Alix Pearlstein
What: Artist Lecture
When: January 28th, 2009
Where: VCU Student Commons Theater
Why?

Define:art

the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the sense or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.



This lecture, or rather "art", had nothing to do with the above definition.


Coming into this lecture I had thought the work to be highly profound and professional after stumbling across her film stills. Far did I know that her videos themselves would look underdeveloped and childish when viewed on the big screen. Her opening sentence was a quote on art being glamorous. I found the glamor to be invisible in her own work. Presenting her first video, Two Women, Pearlstein brought her viewers sexual intimacy between the sexes. Like others I questioned about this lecture, I felt rather uncomfortable viewing this video, not knowing if it were the lack in quality or the idea behind the image. Moving through her videos, we do see some minor improvements. Her strongest work, After the Fall, produces a connection between the actors and the audience. The eye connection and failure between solid obstacles is a relative conflict in everyday life. The use of the black box theater produces a stronger image and depth in her work. As we finish the lecture with an unflattering clip entitled Goldrush, all I imagined was those stupid Truth commercials that questions why people smoke. "Hey. I look stupid fighting over all this matter board, what's your reason?"

As Pearlstein's work has improved over the course of her career, I do not believe this artist is someone worth seeing.