What a great weekend installing at Rocky Mount Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences! If you're in the eastern North Carolina area, come reunite with Gertie the astronaut- opening reception is June 21st 6-8pm! The exhibition is up June-September.
Distant Transmissions @ Rocky Mount Imperial Centre For The Arts & Sciences
Post-Grad School Year One
I have been out of school for a year now and it's been 365 days navigating days of high intensity, uncertainty, joy, road trips, adjusting to new landscapes, solo shows, rebuilding confidence as a post-grad artist, losing confidence, regaining it again, falling in love, falling in love with Ohio, spending time with family and friends, feeling gratitude for my job at Kent State University, and trying to strike a balance between the new and the old. I look forward to seeing what another year will bring. Below are images from my recent show at the Clamp Gallery in San Antonio, a publication in The Hand Magazine, my always-in-progress studio space in my apartment, new landscapes, my lovely niece and nephews, and a trip to Moonville! I look forward to my solo show in Rocky Mount, North Carolina at the Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences coming up in June, participating in a group show for The Hand Magazine in the Fall with some fabulous artists, and exciting opportunities to come in the next year- stay tuned!
Image Courtesy of San Antonio Express-News
Another New England Summer
This summer I am teaching digital photography at Belvoir Terrace, a prestigious all girls camp, in Massachusetts. I am blown away by the talent and maturity of the girls I'm lucky enough to work with every day.
So glad to reunite with this wonderful person in Portland, ME!
Next up is a three month stay at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, TN, as a studio assistant starting in September!
MFA Thesis Exhibition Opening
Swing by Distant Transmissions this Friday 5-8pm if you're in the area!
LA and Last Semester At ECU
LA is a magical place. I was given the opportunity to print my work in LA with the amazing artist and maker Barret Oliver over winter break. The three weeks I spent there were epic. Enough said. The mountains alone were worth writing poems over (Which I admit I did). Below are a few gums and photographs from the three weeks along with a selfie shared with the equally epic Samantha Newman. I am so grateful for the experience and for everyone I got to catch up with. Now onto my last semester: looking forward to my MFA Thesis opening on April 1st at the Greenville Museum of Art (more info to come later), two job interviews so far, a summer job in Massachusetts, and the unknown I face ahead!
A Trip To WBCQ
After being in Maine for three months, one of the highlights was a visit to the WBCQ The Planet shortwave radio station in Monticello, Maine, a trip I got to take with two wonderful friends. The crew at WBCQ were awesome hosts and I'm so glad I got to visit and check out their facilities. Below are a few photos from the visit.
Summer At Maine Media Workshops
Maine is a place that really does change you. It's hard to imagine leaving, but the time has come! I have so much gratitude for the people I met, the instructors and staff at MMW+C and the countless experiences in such a magical place. Thank you so much to everyone who made this summer so wonderful. Now onto my third and final year in the MFA program at ECU!
Photographing the Louisiana Coast
Honored to spend another week with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium for a Coastal Landscape Photography Workshop. We spent a week in the Barataria Terrebonne Estuary documenting and investigating Louisiana's coastal land loss. Below is our amazing group and images I captured using color film. I also got a few gems with my shortwave radio which is below, another HM01 spy code and a man ranting about "Planet X"!
A Great Day For Nerds
I spent yesterday at the Dayton Hamvention with amazing people, upgraded my shortwave receiver and even got to meet an astronaut- one of the best Fridays I've ever had! On to the next adventure- Cocodrie, Louisiana to photograph with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.
Almost Done With My Second Year!
I can't believe I only have one year of grad school left. It's hard to express how much this entire experience and everyone I've met has meant to me. For now, I'm just focusing on wrapping up the semester- it's been the busiest one for me yet. Summer should have great things in store: the Dayton Hamvention, getting to travel home for a bit, LUMCON workshop in Louisiana again (!), a potential visit to Maine, working on thesis (I even have a thesis committee now!), getting my shortwave license, hoping for some exhibitions, and.... finishing my spacesuit! Photos to come! Below is the final image selection from my Sharjah trip and more QSL cards. I've been experimenting with transferring photos other than shortwave stations onto the cards.
Trip to Sharjah & the UAE
I was fortunate to be one of eight students at ECU to go to the United Arab Emirates for two weeks at the beginning of March to work with the University of Sharjah students, photograph, and record shortwave. There are many, many things I miss: all of the amazing people I met, the smells, the call to prayer, the food, the architecture, the university, the combination of history and newness. The list goes on and on. I hope to return one day.
Below are a few extra images from my two week trip to the Sharjah, one of the seven emirates. I am going to project the final images with the shortwave sounds I recorded.
More Penland & Shortwave Photos
Grad school snow days are the absolute best. I am forced to stay inside and listen to Yo La Tengo, knit, practice my banjo, write letters, listen to my radio, watch 2001 Space Odyssey, and update my blog! Below are images from film I just got back from the lab and a few more QSL cards.
Penland & More Shortwave Research
I recently returned from a short winter residency at Penland. I wish it had been longer! I feel so lucky to have been given the time and studio space to work on my research, not to mention a supportive community of amazing artists. The experience of Penland during the winter was really different from my experience during the summer. I loved how peaceful and quiet it was.
While at Penland I focused primarily on my shortwave research using a transfer process called Super Sauce to combine my own images of shortwave stations onto QSL cards, the cards ham operators send each other. While near Asheville I was also fortunate enough to be interviewed by two people who have sparked my interest in shortwave immensely, David Goren and Thomas Witherspoon. It has genuinely been a while since I've had that much fun in one day! On a side note, Thomas graciously helped me hear my first shortwave number station this week! I could not be more thrilled. I've been trying to hear one for so long and it turns out the only place I get reception is on a small patch of grass in the corner of my backyard...but I got it!
I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and it has only just begun. Next up is a trip to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. I leave in a couple of weeks with a delightful group of artists and am photographing, recording sounds, and will be going out to the desert with my shortwave radio to see what I can hear. Can't wait for a bit of traveling!
A Semester All About Process
This past semester was all about process: I learned copperplate photogravure (difficult but a lot of fun- images pictured below) dissected my own process of art making and am relearning how to investigate and explore my subject matter, taught Survey in Photography, started making my own book on shortwave radio with letterpress, even learned how to make macarons! My third semester of grad school at East Carolina was one of the most challenging and enlightening semesters I've had and I am so grateful for my professors and mentors who continue to help guide me and figure out a path for my research.
This coming semester, I am teaching Basic Black & White Photography in the darkroom and am very excited. Working in the darkroom is what hooked me and I'm looking forward to sharing that experience. I am also continuing my research on shortwave radio and am collecting QSL cards (images included below) which are postcards that confirm communication between amateur radio operators. I am experimenting with transferring and layering my own images on top of the cards. I will be returning to the shortwave stations in Greenville to continue photographing. Other good things ahead include participating in a show at the University of Georgia Athens, participating in the Joyce Elaine Grant Exhibition at the Texas Woman's University, and being invited to participate in the 2015 Shortwave Shindig (So excited!!) http://www.shortwaveology.net/shortwave-shindig/. I have no idea what else is to come in 2015 but I look forward to all of the challenges and great things ahead!
The End of Summer and the Beginning of Another Semester!
The semester has started and I taught my first college course this week, intro to photography. I am happy to say it went well and I have a great group of students that I'm looking forward to working with.
A little sad to say goodbye to summer which was one of the most intense and enlightening summers I've ever had. Penland was a summer's worth of experiences alone. I met many amazing, talented artists. Below are a few images of the work I experimented with while in the mountains of Asheville.
I also stopped through downtown Asheville to check out my work installed in the Merge exhibition at the Castell Gallery, a great show! And then drove to Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts to assist a professor in the heart of downtown Gaitlinburg.
A Quick Update!
I'm back from a one month residency at Pocosin Arts in Columbia, North Carolina where I taught students and adults the 19th century photographic process cyanotype. It was an amazing experience teaching and getting to meet some of the most genuinely delightful people I've ever met. It was sad to leave such a great place. But wonderful things await on the horizon! I have work being installed in the Pitt-Greenville Airport and have been invited to be in a collector's show at the Castell Gallery in Asheville, an unbelievable honor. My work as well as work from a few other contemporary photographers will be alongside master selections from Sally Mann, Todd Hido, Zoe Strauss, and Roger Ballen. Very exciting!
For the next two weeks I'm headed to Penland School of Crafts to take a workshop with Brian Taylor on alternative photographic processes and bookmaking. Looking forward to finally attending Penland!
More LUMCON Photos
Coastal Landscape Photography Workshop
I just returned from a Coastal Landscape Photography workshop at the Louisiana University Marine Consortium. To say It was an amazing seven days is an understatement. The evidence of land loss is astounding. And while the Cajun culture was enough to make me want to stay forever unfortunately much of it is quite literally being washed away. One acre is lost every thirty minutes. On a brighter note, I met some of the most amazing people at LUMCON and I am here to tell you that snails actually taste pretty good, zydeco music is incredible, hermit crabs are amazing, and Louisiana is truly a special place. I cannot wait to return next year.
Voice of America Site B Visit
I had another amazing experience at VOA Site B today. I learned that there are several VOA sites overseas and I am starting the process of applying for grants to photograph the stations! There was also a lot of discussion today with the staff about VOA's role in broadcasting to Russia and the Ukraine. They recommended a great article they've been reading around the station: http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/appeals-from-congress-to-bbg-to-give-radio-to-ukraine-and-russia-serious-consideration-likely-to-be-ignored-by-staff/
