My work
In this piece I talk a bit about some of my work and the thought process that has inspired it.
What it’s Like to be “Beautiful”
What it’s Like to be “Beautiful” comments on modern day beauty expectations placed upon women. In today's society women are constantly being judged and compared to models on social media, television, and magazines. In order to be considered beautiful and sexy in today’s society women must lather their faces in makeup and walk all day in painfully high heels. In this film you can see a figure as she attempts to see herself as beautiful while being trapped inside this everlasting white sheet. The sheet is meant to be a representation of how trapped women feel trying to live up to these unrealistic standards set by our society.
Installation View
Detail
Life in Ruins
Life in Ruins acts as a metaphor for one's subconscious with distorted imagery that references the style of an old home video. This piece is meant to represent the feeling that everything is crumbling around one’s self. Memory is deeply connected to this idea as it stems from hardships one may have experienced in the past. This home video style of editing allows the audience to further make this connection. The lone figure amongst the distorted castle ruins is shown wearing modern day clothing. Both the distortion of the image and the modern clothing help pull the viewer back into reality, which is what allows them to view the film as a look into the figures mind. Not only does this work discuss the idea of one’s internal struggle, but it also references the idea of feeling trapped in this mindset that the universe is against you. Overall the piece talks about ideas of memory, loneliness, and feeling trapped.
Installation View
Detail
The Battle Within
The Battle Within illustrates the cycle of internal struggles that I, and so many others, have endured over the course of our lives. This piece is meant to show the never ending struggles beneath the surface of every human being. Through the use of stop motion photography, I was able to portray an everlasting internal struggle in a physical form. As the film plays, it is clear to see that no matter how many times I fight to stay out from under the cloud above, it engulfs me once again. This looping struggle is meant to represent the fact that no matter how many things one may overcome in their lifetime, there will always be a hardship to follow. Life is an everlasting rollercoaster and we as humans are forced to overcome internal struggles one after another as long as we shall live. The overall goal of this work is to show that every human is meant to face an endless amount of obstacles in their life and no one person endures more than the next.
Video
Installation View
Beauty in the Body
Beauty in the Body depicts beauty style photography with the inclusion of a faceless model. The purpose of covering The face is to allow the viewer to simply observe the beautiful feature in the body alone. This genre of photography often highlights the beautiful features of the face, however, here I was trying to bring a new perspective to beauty photography by showing the body as its own beautiful entity.
Figure in the Wind
Figure in the Wind is a piece that uses many broad forms of spiritual references, such as the white sheet, the stance of the figure, and the heavenly sky background. All of these elements will have different meanings to different religions. For instance, in the jewish religion, the white sheet is what clothes the deceased as they are laid to rest, while in christianity the white sheet could reference the virgin Mary holding baby jesus. This is also true when paying attention to the figure's stance. In some moments it seems to reference Jesus on the cross, while in others the arms are crossed over the figure's chest, similar to how one would be laid to rest after death. Overall, this piece is meant to be vague, allowing the audience to interpret its spiritual meanings in their own way.
Fire and Ice
In this film I aimed to translate the words of Robert Frost into video format. I chose to use different found footage to create a disorienting visual to juxtapose the idea of fire and ice. Throughout this film I used overlays disrupt the visuals and force the viewer to focus on many things at once. This includes the meaning of the words of Frost's poem, as I also decided to interpret them both literally and figuratively. This is why I decided to add people as well. In doing this I am relating the words of the poem into real life situations.
The Magic Shoes
In this film my goal was to recreate a lost film. The lost film I chose to use was an Australian rendition of Cinderella called The Magic Shoes. I chose to use footage from many different Cinderella movies going all the way back to the 1950s. I decided to only include scenes in which the shoe is the main focus instead of the princess herself. I did this to emphasis the importance of the shoe to the overall story.
I Am a Human Being
Many TV and movies dramas today that are most popular amongst teens exhibit a large amount of violence. This genre is meant to be relatable and realistic; however, many of the gory scenes shown are not necessarily things that younger people should be exposed to. When watching these dramas most people find that scenes like this make the plot more entertaining. I personally find society's fascination with violence to be quite interesting. In this piece I used found footage from popular film and TV dramas and chose to only use scenes exhibiting violence in order to emphasize their impact on younger minds.
Who’s There?
My goal was to create a piece that would keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. I chose to have the main character, who was in the entirety of the film, not show her face until the very end. In editing I used many black screens to make the viewer question what was coming next. At the end, when she finally opens the shed, we hear a loud gasp as the screen fades to black. The whole film builds up to this moment, yet the viewer never gets to see what was in this shed. I did this to not only build suspense during the piece, but also after. My goal was to have an ending where the viewer themselves is left to imagine what or who could have been there.
The Anti-Semitic America
This short documentary is a piece I made shortly after a man walked into synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA and shot eleven people to death. I wanted to bring to light all the anti-semitic attacks that were currently happening all over the country at the time. One type of hate that often gets overlooked is anti-semitism. America is a country that was built upon the idea of acceptance. However, in recent years hate against minorities has been rising. We as a country often try to ignore this factor, but in doing so it adds to this rapid growth of hateful acts. Many anti-semitic attacks have consist of vandalism of temples and jewish learning centers, but recently attacks have taken a more violent turn and not much is being done to stop it. I decided to include mine and other members of my family’s perspective in order to show the viewer that I am an insider looking to inspire others to speak out against anti-semitism.