domingo, 31 de julio de 2016

Michael Reedy


















"Jason recently tagged me in a new challenge – “share one or more photographs of one or more of your personal studios from the past or present, and tell the story of that space. Then nominate five others to do the same.”

Sadly, I have not been one to document the various spaces I have worked in, maybe because they have never seemed that photogenic. However, I did stumble across the image below a short while back – and while it clearly features the 24 yr. old me (also not that photogenic – I swear, I AM smiling on the inside, ha!) – it seemed to fit the spirit of the challenge!

This is an image of me in my studio at Northern Illinois University. It was one of four spaces I worked out of in the eight years I was there (3 as a Graduate Students – and another 5 as a Visiting Assistant Professor). I remember being quite lost at the time – and looking back, I can confirm I was even more lost than I realized then. It was my second semester in grad school and I never knew what to make. What is fascinating about this picture is that I was still listening to cassette tapes (and it was 1998 – so there was no excuse for this fact), and I was still painting in acrylics. I no longer hang work on the walls of my studio like this. I normally box everything once they are done. However, I might have to reconsider that practice moving forward…"

Rebecca Hastings


The Australian artist uses herself and her children as the focal subjects in her oil paintings – yet noticeably absent from these portraits is the sentimentality one would expect an artist-mother to insert into her depictions of family life. Instead, Hastings subverts these idealized expectations to reveal the more complex realities of child rearing that is rarely touched upon in glossy advertisements or family portraits