The image of Shakespeare's Ophelia submerging herself in a river has inspired artists for centuries, from the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to the contemporary photo studio Staudinger Franke. Their "Barrier" series features female models resting below the water's surface in a way that evokes Hamlet's tragic love interest. While Staudinger Franke typically work in advertising, this personal project shows the sensual, subtle side of their practice.
The image of Shakespeare’s Ophelia submerging herself in a river has inspired artists for centuries, from the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to the contemporary photo studio Staudinger Franke. Their “Barrier” series features female models resting below the water’s surface in a way that evokes Hamlet’s tragic love interest. While Staudinger Franke typically work in advertising, this personal project shows the sensual, subtle side of their practice.
Lin Tianmiao is considered one of today's most notorious contemporary artists in China, especially among women who are under-represented there in her field. Her signature medium is everyday materials, particularly woven textile such as silk, which she uses to convey modern women's frustrations and identity. This has earned her the "feminist artist" label, one that she rejects. Male or female, her cryptic and ethereal works have captured the imagination for decades. Her "Focus" portrait photo series is currently on view in the "Conceal/Reveal: Making Meaning in Chinese Art" group showing at Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAM).
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Detroit-based photographer Elise Mesner humorously reminds us of this middle school health class adage with her upbeat, whimsical work. Mesner works as a fashion photographer by day while also dabbling in collage, painting, illustration, and costume design. Her experience with various media lends itself to her photo work, in which she builds highly stylized, custom props using household materials and processed foods. Through Mesner's pastel color palette and eye for geometric designs, McDonald's wrappers, bananas, and white bread become alluring art objects with many possibilities to explore.
Iranian artist Negar Farajiani uses her own self-portrait in a series of puzzles, where she distorts, hides, and reveals her physical appearance and identity. To make the puzzles, Faraijani cuts identical jigsaw pieces from dry mounted photographs. She then reassembles the pieces to create new, slightly chaotic and impractical compositions.
Using careful arrangements of mirrors, lights, and negative space, James Nizam takes analog photographs that capture his ephemeral interventions. His simple arrangements of light beams evoke the Minimalist sculptures of the 1960s, yet Nizam's work is tangible only in the form of the resulting photo. With his geometric arrangements, he alters the way his audience views architectural spaces and draws connections between photography, design, and sculpture.
