Interstitial

Hassan Pitt's video work, Interstitial was a seemingly simple idea provoking much more insight. It was based around the "cleansing ritual" of shaving ones face and head, but seemed to mean much more than just hygiene or beauty measures. The first thing that caught my attention was the very scientific name Pitts gave this piece. In the description, the scientific tone is echoed again. This gave it a bit of ambiguity to me because I would never have linked science and tradition or ritual. To me, ritual seems more of a spiritual word that negates the confines of practical science. However, when viewing this specific video, the scientific and spiritual aspects come together to me in a weird symbiotic bond.
The removal of foreign, non-organic objects came together with the systematic and organized movements and actions to create the scientific feel. Then, the use of dissolve and motion blur offset this practical nature with a more organic, fleeting atmosphere to portray the ritualistic and more emotional side of the actions. I think this film technique was very successful because it set me in an emotional, even physical state I can recognize, whether it be the action of memory, or sleepiness, or even induced haze.
The work as a whole gave me many things to think about, and in a way, things I haven't resolved quite yet. I don't know at all if what I get from the video was the intended message, but maybe there isn't one intended message. Overall, I was quite intrigued by the ambiguity, the patience and length, film technique, and atmosphere all working together to make me feel confused but not at the same time. Great work, to me, is work that makes me feel, so there it is.

First Friday May

I was unable to catch May's edition of First Friday and only saw the tail end of the festivities coming back into town. I did however glance over a few of the galleries that night and was very bummed that I missed this particular First Friday. I think this is because acedemia as a whole was represented so well this month which was very exciting to me. Not only the graduate students and seniors affiliated with VCU, but also an exhibition from the art department at a local high school. It was very refreshing to see the less commercial art represented on such a night. I think this really reinforced my conviction to make art at this stage in my academic career, because the end result and "payoff" was so clearly represented.
The only gallery I had time to go into was the one containing the VCU PhotoSeniors' work. I loved seeing these pieces in a gallery setting because I could view them in a way in which I couldn't get a feel for while they were hanging behind the glass in Pollack. For example, Will Connally's work was hanging in Pollack and he also gave a very insightful lecture and presentation in one of my classes recently, however, seeing his work hung professionally in a gallery allowed me to interact with on a more profound level then seeing it in a Powerpoint.

Matt Lively Opening (Red Door Gallery)

Last weekend, I attended Matt Lively's opening at the Red Door Gallery for his series of new work, "Home." I was familiar with Matt's work since last year, when he was my Surface Research teacher in Art Foundations. However, I had never seen it before in a gallery setting. His paintings were very well presented by the Red Door Gallery, which is much smaller than I expected, having never been there. You would think large-scale paintings in a small-scale space would maybe be claustrophobic, however, the presentation in my opinion was very easy to view.
It was also nice to view the work on the opening night because it gives it a friendlier atmosphere, especially because I was familiar with his previous work and style anyway. However, had it been an unknown artist, I would probably not have enjoyed the experience of a crowded gallery on opening night.
In addition to Matt's paintings, he is working on a short film, called The Windchill Factory, in which he is building a group of small glass globes surrounding houses. These constructions where also on display and pleasantly offset his paintings, (many of which feature the same style house.)
It was great to see an artist/past teacher/friend's work in a gallery setting. To me, it made the experience of going to a new gallery space much more familiar than it would have been otherwise.

Anderson Gallery Juried Undergraduate Show (Submission and Response)

I entered the Anderson Gallery's Undergraduate juried art show earlier this month. My work was not accepted. This work is above. (It is a study of Francesca Woodman's work.) Last week I went to the exhibition of the chosen pieces and was extremely impressed with what I saw. It seemed as though the Sophomore class was a bit underrepresented, but otherwise, there were masses of pieces by the Art Foundation Freshmen, Juniors and Seniors. I was very struck by the time-based pieces presented by the Art Foundation students in Time Studio classes. I don't remember honestly having ever done a project in my time class last year anywhere close the the bar these students just set. I thought they were junior or senior kinetic imaging students when I watched them, and then saw they were actually Freshmen.
I was also very impressed by the sculptures featured in the Anderson Gallery show. The one that interested me the most was the five stuffed dogs hanging from the wall in the downstairs room of the gallery. This sculpture was a bit ambiguous and definitely haunting. On the one hand, these dogs looked like cute stuffed animals you used to have as a kid. On the other hand, however, the way they were hanging made them look as though they were skinned and hung in a line. To me, this sculpture was a strong comment on the bridge between cute and disturbing, childhood and something much heavier. Also, the mere number of the dogs/skinned dogs made their darker skinned look much more deliberate and almost sociopathic. This sculpture definitely started to do something to me as the viewer.
In general, the Anderson Gallery show made a huge impression on me, because it was really the first time I got to see amazing juried work from the other media.

First Friday (April)

I attended this month's First Friday last week in Downtown Richmond. I found this month's much more enjoyable than lasts from the standpoint of the weather, first of all. However, I seemed to enjoy the art that I saw this month more as well. My favorite piece was at the Metro Gallery, where the VCU Craft and Material Studies students were showing their work. I was very taken by the work of Andrea Donnelly, which was obviously, at first, due to the massive dimensions of her hand woven tapestry. She had painted some of the cotton stitching to portray a silhouette of a woman in the huge tapestry. It was almost as though the woman, although giant, was actually sitting behind the cloth backlit. The portrayal of the human body was done amazingly, given the material. Above that, Donnelly managed to make the two dimensional woven woman have multi-dimensional feelings, which the viewer could easily grasp. I was blown away by this piece for many reasons. I didn't understand the medium, the sheer dimensions were not typical of art I usually see, and the emotion was so clear it was overpowering. I think this work should have had its own room, however, because it took over the other pieces, which may have been interesting, but I never quite got to them.
There was one other piece in the Metro Gallery which struck me because of the interesting installation. It was another Craft and Material Studies piece in a little closet nook in the back of the gallery. It was pencil sketches of a family with the daughter's face blank in every portrayal of her. It was very moving to me because of the nook which housed it. I could almost imagine the daughter locked in there sketching on the walls with coal or dirt she found. It was very dark, but very moving.
Finally, there was a photographer showing with a 360 camera, which he brought and displayed at the gallery. It was interesting to eavesdrop on his discussions with the line of viewers about the mechanics of the camera.

Artist Statement

Photography is a therapy for me. Taking pictures, for me, gives me a release from the things I don't talk about. In terms of society, I am probably an introvert. However, I strive to create very extroverted imagery for myself and for the viewer. My main goal is to create art that makes the viewer feel, whether or not the subject is obvious or not. Of course, I have my own intentions for the photographs; my own inspirations and feelings. However, I don't feel its important for the viewer to get the exact same feelings. I don't want my art to tell a story. I would rather have it allow the viewer to imagine a place the imagery puts them, and how they can relate to these places.

CV

Kathleen Jones CV

Education:
B.F.A. in Photography and Film, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA, May, 2011
• GPA: 3.67 (Includes Art Foundations)
• GPA: 4.0 (Only Photography courses)
B.S. in Small Business and Entrepreneurship, VCU, Richmond, VA, May, 2011
• GPA: 3.75 (Transfer credits)

Teaching Experience:
Teaching Assistant, Arabic Film and Culture, VCU, Richmond, VA, January 2009-present
• Tutor general film study and cultural knowledge
• Perform general TA duties (grading, emailing students, posting assignments, etc)

Group Exhibition:
2nd Place Award Recipient, ArtWorks All Media Show, Richmond, VA, February 2009
• Juried by Matt Lively