The 100 Day Project #7
After Sofia
Kansas City, Kansas, USA, 2014
The 100 Day Project, Day 7
I love abstraction, and I love color. I have looked at this image daily for years and never tire of it.
I made this photo on a girls' weekend trip to Kansas City with my long-time best friend Becki. She insisted we visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and I am so thankful she did. That visit — and the images I made that day — set me on a renewed artistic journey and helped me reconnect with photography as a medium.
At that time, I had been teaching photography for years at a wonderful arts-education nonprofit in Tucson working with underserved youth. As many art educators will tell you, it's hard to hold creative energy for your own work when you pour so much of yourself into your students. I had been feeling a bit lost as an artist, and I had recently made the decision to pause my career and go back to graduate school for a master's in art history — a mid-career reset to help me investigate what I wanted to say next with my photography.
What I love about this photo is that the original artwork — Ferment, a stunning stainless steel tree made by artist Roxy Paine — is completely unrecognizable. Through my lens it has become something new, vibrant, energetic. Something mine. View the original artwork here.
This image is part of my project Co-Authored, a collection of abstract photographs born from my discomfort with artistic appropriation — a practice made famous by artists like Andy Warhol. I embarked on pilgrimages to photograph artworks and visit some of the most inspiring museums around the world. The result is a mysterious and alluring collection that is playful and fun, yet sophisticated and elegant. Out of respect for the artists whose work inspired my own, the project is titled to ensure we share credit for the photographs I made. You can read more about my technique and the origins of Co-Authored in yesterday's post.
Because museums are largely filled with art made by men, most of the artworks I photographed were by male artists. In a feminist disruption, I titled each artwork after the partner or spouse of the artist whose work I photographed — my way of giving voice to the often unrecognized support systems that have made many male artist’s careers possible.
This image is a top seller in my line of home decor products available though Brightly Studios, my design company. It is available in cushion covers and napkins.
About the photo: Sofia
Sofia Mojadidi Paine is a design professional who specialized in the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of buildings. She shares a studio with her husband.
Artist/Artwork: Roxy Paine / Ferment, 2011
Location: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art — Kansas City, Missouri, USA
About the 100 Day Project: A global creative challenge where thousands of artists share a piece of their practice every single day for 100 days. I'm joining creatives around the world, and I'm excited to bring you along. Each day I'll be sharing one of my photos — some recent, some old, and some from my current project — along with the story behind it: where I was, who I was with, and why I love it