SIMTV 4 - SIM Showcase
Take a look at art from 2020 as we count down into the new year. The SIM Showcase features work from current Studio for Interrelated Media students, along with SIM alumni Allie Coppola (’17) and Julian Cintron (’18). This Showcase shows that no matter what happens art can be created through anything.
Work by Kyra Stupik (@downstairsbathroom on Instagram)
Throughout the past few years I have learned more about the Mental illnesses I have, I have realized that a lot of struggles I face that I have been invalidated for were actually a part of my mental illnesses and disorders. To me, this highlighted just how damaging the stigma surrounding mental illnesses are to people who suffer from them. I thought about how much time I could have saved on feeling crazy and spent on working through my issues had people around me been aware of how my mental illnesses actually affect me as opposed to how the media and stigmas say they do. This realization was the inspiration for my pieces INTRUSIVE, 4 Fingers and a Thumb, and 2 Last Kisses. Each piece uses a number motif to represent my personal experiences with OCD and how it causes me to focus on numbers in every aspect of my life. My aim with these pieces is to shed light on the fact that OCD can manifest in far more ways than just the classic obsessed with cleanliness representation of the illness we often see in media.
Work by Nick Thompson
Lonely Fuji, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 2x3. Lonely Fuji was taken at Carlson Orchard in Harvard, MA when my family decided to go apple picking before the season was over. This photograph has an odd attraction to it, pulling the viewer towards it, into its center. It features the first apple of a planting of trees. Representative of loneliness, struggle, and perseverance, the fruit which this near-sapling bears wears itself down. The apple is alone, and seems heavy on the young tree, yet is vibrant in contrast to the more muted colors of its surrounding. This dichotomy supplies a somewhat melancholy nature to the picture.
My Fleeting, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 3x2. This picture is a long exposure self-portrait, taken during golden hour in Hull, Massachusetts. While the sky is blown out, the underside of the pier supplies a great tonal range and sense of detail. Thanks to positioning the camera on a tripod, this photo has a strong sense of geometric and directional force. Being forced to run quite a ways down in order to get in position for a self-portrait, enough time passed in the exposure that I appear semi-opaque. One can see through my torso and head, and as I look to my left – there comes across a sense of introspection. This photograph captures a representation of some internal mindsets I often have. I am not fully there, and am looking for something off-image. I am looking for something which I cannot even see nor comprehend.
Dock Boy, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 2x3. Taken as a self-portrait at near-midnight in my hometown, this photo lacks much information. The subject sits at the end of a dock, looking off into the dark waters and night sky. He is alone, and not well lit – with himself somewhat fading into the darkness. The boats in the middle ground supply a space for the photograph, showing there is more ahead, that it is not just empty. However, the lighting of the photograph prevents the viewer from looking far into the distance. The boy shares the same view as the viewer, he is in the same boat as them. This picture is representative of the lack of knowing. One generally must assume quite a bit about the surroundings of this photograph, and of the origin of the dock. It is not shown nor told.
Self Portrait In Front of Mirror #1, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 3x2. One self portrait part of a series, this picture focuses on my history as an artist. The portrait behind me is a painting done by my dad that we hang in our living room. An artist himself, his creativity and skill influenced my choices in life that eventually led me into pursuing the arts as a career. The barebones understanding of this photograph is that it conveys the influence his work and personality had on me, with his work literally making up my background. What else that is felt through this photograph is up to the viewer, and meant to be inferred.
Self Portrait In Front of Mirror #2, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 3x2. Meant to convey a sense of humor and confusing childishness, this self-portrait was taken in my bathroom as I brush my teeth in the morning. The mirrors of the medicine cabinet were manipulated to show two different angles of myself as I took the photo. This created an odd cyclops-like portrait, bordered by the actual border of the mirror on the right. Confusing and possibly uncomfortable in its perspective, this photograph conveys and interesting technical gimmick which I might carry on with taking advantage of in the future.
Hope With Hammer, 2020
Taken on a DSLR, in 2x3. This photograph features a young girl smiling while looking cross-eyed at a hammer which she holds in front of her face. This picture is meant to invoke, hopefully, a laugh from the viewer through facial expression and composition. The hammer head acts as almost a button nose for the girl, and the handle like a tongue being stretched down with her hand. The eyes staring at this object which is close infant of her meet in the center, and look idiotic. Really, this photo is meant to convey the energy and fun the subject and I had while conducting this shoot. Additionally, with the simple clothing and background, all of the attention is meant to go towards the face.