New and Very Different

Hi everyone:

I can't believe I haven't popped in to say hello since November!  Seeing as how it's now April, that may be a record for the longest I've been away, but I can assure you I have a pretty solid excuse.

For those of you that don't know, I ended up needing carpal tunnel surgery after a very long and difficult project at work.  And since using the computer is what caused the problem in the first place, I needed to take a break from that for a bit.  Creating new work was also not happening for a while.  But, I'm about 95% better now and actually have some new images to share.

Some of you have seen these new images on Facebook, but here is where the die-hard fans (if you're out there) get some background info on these.

First up, we have a re-worked oldie, but goodie:

After the image in my last post, I felt like it was time to experiment with some new techniques. I was digging through some old files and found this polaroid image.  It's one I've always liked and in fact, I did a large 11x14 inch c-print of this image about 15 years ago.   This 669 print seemed like the perfect candidate to experiment with, and here I ended up using wax crayons (furniture crayons to be specific) on top of the print itself.   I kinda like how it turned out...and though it's clearly a one-off, I get the feeling that executing this image may be an important step...because...


next up, we have a piece that could be a new direction for me.

The origins of this image go back quite a long time...probably 8 or 9 years.  The original photo this is derived from was actually a contact print from a pinhole negative.  I also rediscovered this image in my old files, and decided to play with it a bit...cutting it out, scanning it and then putting it through my normal process to arrive at a rice paper print.  But then something happened...the rice paper print didn't work properly, but the remnant ink it was transferred from had exactly the look I was going for.  In every other case, I've thrown those remnants away...it never even occurred to me to use them.  But, in this case, it worked quite well, and from there, I went to town with some charcoal...something I hadn't used since I was in art school close to 20 years ago!  I kind of consider this image the 3rd in a trilogy of work that extends back a long way...both of the others were mixed-media self-portraits of a sort, and I look at this piece in a similar way.  It was a fun experience and I must admit that I'm quite pleased with the results.

I have a feeling that I'll be doing more work like this in the future.  Some fun discoveries happened along the way and this is a method for me to incorporate some other things into my work in an effective way.  I like them, and I hope you do too.

And a promise...I will post again sometime next week...even if I don't have anything interesting to say.

Be well,

Marc 

Flurry of Activity

Hi everyone:

It's been quite a while…in fact, I didn't realize how long until I looked at the date of my last post.  Sorry for the long delay - lots going on and life has been preventing me from creating new work.  But, things have finally begun to calm down and today was one of my most prolific in a very, very long time.

First on the list is a brand new print.  And when I say brand new, I mean only a few hours hold.   I've been planning this one for quite some time…months actually.  It's an image I took while I was in Iceland last year, and as soon as I got the film back, I knew that it would be next in the queue for this series.   It turned into a bit of a struggle, but thankfully the image ended up looking much better dry than wet, and overall, I'm pretty pleased.

I still don't have a title for it…and honestly, I'm kinda open to suggestions on this one.  I've never done this before, but feel free to make some suggestions in the comments below.  As an added incentive, if I decide to take anyone's suggestion, that person will receive a free artist's proof of this image.  However, "if" is the operative word…I still reserve the right to come up with one on my own, but I feel like if someone ends up helping out, the least I can do is repay the favor.

Besides a new print, I also managed to do some shooting today - both plastic camera for the painterly series, and some digital images for the vintage toy series.  More to come on those soon, but sufficed to say, there's lots of new work in the pipeline.

Finally, I'll be showing at Gallery Plan B in Washington, DC again - this time for an end of year/holiday show.   Opening reception will be on December 7th, so all you local peeps, mark your calendars.  I'll post the official digital invite as soon as it's available.

So, start suggesting those titles.  One small piece of advice…I would take a look at my website at www.sirinsky.com to get a sense of how I typically title my work.  Just go into the FOTO portfolio, click on an image and roll over the "image info" tab on the lower right.

More to come soon, and in the meantime, good luck!

-Marc

Shaping Up Quite Nicely

Hi everyone:

Well, it has definitely been a while!  Nice to talk to y'all again.  In honor of how things have been lately, the blogging music today is The Chaos by the Futureheads.  Pretty much sums it all up.  But, lots to report and lots to show you.

The exhibition at Gallery Plan B went quite well…as I mentioned in my last post, there were some nice reviews and the work was very well-received overall.  The work being featured was a select group from my ongoing "Foto" (A.K.A "Painterly) series, and a couple of works sold, including one of the earliest pieces I created.  Positive feedback + sales = a very good first outing at this space.  I look forward to working with them more in the future.

In the meantime, I've been working on this vintage toy series.  It was going really smoothly for a while, but then I hit a bit of a speed bump…a play on words that I shall explain.  The issue I've run into is that most of the toys that have made for compelling imagery are vehicles.  There are a couple of images I've done outside of that which look outstanding on their own, but don't really work well with the rest of the series.  I may need to hold those out for either the next series, or show them as singles. But, a working title for the others popped into my head a few days ago, and I can't seem to shake it…which likely means it will stick.  So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the initial group of images from the "Vehicular Manslaughter" series.

There will definitely be more, but I'm feeling like this is a good start and will give y'all a feel for where things are headed.  This is my first ever all digital photo series, so the workflow is taking some getting used to.  Instant gratification is not something my work has ever lent itself to…at a minimum, it's been a both a film and digital process, but oftentimes, there is a printmaking component thrown in as well.  But, I'm still agonizing over each and every image, which in my opinion, is the way it should be.

I must admit it has been nice to not have to wait a month for a final image, but have no fear, the other processes and styles of work I've spent years cultivating aren't going anywhere.  This is just a fun little break from the norm.  It's been a blast so far, and I look forward to sharing more of it with you as it becomes available.

Summer is officially over, but the weather here is still nice and toasty.  Go enjoy the last remnants before it's all gone!

-Marc

Review...

Hi everyone:

Just wanted to drop everyone a quick note and let you know that my new show was reviewed in the Washington City Paper.  Check it out here:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/visual-arts/2013/06/21/reviewed-photography-process-and-perspective-at-gallery-plan-b/

More news and some new images in the next couple of days...stay tuned!

-Marc

News x 2

Hi everyone:

Got a couple updates to give y'all during a rare mid-week post.  First, and most importantly, I have a last-minute show coming up here in Washington, DC.  I'm pretty psyched...it's my first show in DC since moving here and I love the space and the other artists in the show.  It's a great little spot called Gallery Plan B; and Paula, David and crew are awesome.   The show is called Photography:  Process and Perspective, and as the title indicates, all of the artists in it use non-traditional photography processes to create their work.

So, those of you around the DC area on Thursday, June 20th, stop by the opening to give some love, and receive some back in the form of drinks, refreshments and undying gratitude from yours truly.  Here's the details:

If you can't make it, don't worry - the show is up for over a month and the gallery plans to carry this body of work on an ongoing basis.  So, now you Washingtonians have no excuse.

In other news, I'm still working on this vintage toy series and shot a new one over the holiday weekend. This one is a little different than the others, but when put next to them, it kinda works.  Tentative title is:  Girl With Her Blaster:

For this one, I wanted the ray gun to be prominent, since the series is about toys and all.  But, I also wanted a constructed scene that showcases playtime...but with an edge.  I'm sure that some folks might feel this was solely meant as an anti-gun statement, but in context with the other images from the group, that really does fade away quite a bit.  I can tell you that my oldest daughter Mia had a great time playing with that ray gun...she's normally not allowed to even touch the collection, much less play with it.

More to come as it happens...

-Marc




     

Still goin'!

Hi everyone:

As I sit here listening to my Futureheads channel on Pandora, I'm thinking how nice it is to share news with you on a more regular basis. Despite having a killer cold and sinus issues, I managed to add another image to my new photo series today.  It definitely took a little more experimentation and trial and error compared to the first two, but I'm pretty pleased with it.

I'm sure people thought I was nuts.  I went out to a field by my house with 2 toys - this one and my Hungarian Holdraketa Rocket.  The rocket is actually a really cool toy - it has this nifty piece of engineering that is activated when the nose of the rocket hits something.  At that moment, it has wheels that come down, pushing the rocket to a vertical position…and then a little ramp with an astronaut opens up.  But after a bunch of images with it, it became clear that object wasn't going to work.   As I'm switching to the Apollo 12 toy you see in the final image, a guy comes up to me asking for directions.  Then a guy comes by and gives me a weird look while walking his dog.  I see cars slow down near the entrance, the drivers looking over and then pulling away with mystified looks on their faces.  Move along people, nothing to see here!

The main issue with this shot was getting the perspective right.  I did a whole bunch very, very close-up…basically macro.  But, they just didn't feel right.  I had some showing sky, but those didn't have the eerie factor I was looking for.  Most of the shoot I was laying in the dirt on my stomach trying to get the light and angle exactly just so.  But soon it became clear that the way to accomplish this was to shoot slightly down on it - getting that rocky moonscape feel all around it.  The horizon line was eliminated on purpose so it gets yanked from its original context and feels like it's somewhere else.  This also allowed me to play with scale a little bit, which is quickly becoming a recurring element in this series.   From there, it was a question of composition, saturation/color, and very minor retouching.

Anyway, I hope you like it.  I have plans for more very soon, so stay tuned!

-Marc

Lots of New, Comin' Thru...

Hi everyone:

Well, so much for my stated goal of providing an update every week or two.  I guess that didn't last long.  But, I wanted to wait until I had something worthy of relaying to everyone, and, well, that time has finally come.

Blogging music today is Superchunk...a band I really only got into recently, but wow am I enjoying them.  Scored a hand-numbered 7 inch single on Record Store Day by these guys.

Anyway, I said I had news, and I do.  I've alluded to the fact on Facebook that I was on the cusp of a new photo project.  Well, things have officially begun, and I even have a couple of images to share with you.  Many of you likely saw these on Facebook and came here to find out more, and for that, I thank you.  First, some background:

As most of you know, much of my work centers around themes of childhood, memory and how we construct, contextualize and use those memories.  I've been working on these themes in one way or another for the past 13 years, and the two portfolios on my website address these issues in unique ways.  Each of those series' is a multi-layered, labor intensive process that takes a long time (sometimes months) to arrive at a final print.  And while I plan to continue developing those bodies of work, I started to yearn for a new project.  Several months ago, my iPhoneography started being represented in stock and honestly, part of me felt relieved.  I could just shoot with abandon, do my editing and send the image directly to the agency.  This is the way that most photographers work - and I know this first-hand in my career as a Photo Editor.  But, this method was completely different from the way I've always done my personal work.  Digital imaging for me has always been one of many, many steps in a very complicated process.  I needed a break, and my iPhoneography was providing that - but I decided I needed to develop a cohesive body of work above and beyond a single iPhone photograph here and there. And I knew I wanted these to be traditional photographs...iPhoneography wasn't the answer.

At the same time all of this was going on, I started rediscovering work by a lot of modernist influences - the Bauhaus, William Eggleston and contemporary screen printing to name a few.  And I realized that we all had one thing in common - the idea of "constructing" something that taps into something wider.  Up until now, my constructivism had been subtle...mostly bound up in layers and processes used to create the work.  I decided my next series would have that element right up front for the viewer.

So, a couple of weeks ago I was mulling this over and I started thinking about this vintage toy collection I've been amassing over the last few years.  It isn't a huge collection, but each piece in my mind has a very unique design aesthetic, use, or visual power that gives it an added element besides a fun toy.  And as I thought about those objects, I realized those were the key.  Those items represent something beyond themselves, and using them as a launching pad was where I was headed.

So, with that back story, here are the first two images, hot off the presses.  First off, we have what I am calling "Building Block Runway" - at least for now.

The items you see in the foreground are original blocks, designed by Kurt Naef of the Bauhaus in the 1940's.  Every side of each block has a different design, and the idea was that kids could use these to increase their fine motor skills and creativity by turning them to create different designs.  I always liked this concept, and for some reason, the idea of building a road or runway from these stuck out to me since the day I brought them home.

The second image I just shot today.  I'm calling it "Parked" (again, the title is tentative).

Who doesn't love a toy car?  I mean, really?  Exactly - everyone does! This one is obviously an oldie - a 1950's wind-up tin toy car by Marx.   I was playing with a lot of themes here: coming of age, feeling overwhelmed by your surroundings, and how an object functions very differently when separated from its normal context.  I'm pretty happy with this one...and hope you are too.

I'll keep everyone posted on how this work develops.  I'm excited about it and look forward to sharing it with you.

-Marc