The Sky Is An Abstract Wall

 

This project was a challenge to not use human or natural forms and still find personal interest in each photograph. The end result was that these images taught me to “see” differently.

A small town, rural Minnesota girl, I have always disliked big cities and have never wanted to live in town or take architectural photographs. The idea of creating viable work despite my personal preference struck me as a good discipline within my medium. Could I take urban, industrial, or architectural photographs that still held beauty or interest to me?

I could. These photos of solid, man-made structures hold my attention and interest. On one hand, the shadows, the concept of windows as eyes into these structures, the oddities and the differences in every image, intrigue me. The questioning of “what are these buildings to me” or what they represent, all retain my eyes and imagination.

On the other hand, my brain learned to process differently while viewing these images. I can now see them as shapes, as lines, as forms, positive and negative. The angles become flat objects, the space becomes abstract and the ideas do not necessarily matter. It is merely a composition of wonderful, shapes installed in the space around us.

These photographs show a variety of structures and places, without context and excess objects. What is literally there, is visually obvious. The content beyond that, though intentional, is not more important than the simplest forms.

Shaina Sieh

Joy. Peace. Contentment.

               For this project, I challenged myself to capture that which cannot be expressed in words or often explained in life, to depict the feeling of “joy”. The moments when we experience joy, peace, or contentment are few and far between, but can be pivotal points in our personal journeys. This project is intended to share this moment, to hold on to the feeling of joyous delight, to remind us that those times do exist, but also to see if it can be honestly and visually recreated.

                Through use of light, composition, color and content, I challenged myself to show joy, peace, and contentment in these photos. I purposefully included in each photo a specific element of motion or natural movement. There is a child-like quality to the figure and the figures actions contrasting with the woman performing them. Adults often forget how have joy, how to jump, how to relax, and how to dance. The setting has personal connotations since growing up in a rural Minnesota county, nature, bare feet in the grass, and trees possess a great source of peace and joy for me. The only photo differing is the last, the dress in the bathtub, which speaks as a farewell or conclusion in this sequence, its purpose of calm and joy, I leave up to the viewers interpretation.

Shaina Sieh

10-24-2011

Shadow Project for "domesticity" the Foster Gallery

 The Foster Gallery entrance...

 ...for the opening of 'domesticity' show...

For the domesticity show, students in Art 481 worked in groups to create these shadow projects. This was a challenge in finding the right materials (blinds that fit!), how to hang the blinds as unobtrusively as possible and to create as crisp of lettering as possible. Working in groups really made these projects come together, in that they required a different thinking pattern than with lighting for photos. Talking this project through made it come together, rather successfully.