Lise Sarfati – Photographer

http://www.lisesarfati.com/01photographs/04she/

New thoughts and research

I’m becoming more interested in the theme of personal isolation.  I recently read Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” which described her decent into mental illness in terms its isolating effect akin to being inside a bell jar.

I’m now looking at the work of Cristina de Middel who self published a book “Afronauts” explores the farcical nature of a Zambian mission to send  man to Mars.  The characters wondering through the african landscape in african print astronaut outfits, cut off from their environment by the glass domes on their heads gives them an otherworldly, bathetic nature.

Here the illustrator Domitille Ortes achieves a similar feel with plastic bags, and surreal uses of tights and dolls.  The girls in her paintings carry an air of self destructive madness, as though they have given up on normality, or are attention seeking in a cry for help.

Martha Rosler

Look at the work of Martha Rosler who’s collages touch upon similar themes to my own, juxtaposing images of supermodels with images from war.

 

Suggested in a talk by Katrin Huber

David Salle

 

I’ve always been a figurative painter and have essentially been making the same painting since I was 14.

Fuck You Daily Mail!!!

Helmut Newton

I’m looking for the way figures can be shown in opulent spaces.  Helmut Newton’s nudes have a lot of narrative, but they are so iconic (as Helmut Newton’s work) that I can’t safely use them and appropriate them as my own.

Cameron Russell: Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.

Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she’s tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don’t judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16-years-old. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)

Cameron Russell has stomped the runways for Victoria’s Secret and Chanel, and has appeared in many magazines. But she is much more than just a pretty face. Full bio »

Saying that you want to be a model when you grow up is akin to saying that you want to win the Powerball when you grow up. It’s out of your control and it’s awesome — and it’s not a career path.”

Artists Talk, Soul Meat @ Lion and Lamb

Interesting conversations about different approaches to body and identity in painting.

Gerhard Richter documentary on You Tube

Rothko @ Tate Modern

I like this pallet of colours in a Rothko painting found at Tate Modern.  They are rich but still muted which creates a quiet, peaceful yet optimistic feel.  There are hints of a landscape which hint at the sublime. It is a subtle painting that takes its time working on the viewer.