It’s hard to believe this semester is almost over and I’m approaching my 4th residency. Exciting that 2008 is almost over it’s been a lot of ups and downs this year and I’m looking forward to a new year. While I am excited about the direction my work has taken I feel a sense of anxiety at the same time. I look forward to having more opinions about the work and seeing where it can go next for the thesis. This week I am immersing myself in the studio and Critical Theory reading. While I was home for the holidays I was able to make two trips into Manhattan to see some shows. Of course I made an extensive list of work to see and didn’t get to everything but there is always after the residency. I was able to visit the International Center for Photography, the Guggenheim, The Whitney, The Museum of Art and Design and the The Frick which I had not been to. I was excited to see the Frick more for the space it’s intriguing to me this space which used to be a home and is now a museum. Similar to the Isabella Stewart Gardner these homes are so ornate. I want to revisit my artist statement and review my thesis outline more.

Busy since my last post. I saw Sally Mann lecture at the MFA which was great. When I had time off from work I was able to get handle on some other writings and do a ton of interviewing and photographing of more homes and objects. Looking forward to spending more time in the studio printing. Last week I saw Henry Horenstein lecture at the PRC about his new book Animalia. I wasn't able to make it to First Friday this week but I hope to get to those galleries soon. I did however, get to the last day of the William Christenberry show at Massart I had enjoyed his lecture this fall and was very happy to see his work in person. I also went to the DeCordova with some friends the Drawn to Detail show is unbelievable I would not have the patience to create those drawings. Alison had work in the Zea Mays Printmaking show so that was nice to see. Now I just need to work on studio work and critical theory reading to get ready for the residency.

I am excited about my new series of work on home and I am looking forward to the residency and getting some more feedback. The interviews have been so interesting and rewarding I love talking with people about this topic.

Changed up my flickr links, I have new images now under home series. I find myself going back and forth excited about my new work and yet stressed all at the same time because I feel like I'm finally choosing a more solid direction. My meeting with Shellburne last week was great she feels I'm headed in a solid direction with the series I have been creating. I need to make a few more prints of the bed and table series to see how those will work and if they will be as successful as the lamps. I want to broaden my interviewing to younger, older, different race and backgrounds. I am in the process of talking with people about that and I hope to do some shooting over the thanksgiving break. I'm looking forward to the next residency.

Work and school continue to be busy. I met with Shellburne again 2 weeks ago and it was a much needed meeting I had been feeling lost in my work and unsure if it was headed in the right direction. I started interviewing people (friends to start) about home. Asking them to define home and then pick 3-4 objects that created home for them. The interviewing alone brought about interesting conversations and brought my thinking around home to another level. I placed the images of objects in a series with a quote from the interview see image above. Shellburne really liked the work as well as the series I have been working on photographing other objects that are in other people's homes such as beds, kitchen tables, and lamps.
Since then I was able to go home to my parents house and interview my parents and photograph my childhood homes again with a new direction in mind. I look forward to getting in the studio to print the work as well as interviewing other people.
I have been to a couple lectures Tara Donovan at the ICA (10/14), William Christenberry (10/20), and tonight I saw David Hilliard (10/21) which I really enjoyed. I have always admired his work and it seems pertinent again as I begin re investigating series in my work.

I have been shooting and trying to organize more of my thoughts around home. I have been interviewing friends asking them what home means for them and what 4 objects they would pick that represent home for them. Then I have been photographing the objects. Working on how the images can work together does there need to be text from the interviews? or does this exercise just further inform my work and project. I am also still interested in the lamps that I have been shooting in my family homes and mine. Wondering how I can push that idea can there be series of images done of objects that bring about comfort in the home such as tables, beds, couches, etc? It has been interesting talking with friends with specific questions to be answered about home. Gets me thinking more about my own ideas of home which I still struggle with but I feel this exercise gets me out of my head a little. I am excited about where it could go and love that my mentor has been challenging me conceptually as well as with the installation of the work.
Yesterday I went the the Isabella Stewart Gardner to see the Luisa Rabbia show Travels with Isabella, Travel Scrapbooks 1883/2008 I loved the use of photographs turned into a video with drawings and music added to the work. The combination of the two media was beautiful. I am working on putting lectures into my calender and trying to find a weekend for a museum/gallery visit to NYC.
This week I am trying to get my paper organized and written. I also need to make some changes to my critical theory paper but after being at the Gardner I am making a new round of connections between home and the museum. Since that was her home and it is now a museum.

It's that crazy time of the year however, I feel much better about the balance I have this year than last year. While things are hectic I feel more comfortable balancing grad school with full time teaching. Last week classes started and I was away with middle school students for 3 days and 2 nights. Now it's back to a full week of teaching.
Went to the library last weekend and took out a bunch of books. Shellburne and I met on August 28th. I had made some images of my old and new apartment empty and full, the images aren't really working but are getting me to the next level...I hope. (should be on flickr soon) We also spoke about images of zoomed in lamps from my different homes I'm excited about them and they seem to be more successful. While I still seem to have a lot of questions I'm feeling good about where the work can go. Shellburne and I discussed me interviewing people about what they think of home and choosing objects within their living space that create that sense of home for them. I'm excited about this project. A discussion of installation was helpful to, as I feel the installation of the work is important. Some of the questions I still have milling around in my head are:
Why do I photograph home?
Now where do I go? What is my intention?
Collection, home, place, and space are words that seem to fill my brain.
I need to spend some more time with my thoughts and really work on more thoroughly answering more of my questions.

Back to reality...I am settling back in after my family vacation to South Africa. The two week trip was amazing and now I find myself readjusting back just before I start work again. Leaving the country was exactly what I needed due to the many changes that have been happening in my personal life in the past month. Now with some perspective I feel somewhat renewed and ready to get back to work. I shot a lot before leaving on my trip and now it's time to get into the studio and do some printing before my mentor meeting this week. I am also working away on my Critical Theory paper. Being in South Africa and seeing townships was an eyeopening experience and also pertinent to my current thoughts around home. While I still feel uncertain about some of my ideas I hope to have clarity soon from printing more of what I have shot. It's going to be a busy week since I will be transitioning back into work but I'm ready for the challenge.