Liz Albert
Respite, archival pigment print
What are your earliest memories of being artistic? As a young child, I was always drawing, playing “dress up” and make believe games with my cousins. I also played a lot with dolls – especially Barbies – posing them in different scenarios and making up stories about them. I feel that these early experiences playing were practice for being an artist.
When did art become a pursuit? From before I can remember, I was always “the artistic kid” in my family. My mother was also a strong influence since she is also an artist and recognized my artistic tendencies early on. As a teenager, I entered local art contests and had some success. This was the first time anything I made was validated beyond my family and school. I continued to take art every year in high school, building a portfolio along the way, and became focused on pursuing art and teaching in college.
Are you self-taught or formally educated in visual art? I studied art at the University of Michigan (BFA in photography) and Maryland Institute College of Art (MFA in photography)
In what other ways are you involved in the local art community? For the past six years, I’ve served as the fine arts liaison on the program committee for the Belmont Foundation of Education. My role is to review and present arts grants from Belmont public school art teachers who are pursuing funding for materials and programming for their students. It has been very rewarding – giving back to the schools and helping teachers grow their curriculum. I also participate in local shows, have given artist talks, participate in South End Open Studios and am an active member of the Photographic Resource Center and The Griffin Museum of Photography as well as the Cambridge Art Association.
Don’t Look Back, archival pigment print
What role do you think the artist plays in society? It’s a complex question but, in general, I believe an artist’s role is to hold up a magnifying glass to the culture we live in.
What medium do you currently work in and how did you choose this medium? I am a photo-based artist. Looking back, I was always interested in photography. One of my earliest photo memories was looking through family albums and super 8 home movies, as well as old newspapers, which my father kept for safekeeping in a metal file drawer in our basement. I didn’t get serious about photography until my junior year of college, when I made a series of photographs of baby dolls juxtaposed with photographs from magazines and my childhood drawings. One image in particular, of a antique doll with no clothes on and a plastic gun aimed at it’s head, juxtaposed with an image of a mother and child; survivors of a Mexican earthquake, moved me then anything I had ever made. However, it also gave me an understanding of the power of making photo-based images and was the first picture I ever made, as an adult, which won an award at a competitive juried show in my hometown.
What is your creative process? Where are you finding ideas for your art these days? At the moment, my creative process involves regularly looking for single slides on eBay, which I later scan and manipulate for my current project, “Family Fictions”. My goal is to find two slides which, when paired, are visually compelling and suggest a fictional narrative. Once I find a pairing that looks promising (working with 4×6 prints first), I create a diptych in Photoshop and print it out large (17” x 47”). Aside from eBay, my other sources for inspiration include television shows, art exhibits and Instagram. Engaging with other artists is also very important.
How do you choose your subject matter? Is there a reoccurring theme that carries throughout your work? I think in a sense that your subject matter chooses you, not the other way around. We are all drawn to certain themes in our work, whether we are aware of it or not. For me, the common themes are: family, narrative, appropriation, and juxtaposition. More specifically, what links all of my work, is my interest in exploring the psychology and subtext of the subjects and situations in my pictures.
In your opinion, what’s your best/favorite piece you’ve made? I feel that my strongest work is the project I am currently involved in. It’s hard to choose one image, but I love the one titled, “Respite”, of the young woman reclining and smoking, while the child in the frame to the right sits on a jungle gym. It expresses ambivalence about motherhood that is taboo to express in our culture.
Breakaway, archival pigment print
What is one of your artistic goals? My most immediate goal is to present my current project in either a small group or solo show. At the same time, my goal is to continue working on this project and see where it takes me.
What’s your favorite place to see art? MASS MoCA is one of my favorite places to see art – its like entering art Disney Land. Every time I go I am inspired and awed.
What living artists are you inspired by? Martha Rosler, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Gregory Crewdson and Tania Franco Klein are some of the photo-based artist who I am inspired by.
Do you own any art by other artists? I own art of my mother’s, who is a printmaker, and also one piece from Calvin Albert, a painter and sculptor, who was a relative and very active in the NY abstract expressionist scene. I never met him but am intrigued by his life and how he emerged as an artist within our family.
Do you have any shows coming up? Yes, at the moment my photographs are featured in “The Fence 2018”, which is the largest traveling outdoor photography installation in North America. By spring of this next year, it will have traveled to six cities in the US and also Calgary. It will be coming to Winchester, MA this spring so watch out for it! For more information: fence.photoville.com
See More Liz!
Website: www.lizalbert.com
Instagram: @lizalbertstudio