kristi arnold, eric conrad, and yoonmi nam
Posted on 17. Mar, 2011 by Carrie in muse
words > MATTHEW CLAGG
An artist’s body of work comes from a combination of their experiences and goals, which becomes very specific to them. At times, artists will collaborate to create work that deals with a broader range of ideas and styles new to them. Yoonmi Nam, Kristi Arnold and Eric Conrad recently completed a two-week artists’ residency in Belgium in which they created 15 collaborative images. The three artists share certain ideas in their work, and in collaboration they focused on these. “We are concerned with the idea of finding beauty in the destructive, the abnormal, the horrific, and the absurd. But it is the juxtaposition of these elements and the context in which these exist within our visual landscape, that allows us to create mysterious, psychological and dramatic narratives” , said the team.
The resulting images have distinct areas clearly attributable to each artist, but that also come together into new areas none of the three would have explored on their own. Using a variety of drawing and printmaking methods each piece is full of diverse imagery and texture. A clear sense of struggle, decay and growth is present throughout, but they often give way to an impression of transition and growth. The diversity that comes from collaboration allows for greater distinction of individual elements, which conversely creates greater drama as the gaps are bridged and each element comes together to create a
whole image.
The collaboration, particularly in such a short residency, has potential for both positive and negative outcomes. In one way the artists are giving up control over the practice with which they define a large part of their lives; on the other hand it is a chance to grow rapidly and learn many new possibilities for the making of art. “About two-thirds of the way through the residency, I began to feel as if I were loosing my identity as an artist. While this feeling was uncomfortable, it was an opportunity to redefine myself”, stated Conrad.
Taking the risk and gaining the valuable experience of collaboration worked well for these three artists, and the strength of the work that came out of the experience is telling of their ability to adapt and work together, sharing ideas and techniques as well helping each other to create something completely unique for their audience and themselves.
