Collaboration with Roanoke Arts Commission: Self Portrait Project Update
A couple of months have passed since I announced my collaboration with Roanoke Arts Commission of the Self-Portrait Project. I have gotten behind on sharing my behind-the-scenes for this project, but today is the time to get caught up!
My concept for this piece was to highlight the importance of connecting with the natural world relative to our well-being, both as individuals and in the collective, and also to capture the amazing natural beauty that is available within the city of Roanoke. I thought that my Feminine Landscape series was a relevant starting point for the project, though i expected it to be more low key given that the piece had to be made within the city and so I would not have access to the drama I typically used for this project. Location scouting was protracted, but in the end I decided on a location that is close to where I live, has personal significance to me, and represented places that anyone could find in Roanoke. That place ended up being Fishburn Park. This location is an idyllic treasure - it’s a place I can go to get lost in nature, from seeing pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers dancing in the canopy of the giant, ancient trees above, to watching snapping turtles make their way up the creek, or maybe even hiking the hillsides with pack on, training with a friend for a pretty brutal section hike on the Appalachian Trail.
An initial test shoot in the morning earlier in the spring green-up wasn’t quite what I wanted, and so I ended up returning a few weeks later, this time in the evening, to get the soft light I love and also get more intense greens in the surrounding forest. I changed my wardrobe up a bit, too. Sam shot some BTS videos which you can see below, and I’ve placed some outtakes here from both shoots. I’m currently working on printing and framing the final image, shown at the bottom, for delivery to Roanoke Arts Commission on June 21. I ended up titling my work “Arcadian…” based on the following definition:
Arcadia is a mountainous, landlocked region of Greece. The Roman poet Virgil recognized that Arcadia's isolation and bucolic character make it a perfect setting for pastoral poetry, and over the centuries many other writers have agreed. In the poems of Arcadia, naive and ideal innocence is often unaffected by the passions of the larger world. Shepherds play their pipes and sigh with longing for flirtatious nymphs; shepherdesses sing to their flocks; and goat-footed nature gods cavort in the fields and woods. Now English speakers often use arcadia to designate a place of rustic innocence and simple, quiet pleasure. Arcadian can mean "idyllically pastoral" or "idyllically innocent, simple, or untroubled."
This was a fun project, and I am completely on board with the significant efforts underway to strengthen the connection between Roanoke artists and their city. Bravo to RAC for this program - its exciting to think about what might be next!
