CHEESE,
not stinky
With the arrival of February, I find myself restless and ready to move on. My family is on the cusp of big changes, and I am finding it hard to do more than hold my breath and wait. The problem with that is that the changes aren’t going to happen in any real way for two years. I can’t hold my breath for two years–literally or figuratively. I like aged cheese, but two year in my fridge would not be a good thing, really.
This month’s artist shows both gratitude for “right now” as well as hope for the future. Her work explores the both comfort and the claustrophobia associated with staying where you are–without denying the need to go.
ArtAndArtDeadlines.com is proud to claim Emilyann Gachko as this month’s Featured Artist. This work calls attention to self-expression through your personal landscape. It can’t be all cheddar for everyone all the time, folks. To be fair, there’s also mozzarella and brie and Stilton and...
Emily Gachko was raised in Cranford, New Jersey–where all the shooting for her current project has taken place. Gachko majored in Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography at Ramapo College of NJ –winnging Best in Show with her Senior Thesis Exhibition. She aspires to get her MFA in Photography and teach photography at the collegiate level. Gachko currently lives in Spring Lake, New Jersey, where she has a variety of jobs teaching kids and and working with horses.
Talk to me about your process when searching for subjects. Are the models friends, peers or acquaintances? “So, I got the idea for the project living at home with parents, which quite frankly, I was not thrilled about. I wanted to make lemonade out of the lemons that was living situation, so to speak. That’s how I landed on the idea. I started out with friends, and then friends of friends, and then eventually I would go to bars with said friends, and they would point people out to me that they vaguely knew and thought might live at home with their parents. And I would approach them, and explain the project, and ask if I come home to their house and photograph them. Despite being a total stranger to most of these people, only one person ever said no!”
Talk to me about the portraiture aspect of your work. “I wanted the people in the image to be very matter of fact, in that they didn’t give you any kind of overt emotion to go off or decide the tone of the photograph by say, their expressions. But in a way, the sitters are still the most important part of the photograph, in that they designed the space that envelops them. I wanted people to look at each photo and really get a feel for that person, of their individuality. The whole photograph makes up the portrait, not just the sitter, but the sitter is who assigns the most important part of the photograph’s identity.”
Finding the balance between people & their self-imposed habitats or between gratitude & anxiety creates a beautiful tension in your work. Was that your intention? Thank you! Yes, I definitely sough to portray the tension between the individuals and the rooms themselves, mostly in that a lot of the environments have things that are clearly left over from childhood, and all of the sitters are young adults.”
What style or school of art do you think work fits into? “I would say environmental portraiture. Even after this project, this is a style of art that I’m very much interested. The way that people both interact with and are informed by their environments. I really fascinates me.”
Talk to me about the two artists (one living, one dead) that have most influenced your work and why. “Photographer William Eggleston is one of my favorites, and a huge inspiration, in the way that he so elegantly captures every day life. Dead? Joseph Cornell. He was one of the first artists I really loved, and he way he works with color, objects, and space within his shadow boxes is really beautiful.”
What is your favorite food addiction? It IS a food-themed blog after all. “Can I say pizza, even though that is super basic? I don’t care, my answer is definitely pizza, haha!” Pizza is always the right answer. Always.
What if your favorite snack food obsession? “Cheese and crackers, so not too far off from pizza, haha. Or Phish Food Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, depending on my mood.”
What’s coming up next for you? “I’m hoping to start work on another project that’s also sort of about suburban living, but I don’t really have the details hashed out yet so I don’t want to say too much about it until the idea comes into fruition! Other than that, I’d like to experiment with some collage and mixed media work. I took a class on it in college and it was my favorite one.”
Thank you, Emilyann, for reminding us
to appreciate where we are RIGHT NOW.
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