Me, Myself and Eye

ONLINE PRESENTATION

Me, Myself and Eye Home   //  Leslie Elsasser - Introduction   //  Selina Roman - Mind Currents   //  Michael Ball   //  TC Bryant   //  Larry Busby   //  David Canaday   //  Michael Congdon   //  Brandie Dziegiel   //  Loretta Fields   //  Jeaniel Image   //  Douglas Eric Jordan   //  Valerie Larson   //  John Leduc   //  Jason Lind   //  Mikko Maki   //  Alex Martinez   //  Matias   //  Noemys McConnell   //  Megan O’Connell   //  Robert Ortega   //  Adaina Plaza   //  Pat Randall   //  Heather Rivera   //  RaeAnne Swanson   //  Michael Webb

 

BRANDIE DZIEGIEL - US COAST GUARD

Still Life 

Still Life is inspired by feelings of vulnerability and contemplation. As someone who is always planning for the future, it’s been extremely challenging to remain optimistic about tomorrow with all the chaos happening in this world. Between the pandemic, political upheaval, racial injustice, job insecurity, climate change, etc., this year has been filled with uncertainty. It’s made me worried. Like I’m trapped in a moment of stasis. Like I have no control. The cellophane represents these fears and looming danger. The ‘self’ represents human perseverance and constraint. This image reflects the period of rumination I experienced this past summer. A period of time I spent wrestling with control, intuition, and hyper-awareness. A period of time that not only forced me to thoughtfully reflect but forced me to understand the importance of living in the moment because this moment is all that’s promised. 

I am an artist who works primarily in printmaking. It’s an incredibly intensive process so I often turn to my camera as an alternative creative outlet. I took this workshop to gain more formal knowledge about photography and expand my understanding of my own process. Going into it, I realized I have natural creative tendencies that I often revert to when taking photographs, especially when photographing myself. I wanted to push my own boundaries and go outside my comfort zone. I almost always plan for what I’m photographing or creating—I rarely create spontaneously. My work is heavily filled with narrative and symbolism which means everything has meaning and purpose. This workshop re-introduced ‘play’ into my practice by asking participants to incorporate conventional everyday items in unconventional ways into our self-portraits. Still Life is first a self-portrait I’ve taken on a whim with only readily available materials. 

There was no planning and no intention. It caught me by surprise because it totally conveys my feelings at that time, which isn’t something I thought was possible with little to no planning. Not only did I underestimate the roles of abstraction and creative spontaneity in photography, but I also underestimated the power of using only my cell phone and a simple material like cellophane. Taking this workshop has totally enhanced both my photography and printmaking processes in the way that it’s expanded my understanding of the possibilities of meaning-making. It’s not only possible to create meaningful work without intention, but that work can perhaps speak more greatly to our intuition than any amount of planning and contextualization could. 

BRANDIE DZIEGIEL
US COAST GUARD

 

 

---

 

For more information:
Email Leslie Elsasser at lelsasse@usf.edu
or Ashley Jablonski at danyele@usf.edu

Breaking Barriers 2020 is supported by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Love IV Lawrence, Hillsborough Arts Council, and the Florida Department of State.