Camilla Robyn

Final LP Reflection

As a first year Photography Major in Parsons, I have come to learn that photography is not the only medium that interests me afterall. My work had mainly always consisted of capturing moments through a lens that were presented to me by nature and society. Today I can say that i enjoy creating a space that i will be able to photograph specifically to enhance the piece. I have come to the conclusion that photography doesnt only function to capture moments, but that it has the power to change the perspective of the moment or “thing” being photographed. Sadly throughout my work this year i was not very fond of using photography to create and express what i wanted to in my work. I found myself being very close to sculpture. As i look back at my work from this year there is a theme that i thought was very outstanding and that also happened to relate to the topic for my final research paper. This theme was the idea of repetition in collection. My two major classes that influenced my work this semester was Space and Materiality, as well as Integrative Seminar. Both classes aided me in 1. finding topics for my art, and 2. showing me a way to create tangible pieces that would allow me to translate my ideas into art. The work that i essentially created was shown in my Integrative Studio 2 class. The idea of repetition was mainly used in the sense that the labor i was putting into making a piece was manually repetitive as well as the look of it when i was done. My first highlight this year was a mold of my hand that I created in my Space & Materiality class. This mold of my hand was essentially the breakthrough piece that led me to appreciating sculpture, and the how the repetitiveness of items in a piece enhanced it in my eyes. This mold consisted of my hand, which i ended up using as a base to the many molds of my fingers that i ended up attaching to it. Second was my Final Research Paper in Integrative Studio. This class really led me to thinking of my own life and habits, in order to write something about myself through a research paper. What i most appreciated about this is that i learned abut something that was close to my life in a factual and scientific way. It allowed me to dissect aspects of my life that i had neglected, or had been ashamed of, (compulsive repetition) and bring to light another way of expressing them, espcially through my art pieces. What i learned about myself is that this repetition i used throughout this semester to write about and create my work, led me to realizing that the manner in which i create is almost a meditation for me. This work of repetition helps me feel calm and at eaze and also appeals to my eye. In the future i believe that this style of working will be very prominent in my art and that i will use my knowledge and findings from this year to aid me in my creations for the next few years.