Mountain School's Student Exhibition
Featuring work by Juniors, Ruby McHarg and Sebastian Ogle
May 10-29, 2022.
Ruby’s Artist Statement:
My interest in Airstreams began a few years back when I was shown the inside of one by my Godmother. Walking into that great silver beast immediately made me want one. Although I had not a penny, I vowed to myself that I would one day have my own Airstream. In just a few years time, when I had secured a summer job with a fair pay, I happened upon an Airstream of the perfect size and condition for the right price. With my dad’s consent and support, we drove down to Texas to pick her up. Currently, we are planning how we will renovate, and I am working hard to raise money to pay for both the renovations and the trailer itself. I have dubbed my Airstream “Possibility.”
This year, my art class was assigned a year-long project to work on. We could pick anything we wanted. Strangely, I chose photography, even though I have never been captivated by the thought of it. Sure, I’ve taken photos of my pets and pretty sunsets, but never actually taken editing seriously. Yet, I felt drawn to the idea of photographing my Airstream, and all of its vintage aspects, before it undergoes its metamorphosis. Slowly, I started to snap pictures of her, just here and there with my phone. I’m not too savvy with a real camera, and shooting with a phone was the most convenient. So, I taught myself how to take professional looking photos with my Samsung by watching YouTube tutorials, and lots of trial and error. Choosing to edit in a monochromatic style, I selected these few favorites because they show you the smallest, yet most charming details. I created this series in hopes to show you the historical beauty of something as simple as a camp trailer.
Sebastian’s Artist Statement:
I came up with the idea for this series from the AI image meshing program Google Deep Dream. I would take two images, one as a base and one as a style image, and combine them with the program. I kept doing this until I found an image output I liked. I would then take that image and do a small amount of accent tweaking with my own image editing software, GIMP and Photopea. After this step, I would print the image, and with it next to me, start drawing it. My medium of choice was oil pastels on toned paper. To create texture and remove material I used a variety of intaglio tools. I used various bits of paper and my hands to blend. Finally, to clean off the surface of each piece and mark its completion, I would brush/smack it with a brush.
The reason why I chose AI programs and image editing software to start my pieces was to expedite the ideation process. I chose to draw each image rather than just ending with a digital piece because of my conscience. It would feel like I hadn’t really done anything with my own hands, so I had to draw them. To me, it adds emotional and moral value to the process. Beyond these reasons, I can’t exactly remember why I did anything else I did. When I begin drawing, I enter a trance-like state, and blank out on everything that occurs after I finish. In all reality, why do I do anything? I’ll be figuring that out for the rest of my life.
I hope for the audience to feel discomfort, a similar feeling to looking at an uncanny person. In the end, I don’t want to tell the audience what to think, feel, or see, but experience my work in their own interpretation. I won’t be giving answers, only questions.
