I am a practicing artist as well as a teacher, which means that I try to use part of my summer holidays to create art. My work is inspired by all sorts of things, but lately I have focused on the time that I lived in Mexico City. I was lucky enough to go back there to visit friends in July, and it really got me thinking about a new series of photographs.
The thought that I focused on as I was making my newest pieces was the idea of "memories in the skin/Mexico en la Piel"... What memories stay with us forever? Make a permanent impression on our skin and in our souls?
To start, I turned to my journal from Mexico and by using old photos as well, made a series of digital collages that when printed looked like skin. It sounds a little strange, but I will post some pictures soon. If you happen to live in Ontario, you can check it out (it's called Epidermis) on display in at the Woodstock Art Gallery starting on September 29th.
How does this tie into my teaching and my student's art? I decided to give my grade 11 media arts students the same direction for their recent photoshop assignment- they were asked to think about their own memories in their skin, write their stories, and create a digital collage. Here are the results. If you would like to read their stories, click on their blogs to the right and take a look.
