New sculpture faculty in VCU.
http://www.esterpartegas.com/
I was eager to meet with her after looking at her web site and seeing how our work relates. Ester has lived in the city of New York for the past 14 years after she moved from Barcelona. The visit became more of a discussion of her work as I kept asking her questions.
We talked about her life size mat board models, in relation to Thomas Demand's work and how they differ. Ester disagreed about the word "model" as they are spatial experiences. Instead of legendary media events in Germany, her structures are of the everyday spaces that one encounters. The spaces re-constructed, just like the ones in my photographs, are meant to mediate experience in such a way to minimize personal interpretation and the notion of place.
Another strong topic in her work is the aesthetics of waste and every day consumerism.
As she has moved in Richmond 2 months before the meeting, her initial drive was to photograph real spaces in order to make sense of them. Ester feels as a foreigner, in her words, as she moved from NYC to America. And she also is Spanish. She was really interested in my work from her standpoint, seeing images of the real waste facilities and mid sized American cities, and did not question or critique it much.
I wanted to have her on my committee but she declined. She has been in the university of 3 months now and this responsibility might be overwhelming. However, Ester insisted on having another studio visit next semester. I'll not miss it.
To From From at Across to in From. The Centerless Feeling, 2001
Black House 2003
Fixed and Hazardous Objects, 2010
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