TPP Q+A: Brea Souders

Excitement is now; we have Brea Souders in TPP’s online house today for an interview, and it’s a good one. Ms. Souders is awfully thoughtful and clever, and her work speaks for itself. But we’ll speak with her anyway. Enjoy!

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Brea! it’s been quite a while since we formally checked in, so this is a treat. The last time we chatted, it was about Ms. Scarlett Johansson; tell me what you’ve been up to recently.

Let’s see, I’d say the most significant development regarding my work is that I’ve moved from a small apartment with few windows in Chelsea to a space 3 times as large and bright in Brooklyn. I knew that I’d appreciate having studio space, but I didn’t expect it to change the direction of my work as much as it has. I used to shoot primarily outdoors and directly “from life” and I now I don’t ever want to peel myself away from the studio. Also, gone are the sorry days of having to schlep my new prints to the brightly-lit local diner for inspection.

Another development is that I recently invested in my first high-quality digital camera. This came after years of severe protesting on behalf of film and I have to say I will never again resist technology just because it is technology. It’s freed up my creative process tremendously. It suits me very well.

I like how you seem to have several personal project rolling at once- Islands & Streams, Constellation, Sealeaf/Psychoflower; how did you get started on these? Are they longterm projects? What do you hope each will become?

Islands & Streams is inspired by the desire to examine, understand, and interact with others. For the past several months, I’ve been reading the dream journals of well-known figures, and then creating specific parts of their dreams in my studio. Many elements in the photographs aren’t specified in the original dream description and need to be improvised – the color of a wall, placement of an object, or expression in one’s face. There are times when I’m frustrated by the passiveness of reading a novel or listening to a beautiful song.

It can be difficult not to interact directly with something that I love, admire or find interesting. In this way, the act of creating these images has helped to satisfy some of that desire for interaction. Also, I’m paying special attention to currents that run throughout the various dreams. For instance, I’m drawn to the way that the black shawl in Untitled #7 (a dream by the Marquis de Sade) seems to reappear in another form in Untitled #9 (a dream by Victorian-era Sexologist, Havelock Ellis).

Untitled #7

Untitled #9

Untitled #2

Untitled #3

The small connections among people are comforting to me, as are the differences. As I create these images, I’m learning about myself as well as the dreamers. I hope that viewers of the work will ask some new questions, and maybe find some answers too.

Constellation came out of my feelings about turning 30 and a recent crisis in my family. I’ve always been drawn to and comforted by objects, beginning when I was very small. Many objects have become inseparable in my mind from various life-events, and recently I had become overly sentimental in this regard. I don’t like to look back. So I began to round up these objects and focus primarily on their physical nature -what the object actually is, what it is made of, what it can physically do. And I have been looking to see if the object can physically express the meaning it encapsulates for me in a photograph. It’s about bringing these objects into current time and trying to look at them in more simple terms. There are many more images to be made, but eventually I think I’d like to incorporate these photographs into a book.

Florida Orange (trying not to think about someone)

My Foot at Age 3 (an early attempt to preserve a memory)

Rubberband (reminder to be flexible)

Sealeaf/Psychoflower is a project that I worked on during a one-month residency at the Camera Club of New York. This was an agonizing exercise in black and white printing. It had been years since I had stepped into a darkroom and I’ve never been very good at printing to begin with. These images were improvised using materials that I happened to have on hand in my studio: spray paint, plastic flowers, dried plants, glitter, etc. The relaxed nature of the project was refreshing – I should really do more things like this. In many ways, it felt like a return to my very first experiences with photography. I made many more negatives at this time but haven’t printed them. Hopefully I’ll have access to a darkroom again soon.

Black Sealeaf

Psychoflower studies

Are you currently doing editorial/commercial work? What sorts of projects have you been working on, if so?

I’ve been collaborating with a video artist, Julia Oldham, to create multi-media educational videos that describe various physics projects going on over at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. While it may be a bit nerdy, I’ve really enjoyed working out ways to describe some difficult scientific concepts in visual terms. Sometimes this makes my brain feel sore. But, no pain no gain!

Also, I’m excited to have recently signed on with Daniel O’Gorman Visual Research in Dublin. He’s working with some other artists that I really admire like Sam Falls, Orrie King and Skye Parrott, and I’m very happy to be working with him as well. Hopefully this will lead to some interesting licensing opportunities for pre-existing work.

Tell me the story behind Yellow Paint Samples (creating light post-breakup). I’m not sure if I love the picture or the title better, but the two of them together blow my mind.

Yellow Paint Samples (creating light post-breakup)

A week after graduating from college, I broke up with my boyfriend of nearly six years. It felt like everything that I had known in my adult life was collapsing, and the horizon was looking dark. At some point after many weeks of wallowing, I decided that yellow paint was going to save me. My favorite room, the kitchen, HAD to be yellow. I drove over to Home Depot and there they were: rows and rows of glowing yellow paint samples all nestled into their containers. I was instantly saved. They say if you force yourself to smile, you’ll soon stop frowning. With the help of some yellow paint, it definitely worked.

What’s something visual that is blowing Your mind?

Youssef Nabil’s hand-painted photographs, especially his self-portraits.

Also, Flip the Frog animations from the 1930’s. Pure joy.

What’s next for you in 2010/11?

This week, April 14 – 19, my work will be shown in the Hous Projects Gallery booth at Zona Maco, an art fair in Mexico City. In May, I’ll be exhibiting a photograph as part of the collaborative exhibition Graphic Interesections at Umbrage Gallery, Brooklyn. The Exposure Project curated this show, and it’s going to be good! Also, I’m looking forward to taking part in an exhibition curated by Daniel O’Gorman for the PhotoIreland Festival in Dublin taking place in July.

I’m going to keep working on Islands & Streams and Constellation until they feel finished. This should take some time.

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Thanks, Brea! See more Brea Souders, here.