Chloe Sells

Quotes from http://www.hungertv.com/feature/chloe-sells-senescence/

"The work is informed by Sells’ travel abroad to countries previously unknown to her. Through this she explored how places are defined, experienced and whether this is continuously shifting or static."

how are places experienced? i think i will try to relate this to my 3 trips to helsinki over the last year ad my experiences of living in south london

my first trip was in the summer, it was warm and colourful and full of things to see and do. people were smiling, we went to flow music festival and to a summer cabin near a lake, took a short cruise to stockholm and visited many cafes and restaurents. it was about +26 on average for midday

my second trip was just at the start of winter, before the heavy snows, there was light snowing (which would be considered moderate or heavy in england) near the end of my trip. it was mostly grey, there were so so many things do to so i amused myself by walking to the nature-reserve area several times and visiting some bars and cafes. to be honest overall i liked the holiday even if it wasnt sunny and warm. it was between -2 and +2 on average.

my third trip was at the end of winter, just about before spring had started, there were remnants of the heavy snow, where it had been piled in the sides of carparks, but the largest piles hadnt melted yet. the holiday was more similar to my trip in the beginning of winter, but we did a few more things, and i was able to go further into the nature reserve as the path through the water wasnt iced over this time. on average it was about +8.

so what do my experinces add up to? i think in relation to this quote each time i went there i experineced something a bit different, the days were varied and there was something different or new each day, but when in the present thinking back i there there was a general overview to the experince each time, like in the summer, it all merged together into a wash of orange smiling green happyness, in the winter it was a grey dark but positive vibe, right before christmas. in the spring it was a hopeful feeling, people cycling around and traveling to activities, but still mostly inside.

so perhaps in the moment the experience is shifting, and looking back it is a static feeling, but only for a short trip, if i was to stay longer, and if i compare each trip then they are varied and shifting of course.

Now i should think of her work in the context of living in south london. i suppose i was born into adult life with a hopeful look after having some fun in college and getting some decent grades i thought yeah i can go out and get a job and support myself. but i think the economic situation at the time put an end to that, it was impossible to get anywhere near the jobs and opportunties i wanted, as they called out for higher qualifications or more experience, even the basic jobs were impossible to get, they were numerous, but the applicants were far more numerous, i didnt have a chance of standing out from the masses. so i put more energy into my part time job ad that kept me going for a while, it wasnt were i wanted to go with my life fully, but it was enjoyable and really helped me out in things. 

eventually i found an area where i found a small bit of success, which made me want to learn more, so i started my degree in photography. it was very difficult at first having had previously no eduction in photography, but a pushed through and by the end i got a good grade, and i was well engaged with photography, i still had a thirst to go further though, so i enrolled in a masters degree program. at first it wet well and from my previous education i was able to keep up with the texts and themes, though as time went on it became more and more of a struggle and i question every action and thought i have. its like somewhere along the way i lost my drive and thirst, i dont know what i want to say anymore. i have nothing to say other than regurgitating what others have already said. and the struggle of the complete lack of money if felt as i commute from south london where it is cheaper to live and i can just about afford the train fare, this stress and commuting takes all my energy away.

so what is my experince of south london, is it shifting or is it static? i think its always shifting, life feels out of control, always shifting under my feet, i think after finishing my degree i have come back to that feeling of staticness, just the same thing day after day, nothing moving or progressing. 

maybe this is what has been reflected in my work, the static greyness, the wash of familiar grey? taking pictures of flowers is taking control over a picture, to represent a colour or light or something that others cannot see, that i cannot even see until i make the picture, the clicking of the shutter and the processing of the paper is the thing that feels good, that helps me to feel i have some control over what i am doing? the flowers are the little pretty fragile things that are always there in the house, they arent static, they change with the seasons, some flowers die and are replaced in the same plant pots of the old flowers. its like ive got so lost in the world of infinite things to photograph, i needed to return to something simple, close to home to get me through the lack of control. just to forget about all outside of the simple beauty of a flower. my partner tells me time and time again i need to find a way to de-stress and not worry about the things out of my control, so maybe thats why i focus on these little pretty objects.

The works are framed unique C-Type photographic prints produced in the darkroom, using a time consuming process, involving layering photographic negatives with colours and patterns. The original negatives are photographs of different still lifes, formed by compositions of various elements including decaying organic matter and archeological objects. The influence of painting is very high in these works, not only in the use of still life and the arrangement of the elements within the work, but also in the overlay of colour and pattern in the darkroom. The work is also linked to collage, within the process itself, but also in the arrangements and framing of the work. The prints are often cut into irregular shapes and then framed; this could be viewed as a collage within the frame.

So is her work something I want to emulate? in part yes, and in part no. i have been shown her work, long time after i started making work, and there are similarities. the obsession over a time consuming process in the darkroom, the still lifes. what do i think of her collages, do i want to do this,?well it is something that could lift my work, and the way i cut the paper before i load it into the darkslides, almost invites collage after i have processed them, i think its something i need to consider when i have more frames to play with. but i love the playful nature, the hands on act of touching and altering the frames, as my photographing process is altering the way the flower is perceived by me.

could i layer a well exposed frame, underneath a blown out frame? could i take a petal from each flower to show the actual flower itself, then the flower would touch the paper, and over time change it as the petals leech chemicals in? maybeeeee, i feel i want to approach this gently, as the flowers are delicate things, i dont want to kill or detroy anything.

Quotes from http://unseenamsterdam.com/chloe-sells

Chloe Sells wants to shock her viewer "into looking at the world differently through the use of beauty" and believes 'beauty' to be an "undernourished conduit, a forgotten destination, an instrument of subversion that can alter perspective through its physical and visceral nature".

Do i want to show the world through beauty? do i want to show the world is beautiful? or do i want to show that the world was beautiful and has been distorted into something else. shit why didnt i think of that sentence before? yeah i think thats what i have wanted to say all along.

I find inspiration for my work through travel, reading, and the work of other artists. I think through my eyes and so in my waking hours I am generally engaged in some type of aesthetic conversation, whether that be with myself or another person. I live in Europe and Africa, but Asia is my favorite continent to explore. My favorite place to go is outside.

her favourite place to go is outside, outside of her home, and outside of comfort. the way she grows is by looking at other artists work and reading and seeing new things, i wont ever be inspired if i am just stuck in the same place never looking at anything new.

In my work, on the basis of aesthetics alone, I am content for people to take away an instance of beauty. However, I don't believe that beauty's power is limited to aesthetic pleasure. Despite being a bad word in the art world, I think it is an undernourished conduit, a forgotten destination, an instrument of subversion that can alter perspective through its physical and visceral nature. If I can shock my viewer into looking at the world differently through the use of beauty, I have done something right.

maybe to get my point across that the world was beautiful but now isnt, i do need to take a leaf from the flower, to destroy it, that i might need to participate in this act is quite abhorrent. but i realise the work is a myth, its not really true, there are many beautiful things and places in the world. my friends recently came back from holiday from many beautiful places, one remarked that barcelona was the most beautiful city he had ever seen. so this work i guess is just my own cynical view of my self and the situation i find myself in.
so if that is the case, who cares about that? why would my work be relateable? well i think the economic situation and the difficulty of jobs and the hopelessness of society is something that is felt by a lot of people, for example i see the doctors strikes over the nhs cuts in the news often, and i see the homeless in brighton every day i travel there, scotland wanting to leave uk, i see the drunks in helsinki with no hope, i see the drug addicts who cant break the addiction. i think its that hopelessness and distorted view that people share, their dispointment in the current climate. maybe my work and my views are a bit left-wing, im not entirely a left-wing person, but i dont much like our right wing government either, and that seems to be something people can relate to.

i suppose my views are dominated by disapointment in society and disapointment in myself, i think perhaps a lot of people are aligned with that way of thinking, even if their disapointments are not anything to do with mine.

I use the natural world throughout my imagery and create pictures that describe remnants of places that I have lived, traveled and explored. After making the pictures, I have an in-depth darkroom process that layers colors and textures to create unique pieces. I use this combination of processes to consider ideas about how we experience our environments and how we understand what is exotic or familiar.

she says about the pieces unique-ness, i dont know how important uniqueness is in my work. each one of my frames is unique, i suppose this is reminiscent of living things how everyone thing is different, everyone is unique. really it boils down to i am excited about the fact each frame is a unique object. i couldnt sell them as prints or in editions; each one is one original, of which there are no copies. i guess a different option would be to use polaroid to take pictures, why dont i do this? i suppose it boils down to interest, i had an interest in my large format camera and its use, the fun of using it. whereas i never had much interest in polaroid cameras, they arent so precise or complicated to use.

Text from http://www.foto8.com/live/chloe-sells/