Creative Process: Nudes in Nature

Nudes in Nature Lucas JamesI’m teaching a class this weekend entitled “Nudes in Nature”.  I’m out of my comfort zone with this workshop, as I really don’t shoot nudes outside.  It’s just not my thing, mostly because the subject risks becoming clichè or trite.  How many images are there of: nude on a rock, nude in front of a bush, nude on the sand, etc?  I’m guessing billions.  But I’m a firm believer that struggle leads to growth, so I’m all in for the course.

So how am I going to get around this?  Whenever I get stuck, I go at a problem from a different angle.  Forget the nudity for now and let’s focus on some concepts.  We’ll fill in subject and technique later.  Bear with me through a decidedly non-linear creative process after the jump.

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Experimentation: Plate Surfaces in the Mirage Series

Experimentation with surfaces in the Mirage series of abstract art nudes.

The Mirage series has been about re-imagining the art nude.  I love working with the human form- it can be so graceful, pliable and surprising.  But nudes can just as easily be cliché.  I didn’t want to create a literal image of the body; it’s just been so “done” in the internet era.  Which is why I find the metal reflections so appealing.  The images are traces, abstract suggestions of the human form, rather than literal translations.  The treatment of the metal has been a major component of the Mirage series.  The polishing, scratching  and distressing of the sheet are an integral part of the process and the final image.  It got me thinking about how I might bring more texture to the metal surface. (more…)

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