Castaldo/Dettmer

"Diseases of the Eye" Brain Dettmer

As I walked through the SCAD halls at Open Studio, I discovered multiple works that I found extremely interesting. Some of those works are by a printmaking graduate student by the name of Elizabeth Castaldo, who has a SCAD portfolio online that you can view through this link. http://portfolios.scad.edu/elizabethcastaldo

She creates collages with drawing and watercolor to create very interesting and seemingly symbolic imagery. She does not have an artist statement so I don’t know what her intention is however; personally I find the work to have feminist undertones.  Looking at her work motivates me to consider incorporating drawing and other mediums within my photo collages, but perhaps at a later date.  I also really enjoy her sketchbook project and am inspired to create my own art sketchbook.  This got me thinking about artists who use the sketchbook as their work of art. I specifically remember Forest telling me about Brain Dettmer who creates sculpture/collages out of books using intricate cutting that creates a dynamic layering technique much different than a sketchbook that one would flip through.  Although extremely different in technique, the one of the things both Castaldo and Dettmer have in common with their books are that they both started with a book already in existence.  This is a technique that greatly interests me that I plan on trying out in the future.  However, as much as I love artist’s sketchbooks and the work of these two artists I do have to think about how my work would sell if I chose to make books and even if I kept working in the same manner I have been with my collages, because although making art is something enjoyable I also need to make money with it.  Thus, I would need to figure out a way to reproduce my images to make them more easily sold without an outrageous price tag because of the unique quality of the handmade object. Then again Brain Dettmer is doing more that pretty well and he does not mass produce his work but he does make a lot of them which I think is the key.