A “Digital Art Revolution” Interview with Artist Kaethe Kauffman.
Dr. Kaethe Kauffman’s artwork is featured in “Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine Art with Photoshop”. Her artwork has been exhibited all over the world. She is an associate professor at Chaminade University in Honolulu. Dr. Kauffman recently won the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation Award for her art.
This is a recent interview with Kaethe Kauffman, conducted by Scott Ligon, author of “Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine Art with Photoshop”, specifically for this blog.
Your “Range of Motion” work involves physically painting on the people in your photographs and then working on them digitally. Can you tell us about your creative process and why you’ve chosen this particular combination of techniques?
While watching people in yoga class change postures, I wondered what movement would look like if it left a mark on the body. I hired tolerant models who allowed me to place a small strip of wet paint around one joint at a time. The model moved her joint with a full range of motion and a visual image of movement resulted; that which had been invisible was rendered visible. I photographed each phase of the process in a Muybridge, pseudo-scientific approach. I wanted the basic images to be based on fact, not interpretation; they were documentation of a physical act. When I first began to digitize the photos, my purpose was to clean all dust particles. Later, I expanded my use of Photoshop as explained below.
How has digital technology influenced your creative process and suggested new possibilities for your work?
I progressed from simply cleaning the work to adjusting value and color and later to layering symbolic visual elements using Photoshop, adding a new level of meaning and compositional interest. For example, on photographs showing the range of motion of the underarm – the only joint allowing 180 degree movement – the circular images reminded me of a galaxy. Using Photoshop, I layered medieval Arabic calligraphy showing astronomical observations that were new at the time. I wanted to credit the little-honored Arabic cultural innovations in science during 700 years of the Dark Ages in Europe; without their protection of Greek and Roman science and their added discoveries (such as a logarithms and algebra), the Western countries would not have the science-based culture we enjoy today. When added to Range of Motion: Underarm, the medieval Arabic calligraphy is intriguing both as a visual composition and as a concept.
Are your finished works displayed as physical prints?
Yes.
Do you make limited editions of each print?
No. I continually re-work each piece, so that each print is unique.
Could you tell us about the philosophy or intent behind your work? What makes a project successful for you?
My intent to make an invisible world that we experience every day visible: impressions of movement on the body, as well as unusual combinations of concepts. I believe this mission is inherently important. An example is a woman who bought the print, Range of Motion: Toes. She had always felt her toes were very ugly and she was ashamed of them and hid them. Her husband tried for many years to convince her that her toes were fine. When she saw Range of Motion: Toes, she fell in love with the piece and hung it in her home to remind her that toes were beautiful, and that her toes, in particular, were just fine. She had needed to see toes from a different perspective. I believe that western culture tends to give negative and/or highly sexualized meanings to our bodies. My work provides a new perspective of the human form.
My work is successful when meaning and composition align in a truly insightful, stimulating or curious way.
Overall, my intent is to depict self-reflective contemplation practices, and encourage viewers to do the same. I like my art to show the potential for personal and spiritual growth.
I also love to show the beauty of the body that allows us a vehicle for beneficial alpha-state practices.
You also draw and paint. How do your various approaches connect and influence each other?
My work is contemplative, about the human form and about making the invisible visible. The Range of Motion images derive from Yoga. My drawings and paintings are mostly of the female figure in alpha states such as running, dancing, singing and – by far the most – meditating. I was fortunate to learn a meditation technique at age 10; I instantly loved it and have continued to practice meditation throughout my life. My art is an aid to my meditation practice: it is religious art.
You’ve studied and traveled all over the world. Was world travel a conscious goal in your life or a result of specific opportunities?
Travel was a conscious goal, a strong need to see outside the cultural blinders of American society, to live in different economical and aesthetic systems, both first world and third world: England, Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Yugoslavia (as it was then known). I also wanted to explore the meanings of both folk and classical art outside traditional American and western definitions. To further this need, I attained a BA in Asian Studies and traveled to Japan. I have lived in Hawaii for 16 years, a mostly Asian environment. I needed to live in other cultural paradigms where “busy-ness” and money do not prove individual worth, in societies that value contemplative practices, and to see the art that demonstrates these differing paradigms.
How have your travels influenced your work?
Classical figurative art in Europe influenced my love of idealizing the figure (while making it look “realistic”) skewing it to give heightened meanings of the alpha state. Also, the Mexican, Guatamalan, Japanese, European and Balkan folk traditions inform my work with a playful quality. Folk traditions also help me to think outside the box, to be more adventurous. I will never forget a small village in Bosnia in the 1960s where the people still wore Arabic dress. In the town square was an enormous cage filled with about 5 ravens that had been rescued and healed. The whole town spent many hours every day hanging out with the ravens; it drew everyone together, even the strange American teen-ager (me) traveling alone. Life was good just to be with the birds and with each other in the town square for hours every day: a community contemplative experience, both calming and a lot of fun (there was tons of laughter!). This simple experience eventually evolved into learning more about Arabic cultures and wanting to honor their contribution to world culture: Range of Motion-Underarm. Ravens also appear in many of my drawings.
You won an ELIZABETH MORSE GENIUS FOUNDATION AWARD. How did this come about?
I was in a group exhibit in New York City put on by the National Association of Women Artists. I won what they called the “Medal of Honor” which is like a first prize for the best of the show. Along with the Medal of Honor, I received The Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation Award.
For what work did you receive the award?
The piece was Range of Motion: White Back (as is shown in your book). The back is by far the most complex set of muscles: 6 muscle groups interact to create what, to me, is a staggering image of motion. The image that results form the interaction of these 6 muscle groups appears similar to wings: this image in itself creates such a strong concept - that of the winged figure found in many cultures world-wide - it would not be successful with any further images layered on top of it.
For more information on the artist: www.kaethekauffman.com
Artist Interview