Flirt Show Opening at the Sweatshop

For the last two years I've been creating all of my larger artworks in a community studio with 6 other artists out in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.  Last summer, we got our stuff together and made a gallery out of this extra storage space we had and started showing work.  For the month of June a fellow artist friend and former grad colleague and I put together a show of recent work we entitled Flirt.

Shawn Beeks

My friend, Shawn Beeks, created beautiful, delicately rendered watercolor and pencil paintings of a series of possible imagined cosmetic surgeries.  The first, pictured here, is his version of what permanently upwards tilting breasts would look like.

Natural, by Shawn Beeks

Self-Medicated Relief, by Shawn Beeks

Long-Term Upper Fullness, by Shawn Beeks

Cleavage Gap, by Shawn Beeks

Hyper Medial Cleavage, by Shawn Beeks

My latest work was inspired by research I did about Victorian sexual mores.  I found out that Freud had come up with seven deviant sexual species during the Victorian era - the prostitute, the primitive, the homosexual, the child masturbator, the hysteric, the nymphomaniac, and the pervert.  I chose to reinterpret 4 of the 7 sexual species through the use of chairs.

The Primitive, by Melissa Nannen

faux fur, fabric, tree branches and found chair

Child Masturbator - Cookie Monster Model, by Melissa Nannen

A note about this piece.  I found out that during the Victorian era, parents were very concerned about their children fondling themselves innocently because they thought it would lead to vice, so they would have repeat offenders wear these rather uncomfortable chastity belts, pictured below.

The Cure for Syphilis, the Virgin Prostitute by Melissa Nannen

It also was apparently encouraged for wealthier men to seek satisfaction for their sexual desires outside of the home and leave sex with their wives for the purpose of procreation only.  So, it wasn't uncommon for Victorian men to seek prostitutes which of course, led to a widespread syphilis epidemic.  It was thought one could be cured of syphilis by sleeping with a virgin prostitute, which is one of the reasons why there were so many young, teenage prostitutes.  Gross.

Lie Down Dear, You're Feeling Hysterical by Melissa Nannen

mobile of hunky people for they hysteric to focus on

Sadly, this is a piece not well translated into photography.  Inside the chair was a massage pad, so the viewer could remove their shoes, place on the provided flip-flops, lay down and relax to a vibrating massage while gazing at the hunk of their choice.

the pregnant artist enjoys her own massage chaise lounge

Shawn Beeks and other friends at the opening

hanging out in the hallway by the food...

Well, the show is over and down and the pictures are finally up...oops.  I think I was supposed to do that in a different order.

A lot can happen in 6 months....

So I know I took a long break from blogging and I told you some of the reasons.  The one I was holding back should be evident from the picture below.  I'm pregnant!  

So, I've understandably been a little absent.  The first trimester combined with teaching a new Sculpture studio class as well as my Art Appreciation class at my college made for a pretty tired and unproductive Melissa in her etsy shops.  I'm now 20 weeks and only working for the shops, so that means more blogging and more making!
  In any case, it's a girl and she's due on Nov. 3.  I hope to get a lot of purses made and photos printed in preparation for her arrival so I will still be able to participate in all of the holiday selling hubbub.

And one day soon, I will share pics with you from my latest art opening, called Flirt which opened a few weeks ago in my community studio.

See you then.

The TTV effect

     One of the reasons photography ceased being my media of choice was the move into the digital age.  I loved darkrooms - the smell of fixer, the excitement of pulling your first print from a new roll, and the ability to mess around with chemicals to get great effects.  I loved not knowing whether or not a photo was going to come out - I loved happy accidents.  I frequently shot with plastic cameras and handmade pinhole cameras, simply because of their unpredictability.  By the time the digital age superseded film I no longer had access to a darkroom and I could neither afford great digital equipment nor did it hold the same luster for me that film had.  So I became a painter.  And then I went to grad school and became a sculptor.  While that's another story entirely, I will continue with my original thread.
     When digital photography became more affordable, I, like anyone else, was lured in by its ability to save me both money and give me instant gratification.  I also loved the LCD screens on the back of the cameras - backlit photos look sexy and appealing - sometimes in a way that isn't replicated in print.  Yet, I couldn't find myself as in love with digital as I was with the techniques of film.  Photoshop is wonderful, but I spend enough of my life staring at a computer screen - I don't want to endlessly edit photos to get them to look like I shot them with film and crappy plastic cameras.
     When I started looking into the possibility of opening up yet another etsy shop for my art, I kept running across photos on etsy made with TTV.  What the hell is that?  Apparently, it stands for Through The Viewfinder - meaning you've taken your primary camera (most likely digital) and shot it through the viewfinder of another camera (most likely an old reflex camera with a fairly large viewing screen.)  The result is wonderful vignetting, soft focus and a dusty, worn-around-the-edges look, reminiscent of vintage photos.  Instantly, I am in love.  While doing more research on how to create a TTV contraption, however, I discover a very easy Photoshop method to convert straight photos into TTV photos!  Because I have now become completely spoiled by the digital age and am no longer patient enough to tinker endlessly away until I get the right shot with a TTV contraption.  (I actually made one with my old Hasselblad and it wasn't terrible, but this is far easier and then I don't have to worry about dropping my very heavy Hasselblad while trying to make a photo.)


So, long story short - here are the results of my efforts.  The photos with vertical and horizontal lines and a bulls-eye in the center were made with the Hasselblad TTV contraption.  The others were night photographs I shot in New Orleans and are relatively unmanipulated digitally with the exception of a TTV speckle pattern layer I've added.  Enjoy.

Finally, a home for all of my art that I need to sell...www.melissanannenart.etsy.com

     I've opened up another etsy shop.  I decided I needed a home for all of my prints, paintings, (and most likely pussies - having their own shop does not seem to increase their sales).  Hence, www.melissanannenart.etsy.com.  So far, I only have black and white Holga photography listed, but there will be plenty more to come.  I need to find an affordable way to make digital prints of both my digital photos and my paintings, and then they will also be listed there soon.  Below is a sampling of what's already up on the site.

New Dog Stories

      
     About 10 days before Christmas we adopted a new dog to replace (how can you replace?) Marvin.  He turned out to be a dog that could not live with us because of his penchant for eating cats.  My poor kitty, Trapper, was very fortunate to escape with his life.  He only lost a few tufts of fur - due to fright more than anything else.  That dog went back to the SPCA the day after Christmas, 5 hours before my 30th birthday.  


In January, after having a little time to recover from our bad adopting experience, we adopted another dog.  Both my husband and I had sworn up and down there were two things we did not want- a pit bull or a puppy.  You can see from the pictures below, we lost that fight.  After having the wonderful staff at the Philly SPCA on Erie Ave. parade several dogs in and out of their meet and greet room with no one getting along with our poor old dog, Chops, the behaviorist suggested Barney (formerly known as Barnaby).  What a sweetie.  They had to carry him in because he was afraid to walk on a leash, but he was the sweetest dog we met.  When our old gal Chops growled at his puppy-like advances, he ran away from her (only to return about 5 seconds later), but he always backed off when asked.  Perfect!  He was even afraid of the cats!

     Top: Barney head, Middle: Barney and Chops chewing their toys together on her bed, Bottom: Cuddly little Barney