Amanda Musick —Land Unfolding

Land Unfolding examines the natural environment and the ways in which a photograph can function to represent place. The dichotomy of artificial and natural environments is explored through using photographs taken in real landscapes to construct new, illusive vistas and forms. Landscape collages in this series are created through a process of deconstructing and assembling multiple photographs to reconstruct another single view of the original landscape. All photographs are my own, taken from a variety of points within one geographic location. The prints are then used to hand-build a diorama that is rephotographed in its final form. Though they are new views of place, they are not imaginary. They refer to my individual, sensory experience of moving through the landscape and the artist’s perspective of doing so. These landscapes include iconic landmarks as well as lesser-known places to show that all are important and deserve our attention and care. The second life of this project are the landscape piles which are made from the deconstructed remains of the collages. The way in which these pile forms float in space portray a sense of loss, void, and skewed reality as if they are forgotten objects waiting to be thrown away or repurposed. The processes of deconstruction and reconstruction I employ speaks to our continually changing landscape as well as our attempt to preserve and piece it back together.

Amanda Musick is an artist working in Upstate South Carolina. Musick uses photography and sculpture exploring how a photograph can operate to represent the landscape. In her studio practice she uses photographic prints and assembles them into forms that investigate our relationship to the natural environment. She received her BFA in Studio Art from East Tennessee State University and her MFA in Photography from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina in 2018. In the Fall of 2019 Musick was an Artist-in-Residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and she is a 2021 Critical Mass Top 50 photographer.

For more information, please contact Amanda Musick at: musickamanda@yahoo.com or visit: www.amanda-musick.com
Interview with Amanda Musick here