|
 |
Life as a Mural—An Interview with Susan Kaprov
By Robert A. Schaefer, Jr. | Wisdom and Inspiration |
Jan 15, 2007
|
|
 |
Precambrian Waltz 1998
Color Xerox photomontage
40' long x 8' high on aluminum panels (curved wall)
Commissioned by the Port Authority of NY and NJ
|
Ten
years ago I met some friends who are photographers and were going to an
opening at the International Center of Photography in New York. Among
them was a woman I didn’t know—Susan Kaprov. She and I began talking
about our work, and I found out that she was doing some work in Munich,
Germany where I had lived for six years before moving to New York. We
had a lot to share about that city, and it started a long-lasting
friendship. I am fascinated by the way that Susan uses photography to
make large murals. Recently, I visited her at her studio in Brooklyn
Heights to discuss her work.
 |
URBAN HELIX 2004
Fired enamel on glass (from digital photomontage)
54' long x 8' high
Commissioned by MetroTech Center and Polytechnic University
|
Robert Schaefer: What drew you into visual arts and more specifically photography?
Susan Kaprov:
I grew up in New York City, a place where art and culture were easily
accessible. I think visual artists know at a very young age that they
have this intuitive drive to create art. Around the age of 14 I started
visiting the art museums and galleries, which opened up a beckoning
world of potential creativity. The art spoke to me, seduced me, and I
strongly connected with it. Although in my ultra-conservative family,
art was something that only ‘fringe types’ did, I discovered that the
museums were where the magic was. So I knew at an early age this was
for me. I graduated from the City University of New York with a major
in art history and a minor in biology. I have a life-long interest in
science as well as art. After a year as a visiting artist at Dartmouth
College, I was then on my own as an artist in the wilds of New York. I
also traveled extensively during this time, when travel was cheap.
My
father was an amateur photographer who constructed a makeshift darkroom
in the hallway of our small apartment in the Bronx. He fashioned an
enlarging machine out of the metal container of a car headlight. I
watched him develop photographs and observed the magic of an image
appearing out of nowhere in the eerie red light of the room. It was as
if a ghost emerged and decided to enter our world. Even the developer
fumes had the feeling of alchemy and magic.
RS: How did you get into making murals with your work?
 |
Detail of URBAN HELIX
|
 |
Green Thumb Station 2003
Glass mosaic photomontage
43' high x 68' long
Commissioned by City of Orlando Health Sciences Center
|
SK:
I thought that after years of doing ‘studio art’ in the privacy of my
studio and showing the work occasionally in galleries was slow,
predictable and not particularly exciting. I thought it would be
adventurous to try something different such as large-scale public
artworks that involved collaborative teams, something sweeping and
breathtaking seen outside museum and gallery walls and available to the
public at large. It was a risk ultimately worth taking.
RS: Where have some of your projects been made and where have they been installed?
 |
Things Inside 2005
Photos on fused glass panels
24' high x 16' long
Commissioned by City of Orlando Health Sciences Center
|
 |
Utopia 2005
Photos on fused glass panels
24' high x 16' long
Commissioned by City of Orlando Health Sciences Center
|
SK:
My public art projects can be seen all over the country and in Europe.
Urban Helix, a fifty-four foot fired enamel on glass wall piece was
created for the entrance lobby of Polytechnic University at MetroTech
Center in Downtown Brooklyn. In Meriden Connecticut, I created a
hundred and ten foot wall mural in the conference area of a specialized
high school for gifted teenagers. Precambrian Waltz, commissioned for
the Port Authority prior to 9/11, is a forty-foot photomontage that
‘narrates’ in non-linear time, the construction of the World Trade
Center. Because of its historical context, Precambrian Waltz is
currently under consideration for relocation near Ground Zero. There
are several other projects that are in Amsterdam, Jacksonville, Fl.,
Atlanta and other locations.
RS: What kind of projects are you currently working on?
 |
Nature..last modified (Gerberas) 2004
|
 |
Nature..last modified (Heliconias) 2004
|
SK:
I’m in the process now of exploring new materials and media as a means
of expanding my work with photomontage. Media such as fiberglass, fused
glass panels, and photographic mosaic tiles are in the works. I am
currently designing a photographic video wall for a major
communications company. Collaborations with a prominent video and sound
artist are also under way. I recently completed a commission for a
research institution in Orlando, Florida that fuses digital technology
and traditional photography in an unusual manner.
These two digital photomontages are part of a series
of fifteen original works merging scanner technology and digital imaging.
RS: Where do you see your work going in the future?
 |
String of Pearls 2006
|
SK:
That's hard to say because there are so many random, unexpected things
that can happen. A sudden shift due to a lucky ‘accident’ can change
the course of your work. As an artist, I must remain open to
experimentation. Picasso said it was the accidents that were the most
important aspect of his creative process, and I share that view. I
consider myself stylistically multi-faceted, with no formal allegiances
of any kind. I love taking risks with my work. That gives me the
greatest pleasure, even when it fails.
These
two digital designs are from a series of ten original digital
designs which can be translated into other media such as fired enamel
on glass,
painted wall murals, woven fabric, and glass mosaic.
 |
In The City 2006
|
The
work I’m doing now originates totally from inside my own mental
processes and is not connected to any (conscious) external references.
These images are non-photographic designs created on the computer. They
are meant to be translated on a large scale into other media such
as fired enamel on glass, woven fabric, glass mosaic and other
materials. They are truly ‘landscapes of the mind’, and seem to
have a futuristic, visionary quality to them. For me, they exist as
singular, almost utopian expressions.
Susan Kaprov can be contacted at:
Susan Kaprov Studio149 Willow Street Suite 5CBrooklyn NY 11201Tel: 718.624-2775Web: www.kaprov.com
Robert A. Schaefer, Jr.
is a founding member of Photoworkshop.com, and has been a fine-art
photographer for over 30 years. His work is displayed at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York as well as the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris,
France. In 1999—2000 he had a 25-year retrospective of his work at the
Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama, his home state. His
exhibition, Two Sides of the Coin—which deals with his German family
and the Holocaust—was held at the DeFrog Gallery in Houston, TX in
March, April and May as a part of Fotofest. Two images from this
exhibition were recently purchased by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.
He is currently working on a documentary film about this project
and was just ask to have a one person exhibition at the Mongomery
Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, AL his home state in 2007. Schaefer
writes about photography for Double Exposure, Fotophile Magazine in New York City and The Photo Review
in Pennsylvania. He has taught at The New School and given workshops at
Pratt Institute in New York and is currently on the faculty at New York
University.
You can contact Robert Schaefer at rasjrpro@earthlink.net or visit his website at www.schaeferphoto.com.
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to the editor.
© Copyright 2010 by PHOTOWORKSHOP.COM
Top of Page
Last Updated: Aug 11th, 2010 - 13:36:44
|
|
|
|
|
Wisdom and Inspiration: Additional Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
