Judith Larsen

On election night, courtesy of a friend of artist Judith Larsen, several Boston Print Collectors had the good fortune to be able to visit with Judith (along with her artist husband, Peik) in her Cambridge studio. It's an impressive space with lots of wonderful pieces hanging on the walls. Some of us had seen her works at the Colin Rhys Gallery before he left for LA and we wanted to know more about her and her style. In her wonderful, gracious and articulate manner, she provided us with insights about her work and explained her technique; how she projects historical math and science formulas onto photographs of nudes. It is a process she said can be very time consuming, as she is working with live models who she needs to direct into specific poses. She explained that sometimes she needs to take 500 pictures to get one good one. Asked how she decided upon this type of photography, she indicated she was always good in math and science. Well great for us, as we see her as an artist producing gorgeous small, medium and large-scale engaging and captivating prints. She also showed us an incredible video piece. She is currently working on a project for the Sao Paulo biennale.



As Judith explains it: "my work incorporates the figure as an empty vessel or blank slate, which is then infused with a series of images from the history of Art and Science. The projected images examine various organizing systems, including language, mapping and microscopy, as shadowed testimony to an unknown light source. The viewer or audience is invited to look beyond the ‘apparent’ and imagine the implications of these symbolically clad vessels. As the figure and imagery merge, the body begins to shed its epidermal shield and inhabit its own metaphors.This figurative work is as much about stillness as it is about the constant metamorphosis of possibility. It dwells in suspended opposition between the enduring vitality of the flesh and its fragile impermanence."



Her website is: http://www.judithlarsen.com/