SVA's Amy Stein

SVA's Amy Stein

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Artists Contact:

http://www.amysteinphoto.com
amysteinphoto@yahoo.com

Artists Statement:

My work explores mans evolving relationship with the wild. Through staged human interactions with live and taxidermied animals, my imagery considers mans fascination with, and fear of, the natural world.

Primal issues of comfort, safety, dependence and mortality are examined in this work. Mans impulses to domesticate and to tame the natural world are also addressed.

The images in this series are inspired by local newspaper accounts and local stories and folklore of human/animal interactions. The narratives are set in Matamoras, a small town in Northeast Pennsylvania, which butts up against deep forest.

My work explores the porous and shifting frontier between the civilized world and the wild, in order to manifest a physical space where man meets nature and, in a sense, his most primal self. This series illustrates the tension between the manmade and natural worlds and challenges the viewer to consider which poses the greater threat to the other, the animals or the humans.

The Domesticated Series is informed by work I made over the past three years of female hunters and taxidermists photographed with their animals. These images explore themes of dependence, desire, violence and redemption between the human and animal worlds. I am very interested in the territory between the human and animal worlds and the psychological and physical tension of the space in which they meet.

Amy Stein was born in Washington, D.C. and received her MFA from School of Visual Arts in 2006. She currently lives and works in New York. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been featured in ArtNews, Photo District News, Vanity Fair Italia, Smithsonian Magazine and The Washington Post. Her work was recently on view at the Affordable Art Fair, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Three of her images are on view at a group show, "Strange Instrument," at the 3rd Ward gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y. from Aug. 4-Sept. 9, 2006.

MFA Photography, Video and Related Media program at the School of Visual Arts strives to challenge traditional assumptions of how the media of photography and video are taught. The artist/creative interlocutor uncovers new ways of relating that reveal the richness that is embedded in the constant course of human culture. For the past 12 years, this unique program has lead the way in the implementation of digital technology to the photographic practice and in relating the photographic practice to the larger scope of cultural activity.

Emphasis is placed on critical standards based upon a full understanding of the history of photography, its relation to social and technological history, and an innate grounding in the practice of fine art. This program seeks to nurture a small and talented group of students so that they may harness their unique vision to make a positive impact on the cultural landscape of the future.

School of Visual Arts in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.