Richard Ventre
I live and work in Norwalk, CT. As an artist/photographer I work in three combined disciplines: painting, photography, and photomontage.
www.rventre.com
I live and work in Norwalk, CT. As an artist/photographer I work in three combined disciplines: painting, photography, and photomontage.
www.rventre.com
Is your studio at home or outside, and if at home, is it a dedicated room or are you having to share it with other family members?
The Studio is an out-building on the property with a front workroom, bathroom, and studio space. It is, however, very small. In such a tight working space my assistant and I must plan and coordinate each session. The work entails the painting of the female nude and then photographing her as she interprets her part in each series we create. The Three of us in the small studio may present challenges in posing, lighting, effects, et al, but because all of the models with whom I work have been posing here for many years it is a very trusted and secure environment.
The Studio is an out-building on the property with a front workroom, bathroom, and studio space. It is, however, very small. In such a tight working space my assistant and I must plan and coordinate each session. The work entails the painting of the female nude and then photographing her as she interprets her part in each series we create. The Three of us in the small studio may present challenges in posing, lighting, effects, et al, but because all of the models with whom I work have been posing here for many years it is a very trusted and secure environment.
What is it you are working on now? Does it relate in any way to current events, or are you letting this be a time of releasing all that while the ideas flow?
Right now I am taking advantage of the solo time to advance images that need to be completed in the CARRARA series which will be placed in the series' catalog. The studio photography in the current FIGUREHEAD series that had already been done needs to be moved along, so there is a good amount of time now spent in post production.
Are you finding it difficult to work now? Or has this become a time of great creativity?
As we work on each series there comes a time when I begin to think of what issue or subject we might next explore. From the Adirondacks, to Sweden, to Florence, Carrara, or to Newport, these places have been out there to capture as the raw material we use in each of our images.
With the FIGUREHEAD series well underway, it was time to begin thinking about the next series. A little over a month ago, standing in the studio with my coffee and that thought in hand, I looked out the back windows into the late Winter yard. The property is fortunately bounded by an expanse of inland wetlands. One eyesore in this vista has been a fallen and uprooted tree on the adjacent property that had toppled in a storm twenty years ago. Perhaps there could be a purposeful and uplifting parable made from that. This was just before everything around us devolved. I went out to look over the back fence, but this time I saw an immediate relationship to a painting by Bouguereau at the Clark. Our next work was suddenly in front of me. Ironically, in this shelter-in-place time, the ‘location’ photography will be my own backyard.
Right now I am taking advantage of the solo time to advance images that need to be completed in the CARRARA series which will be placed in the series' catalog. The studio photography in the current FIGUREHEAD series that had already been done needs to be moved along, so there is a good amount of time now spent in post production.
Are you finding it difficult to work now? Or has this become a time of great creativity?
As we work on each series there comes a time when I begin to think of what issue or subject we might next explore. From the Adirondacks, to Sweden, to Florence, Carrara, or to Newport, these places have been out there to capture as the raw material we use in each of our images.
With the FIGUREHEAD series well underway, it was time to begin thinking about the next series. A little over a month ago, standing in the studio with my coffee and that thought in hand, I looked out the back windows into the late Winter yard. The property is fortunately bounded by an expanse of inland wetlands. One eyesore in this vista has been a fallen and uprooted tree on the adjacent property that had toppled in a storm twenty years ago. Perhaps there could be a purposeful and uplifting parable made from that. This was just before everything around us devolved. I went out to look over the back fence, but this time I saw an immediate relationship to a painting by Bouguereau at the Clark. Our next work was suddenly in front of me. Ironically, in this shelter-in-place time, the ‘location’ photography will be my own backyard.
What is it you are working on now? Does it relate in any way to current events, or are you letting this be a time of releasing all that while the ideas flow?
There are two other ironies here. First, there is no telling when I will be able to work with a model and assistant in the Studio again, and the second is that I will be photographing this same tree, from the same spot, over the course of the next year to capture each of the Seasons: the new Spring green, the sweltering bower of Summer foliage, the cattails ripening in Autumn, and next Winter’s snow.
There are two other ironies here. First, there is no telling when I will be able to work with a model and assistant in the Studio again, and the second is that I will be photographing this same tree, from the same spot, over the course of the next year to capture each of the Seasons: the new Spring green, the sweltering bower of Summer foliage, the cattails ripening in Autumn, and next Winter’s snow.
Do you think this experience will permanently alter the way you create, or do you think you will go back to your way of creating art before, and if it will change you, in what way and why?
Patience in the time of pandemic.
The nude, unless in an abstracted or decorative form, is still a challenge for many. We do neither. The collaborative work each woman interprets here uniquely addresses universal issues. It is unlikely our direction will change to directly address the days we are now all learning from. We will all continue to learn, and perhaps what emerges from a very small Studio in Norwalk will be meaningful statements that resonate during the worst times and the best.
Patience in the time of pandemic.
The nude, unless in an abstracted or decorative form, is still a challenge for many. We do neither. The collaborative work each woman interprets here uniquely addresses universal issues. It is unlikely our direction will change to directly address the days we are now all learning from. We will all continue to learn, and perhaps what emerges from a very small Studio in Norwalk will be meaningful statements that resonate during the worst times and the best.