Personal| Universal is a collective of six women photographers brought together by a passion for travel, exploration and a concern for social change -
Each woman in this project is being spotlighted weekly.... All 6 women were asked the same 5 questions - In the simplicity of the questions comes some insight into their Personal universal
Show opens March 27th
Beth Uzwiak-
Beth Uzwiak is a visual anthropologist currently finishing her PhD at Temple University in Philadelphia. Beth Uzwiak creates works on paper and bookwork that integrates collage, sewing, drawing, printmaking, painting, text, and installation.
Artist: Beth Uzwiak
Title: Adoration
Medium: Limited Edition Artist Book of Archival Pigment Printed Photographs
Size: 9’’x8’’ (closed) 9’’x75’’ (extended)
Year: 2009
Description: The photographs in this artist’s book capture a religious procession during Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala.
Favorite Color:
It must be because it is the dead of winter, but yellow is my favorite color. Bright, Mexican-house yellow.Three Artists You are Inspired By:
Artists Louise Bourgeois and Kara Walker continually inspire me for their ability to transform intimacy, including violence, into visual form. For the past year, I have been obsessed with the work of Susan Meiselas, not only her socially engaged photography, but how she uses images to activate memory and narrative.
Define Your Personal Universal: Has your Personal Universe point of view changed from the start of this project?
Recently, a Belizean friend described my personal universe as the “three sisters,” referring to the companion planting technique. My squash, maize, and climbing beans: art, research, and writing. I am a visual anthropologist interested, quite broadly, in how images shape social action. I also make images—photos, artist’s books, works-on-paper, paintings, collage—to record, process, and challenge my experiences. My art is often ethnographic in practice and incorporates archival materials and oral histories. My thoughts, actions, and dreamsare restless and never settle on one subject, medium, or place. As a current artist-in-residence at the 40th Street Studios in West Philadelphia, I am exploring new mediums and expressions. I also teach undergraduate art history and anthropology classes and work as an editor for New City Community Press.
Where do you want to travel next?
During this exhibit, I will be in Belize to present findings from a two-year-long health research project there, and to photograph. And where to after that? Who knows?
