My very first memory of Carla French is of elegantly clothed body parts mounted to a closet door in her parent’s basement. Yes, body parts. Life size images of them to be exact, strewn together as a whole with some fine thread. From afar, the puzzle-like display gave one the impression of an actual life-size girl standing there, quietly observing. Then daring to get a closer look, I noticed that each section derived from a separate photograph, having separate outfits, and separate identities.
To analyze this, I immediately thought of the assortment of personalities one accumulates during a lifetime. That perhaps this bizarre installment was a mere incarnation of the many complex facets to the individual as a whole. Quite willing to accept this explanation (and not wanting to ask out of fear of seeming foolish or un –artistic), I dismissed further inquiry and pretended to ignore the mysterious Puzzle Girl montage. Though one haunting question remained; who WAS she?
Over the next few months, I enjoyed the privilege of getting to know Carla and made frequent visits to her basement gallery. There I had unlimited access to her work, paging through the most fascinating abstract photography I’d ever seen. Then, similar to puzzle girl, I noticed a pattern emerge whereby most of Carla’s photos seemed constantly layered with drawings, textures and material. In a telling paper for one of her classes at College For Creative Studies, Carla wrote:
“My fashion signature consists of combining photography with drawing. This process is done using a Mamiya RZ medium format camera. By cross processing the film, an uncontrolled, ethereal color is born giving the photograph an enigmatic and sensuous feeling. Then, I scan my images and manipulate them in photocopy. I select a section I want to change and add a photocopy filter so that the image changes to a drawing. I then print the work and go into the drawing area with a pencil, to create a realistic drawing. Then I rescan the drawing. My prints are life-size, mounted on foam-core. The prints are in pieces. The photographs are in one section and the drawings in another. When put together, the pieces are not aligned. They are off-centered. This technique gives the viewer a sense of mystery because an exterior view is not always like the interior. It is also a notion about the unconscious self because in reality, life is not always aligned.”
Even more intriguing was the common theme chosen by this shy and unassuming artist; self-portraiture. Carla’s colleagues at CCS often recall her many trademark self-portraits consisting of blurred shadows and silhouettes. In stark contrast (dare I say in bold opposition) to conventional fashion photography, the work of Carla French is strangely obscure. Double exposures, long exposure time with movement, elaborate outfits & accessories not to mention the addition of actual fabric and other three dimensional materials to printed works, are clues to her artistic intentions.
In an artist statement written to her mentor Linda Soberman, Carla reveals:
“I’ve noticed that my work relates to my struggles. How people perceive me from the outside is not who I am on the inside. So my projects address how things on the outside (clothing, looking away from the observer of the photograph) do not necessarily reflect what lies beneath. The photos are about hiding and revealing. Hiding something, then revealing it to those who are looking ”
Immediately after reading this passage, I gazed up once more at Puzzle Girl with chills. Could it be? Yes of course, those beautiful eyes and familiar expression…for the first time ever I was looking beyond the complex mural of drawing and fabric, and into the heart of the artist. To my surprise, the girl cleverly hidden beneath the puzzle-like montage of photos was Carla French herself!
Having never seen anything like this, I asked Carla who or what inspired her. She then listed some very interesting artists including Cindy Sherman, Sarah Moon and Ralph Meatyard. But aside from that, in regards to her own intentions Carla writes:
“For one series I chose to photograph a woman’s back with blonde hair and a thin body, wearing an elegant dress with a mysterious feminine quality. The viewer is then left to wonder what this woman looks like since her face is away from the camera. I chose this type of person because most women wish to create an image of self that will be accepted by society. And so my vision speaks through the imagery I create, about one’s struggle to find the meaning of beauty within themselves.”
Now capable of looking beyond the complex and into that which should’ve been obvious all along, I could see clearly that Carla’s work was speaking of her own personal struggle to re-define that which is beautiful. In her own words, “My goal is to capture the beauty in things that go unnoticed by most people, because those are the things that are the most beautiful to me.”
For more about Carla French, visit her website at www.carlafrenchcreations.com
