Today we’d like to introduce you to Inga Schunn.
Inga, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My journey as an artist started on the floor of my grandfather’s studio in a tiny village in Bavaria called Ebersberg. He used his pension from being a soldier in World War II to purchase supplies and became a painter and printmaker. As a child, I would sit and draw characters from stories I made up in my mind. His studio left a lasting impression on me; I can still smell the musty scent of paint and oils from the press. As a teen, I found photography. I spent hours in the darkroom making prints of people and places I felt connected to, experimenting with the chemical process of developing and fixing. Art to me has always been about communion and intuition. When I began my bachelor’s, I fell in love with intaglio and all other forms of printmaking but decided to focus on photography and film as it felt appropriate for our millennial times. Fast forward through many art history classes and theory, my view of what it meant to create art evolved drastically. I decided I did not like the consumerist, capitalist ideologies associated with an object-based practice. I wanted to create environments and experiences that made people think and feel things. Happenings, curatorial work and ideas for installations and collaboration began to float through my mind. Now, my work consists mostly of collecting, coordinating, communicating, performing, researching, thinking and writing. I’m fortunate to know many people who practice this kind of art-making; rarely having tangible objects to “prove” their praxis. Thanks to many manifestos and movements before us, we are recognizable and valid to the institution of contemporary art, but I still find it hard to explain to people why and how I am an artist when I do not make paintings or sculptures.
We’d love to hear more about your work. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My art has a foundation is in printmaking and photography, but what I consider to be my work are the exhibitions I’ve organized and the pairings of my digital scans and writing which I fondly refer to as reflections.
I make and collect images and videos constantly, but rarely do I make prints anymore. I’ve made some music videos in the past few years and have been traveling a lot recently so my practice has reverted to just photography lately. I still exclusively create photographs with medium format film. My go-to camera lately has been my Yashica 635, a twin-lens reflex camera from the late 1950s. I love the mechanics and manual nature of it. The process of composing an image through the downward viewfinder plus adjusting aperture and shutter speed manually is much more meditative as you have to double-check your math and wait for the perfect shot instead of shooting one hundred images from which to choose one final composition as you would with a digital camera. I find the process of film photography much more engaging and rewarding. There’s a certain pleasure in having less choices and getting to know the way your particular camera “sees” things. I believe making photographs and small videos is only a slice of my practice as an artist; part of the research or the materials to create an experience if you will. My ideal exhibition or end result is an installation and performance.
I want to represent and discuss sustainability and communion as much as possible in my work. My main source of inspiration being drawn from my immediate environment may sound cliche, but I believe as humans we cannot help but be affected by our surroundings. Our adaptability is the reason for our evolving to the top of the food chain, so I think about this constantly. I am also incredibly interested in mythology and ethics and hope my work reflects an analysis of how those things tie into modern language, culture and psychology. I hope when people look at my work they find a reflection of their most gentle self. It may sound lofty, but it is my intention to help heal others through opening and sharing my ideas.
The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
My mantra for creating has always been, “Art is made of circumstance.” Another is, “Expectations beget disappointment.” If you have a hurdle, try to change the way you are thinking about it. Is it there to steer you in another direction, or to challenge you to be more critical? Is it possible that it is the solution to a problem? It sounds cheesy, but go with the flow! You have to love the process just as much as the sweetness of finishing something. Otherwise, you’re not practicing art, you’re just dancing around capitalism. If you don’t have the money to buy or do something, try to find it for free in some way or experiment with a different material. Perhaps you will find something else that works more efficiently or is more sustainable.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work exists mainly on Instagram at the moment, but I also have images from past exhibitions, performances, and projects on my website (ingaschunn.net). Supporting my work involves collaborating with me. I have worked with galleries and curators, directed music videos, written for artists, done production design for short films, produced album artwork for musicians and more. If people would like to create something with me, the easiest way to start a conversation with me is via the contact page on my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.ingaschunn.net
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agnimaus/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ingaschunn
Image Credit:
© Inga Schunn
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