Rising Stars: Meet Elizabeth Preger of Northeast LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Preger

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My path into the arts was winding and unexpected. I was a non-traditional student who’d been home schooled, then unschooled, by the time I was 15 I decided to enroll myself at LACC. I was clueless. During the orientation process I met with a counselor who asked me “what’s your major?” I was, in retrospect, amusingly blindsided by this simple question. In the quickest decision I’ve ever made, I blurted out photography. “Ok you should take a photo class, here’s your schedule for the year.”

Walking into my first photography class, a semester later, I had no idea what to expect. I’d never taken art classes let alone analog photography. My professor was a whirlwind of energy, ever present in his cowboy boots, button up shirt embroidered with the words casual observer, and handmade bowtie, he both inspired and pushed me. I’d always done well in school, gotten good grades, but been bored, in his class I was challenged, it was hard! Things went wrong constantly, but the sheer magic and alchemy of working in the darkroom is difficult to convey. I fell in love with making images.

A few years later I transferred to UCLA to continue my studies into art, then moved to Bangkok, had solo shows, got my MFA and now teach analog photography at community colleges. It’s a rich life that’s allowed me to travel, grow my imagination and build a sweet community.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
What artists life was smooth?! For me a lot of my challenges happened after I graduated from UCLA, it was the recession and it was very hard to find work. I cobbled together a living by assisting artists and picking up gigs. In other ways it was a rich time artistically, I experimented and grew my practice. I even ended up moving to Bangkok for a time and had a solo show there.

My family are immigrants from Siberia and I was the first to be born in America. This meant pursuing the arts was in many ways terrifying, I knew I would have to support myself as soon as I was 18 and the arts aren’t typically thought of as a stable source of income. However, I fell in love with the field and although I can’t call my path smooth, it has been delightful.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In my work, I create large scale, immersive environments that utilize photography, video, sculpture and sound. Recorded interviews and oral history are integral to my practice as a way of proposing an act of collective listening, while asking the questions “who is talking to whom?” and “who is listening?” My work activates narratives around nature and people where the subjects are histories of cultural resilience.

In my portrait work, the image is the result of a long process of negotiation and renegotiation where, in collaboration, the sitter and I search for a place of shared nourishment and excitement.”Towards a Resplendent Portraiture” begins with an invitation that maps out the following intentions: 1) For the portraits to be collaborative, a melding of how I see someone (as mythic, iconic, resplendent) and how they see themselves. 2) For the process to be driven by dialogue and open communication. 3) To invite failure, as it means we’re taking risks and experimenting. This project is a container for dialogues that embrace difference and the resulting images are shown with text and/or interviews to include the viewer in the conversation.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of my earliest memories is hiding from my parents. My father had this orange metal desk and I was crouched underneath it with a plastic palette of watercolor paint. I remember feeling sneaky as I popped out the paint and ate it, I was convinced the different colors had unique tastes. Luckily no one caught me and to this day I laugh at my childhood self.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elizabethpreger.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpreger/