Nancy Floyd: Weathering Time

Weathering Time is comprised of a collection of black and white, self-portrait photographs of the Artist Nancy Floyd. The pictures were taken daily over the span of thirty years and all together they show the slow progression of time. 

She's pretty much centered and her whole body is visible, in every photo. Each picture presented in the work is unique, but because of the way she composes them they all tend  to look uniform and cohesive. Some of the collections have themes such as "misbehaving pets", where her pets in the photos are moving or interrupting the picture. The one I included above features the evolution of the typewriter into a mac computer; this shows the passage of time technologically as well as her age. Two of the pieces are pictures only taken during a short period of her life (like a month or two) and these really show how certain events effect her appearance and whether or not she could take a photo.  I also liked how she kept the blank spots in her film when she didn't take a photo because it keeps the eye moving. Also, I appreciate how none of her photos are edited because it shows how real and human this process was; there's mistakes, blurs, and sometimes half of the picture is missing. 

To me, this show is very raw. It's a simple idea; she just takes pictures of herself everyday for thirty years. But what came out of that is so complex and emotional to grasp. She has catalogued her life basically. What she wore, her family, her house, her job; she captured how she and everything around her has changed in a simple, raw way. During her artist talk she talked about the future of her project and how it in some ways reveals her mortality. In the progression of photos you see her age over thirty years, and it was sad to realize that she can't keep taking pictures forever. You don't really think about the artist as part of the art (even though they are the biggest part of the art!). They're the behind-the-scenes workers. Honestly, for some of the pieces I forgot that the woman in the photographs is the artist as well as the subject. I agree with what professor Thrasher said about him feeling like he knew her just by looking at her work. It's very personal and intimate, like a scrapbook.

I had the opportunity to talk to Nancy a little before the show opened, and even though I'm probably the most awkward little pipsqueak on the planet, she was so kind and warm. I told her about how I filmed parts for the next assignment using sprinkles in a bowl, saran wrap, and my camera to make a trippy surreal effect, and much to my surprise she went "That sounds FANTASTIC!". She told me about Cal-arts and how it's the place for animators. It was cool to feel like my art making made another artist excited, even for a little bit. I mean, her work definitely inspired me, so after meeting her I was stoked! Moral of the story: talk to artists. She was full of great advice on moving for school, being an art student, and creating art. Basically she's awesome.