ERIN KOLAR

I went to the Santa Fe Art Walk with the intention of viewing local art. What I did not realize was that I was not just going to be walking through galleries of photographs and paintings, but I would be observing and learning about people from all walks of life. I discovered that this art walk was not solely a place for local artists to display their work. Moreover, it is a place for people to come together and form an extraordinary culture made up of numerous unique individuals.

One painting that I saw was of a mermaid and her reflection. I was immediately drawn to this painting because of its intensely vivid colors. Upon closer look, I noticed that the mermaid’s reflection was wrong. The mermaid’s hair was sticking straight out of her head, yet in the reflection, the mermaid’s hair appeared to be hanging around her shoulders. I gazed at this painting for quite some time, and I realized that perhaps the placement of the mermaid’s hair was not a mistake. Rather, the artist must have been trying to portray some message or idea. Perhaps the mermaid’s hair represents imperfections in every day life. All artwork is created to represent some kind of significance or opinion.

Another particular artist that inspired me was local photographer Cameron Stone. His photography was developed in a way that I hadn’t seen before. He captured images of influential people in his life and took the film he had and developed it through a process of darkroom solarization. The uniqueness of the photography reminded me of the uniqueness of the group of people surrounding me at the art walk. The art walk participants were in a way walking art themselves. Art itself is anything you make it. I at first was surprised at the amount of bands paying throughout the art walk, but then realized they too are displaying their art.

Mason Jennings is a musical artist from Minnesota. I chose to use his song Living In The Moment from the album Century Spring in my video to embody the sense of friendship. Cameron Stone took all of the photos displayed in this video. These photos all depict his closest friends. Without this song, it may seem as though the people in the photos are random. However, when lyrics such as, “I’m living in the moment with the friends I love” are sung, the notion of friendship is implied.