Anna Gaskell
| Anna Gaskell | |
|---|---|
"Untitled #2" in Gaskell's photography series, "wonder"
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| Born |
October 22, 1969 Des Moines, Iowa, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Photography |
| Website | www |
Anna Gaskell (born October 22, 1969) is an American art photographer from Des Moines, Iowa.
She is best known for her photographic series that she calls "elliptical narratives" which are similar to the works produced by Cindy Sherman. Like Sherman, Gaskell's works are influenced by film and painting, rather than the typical conventions of photography. She lives and works in New York.
Gaskell's mother was an evangelical Christian who brought Anna and her brother along on "wild pilgrimages throughout the Midwest," where they would witness miracles being performed, acts of healing, people speaking in tongues, and other Charismatic Christian practices. She claims that she does not remember anything strange about these acts, "but more a feeling of excitement and a security in the faith that [she] felt from everyone there." Gaskell says that her work revolves around a similar idea of faith, believing the possibility of the impossible and suspension of disbelief. After studying for two years at Bennington College, she received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1992. In 1995, she received her MFA from Yale School of Art, studying under Gregory Crewdson.
Gaskell stages all of her scenes, using the style of "narrative photography," wherein each scene exists only to be photographed. Gaskell pioneers a new discourse of contemporary photography where within each of her series, the narrative of her photographs is disrupted, "its fragments functioning like film stills excised from their context but suggesting a missing whole." There are gaps of space and time left between each photograph, evoking a "vivid and dreamlike world." In a 2002 interview with curator Matthew Drutt of the Menil Collection, Gaskell describes her creative process and the inspiration she draws from other sources in the following way: "The stories and events that I choose to use as jumping-off points are simply that. They are only a part of what goes into the work, and perhaps a useful reference for viewers. [...] Trying to combine fiction, fact, and my own personal mishmash of life into something new is how I make my work. Into all of this, I try to insert a degree of mystery that ensures that the dots may not connect in the same way every time."
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