{"id":27724,"date":"2021-11-26T06:58:09","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T06:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/blog\/adobe\/judiths-schaechters-multifaceted-approach-to-self-expression\/"},"modified":"2021-11-26T06:58:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T06:58:09","slug":"judiths-schaechters-multifaceted-approach-to-self-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/blog\/adobe\/judiths-schaechters-multifaceted-approach-to-self-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"Judith\u2019s Schaechter\u2019s multifaceted approach to self-expression"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Image source: Detail of \u201cFeral Child\u201d (2012), Judith Schaechter.<\/p>\n

Evidence of multimedia artist Judith Schaechter\u2019s decades-long relationship with computer-assisted design tools might be hard to pinpoint.<\/p>\n

Her stained-glass compositions are ornate, wildly imaginative, and intricately hand-detailed. Where the physical ends and the digital begins only adds to the dreamlike, ethereal quality of her work\u2014an update to the old-world conventions of stained glass. Schaechter\u2019s blend of this traditional art form with modern, contemporary themes and subjects recontextualizes both, part of a large and growing design trend Adobe Stock has termed \u201cAustere Romanticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some artists, self-expression may manifest as a one-to-one act of self-portraiture, but for Schaechter, there is a desire to express the deeply personal by way of the universal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image source: \u201cYou Are Here\u201d (2008), Judith Schaechter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to figure out what it is about yourself that is completely unique, and also what makes your work incredibly universal\u201d says Schaechter.<\/p>\n

What makes Schaechter\u2019s work stand out is her continual experimentation within a medium that has its roots in centuries-old Medieval and Renaissance art. She also draws upon her lifelong relationship with specific paintings made throughout art history\u2014the influence of which is evident, even through the layers of abstraction Schaechter weaves into her compelling, contemporary glass works.<\/p>\n

The personalities Schaechter renders in her glasswork are a series of beautiful, gripping, and complicated figures in equally complicated situations. Lone subjects are almost always women caught in acts of self-awareness, clandestine reflection, or obscure ritual. Her larger works are often Boschian scenarios of revelry and chaos, with a wide spectrum of characters, activities, and attitudes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image source: \u201cCaught in a Flood\u201d (1990), Judith Schaechter.<\/p>\n

From the physical to Photoshop<\/h3>\n

It seems counterintuitive to imagine that Schaechter\u2019s process, which begins with hand-drawn sketches and ends in hours of meticulous etching and filing of colored glass, would have anything to do with contemporary technology\u2014and, for many years, it didn\u2019t. But in 2000, already a couple of decades into her art career, Schaechter revolutionized her compositional process as her relationship with technology began to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere used to be a Xerox place not far from where I lived at the time, called \u2018Can-Do,\u2019 and I would haul my drawings to Can-Do, and I would Xerox them in all different sizes,\u201d says Schaechter. \u201cMy Xerox bill was getting to be like hundreds of dollars a month, or something insane like that.\u201d Schaechter had previously tried her hand at tech tools via a secondhand Apple 2, which required hand-coding in order to operate basic programs. It did not go as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI threw it out the window,\u201d Schaechter says. \u201cI did not get the memo about operating systems becoming user-friendly\u2014I just wasn\u2019t paying attention\u2014but I had decided that I needed to buy a Xerox machine, because this was crazy. So, my little pea brain was sort of grinding around, and I thought, maybe if I get a computer, I can organize my mailing list on it. And, basically, a computer\u2014it was the same price as buying a Xerox machine, so I thought, all right, I\u2019ll get the computer, and I got a scanner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image source: \u201cStill Life with Bankrobber\u201d (1996), Judith Schaechter.<\/p>\n

Around that time, Schaechter read an article by illustrator Mark Ryden, in which he discussed the benefits of scanning in his sketches. Ryden was then able to \u201ctry out umpteen million layouts in one afternoon by essentially just moving elements around in a Photoshop document,\u201d recalls Schaechter. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Ah! Yes! That\u2019s what I want to do!\u2019 And that\u2019s now what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She started with the abbreviated version of Photoshop that came with her scanner, and the program provided an immediate revelation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like Photoshop was an old friend,\u201d says Schaechter. \u201cI am the person who pushes every button\u2014so first I destroyed everything, and then I had to fix everything.\u201d As a result, Schaechter quickly incorporated Photoshop into her artistic workflow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, I really love Adobe Photoshop\u2014it changed my whole way of thinking about art in a very, very positive way,\u201d she says. \u201cI always feel bad for people who are intimidated by it. It\u2019s incredibly user-friendly if you\u2019re an artist. I feel like it must have been made by artists for artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image source: \u201cChild Bride\u201d (2001), Judith Schaechter.<\/p>\n

Art in life \u2014 and life, in art<\/h3>\n

The balance between specificity and universality in Schaechter\u2019s work strikes at the core of the vulnerability surrounding the visibility – or invisibility – of the female form, especially as flawed or aging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve struggled with my body image, as have many, many, many people before me,\u201d says Schaechter, \u201cand I think that comes out in my work.\u201d Schaechter\u2019s figures often have visible veins beneath the skin or exaggerated features\u2014an emphasis on natural aspects of the body that women are often pressured to conceal\u2014and she describes them as an effort to express the discrepancy between \u201cwhat we see and what we think about human bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaechter\u2019s subjects often seem caught in a struggle between their own sanctity of self and the demands of greater, outside forces acting upon them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not me,\u201d Schaechter says of her figures, \u201cthey\u2019re like the proxy, doll version of me, and I want them to be better than me, and more beautiful than me, to compensate for my body and face dysmorphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can\u2019t make them too pretty,\u201d she laughs, \u201cbecause then I can\u2019t identify with them anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source : Adobe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image source: Detail of \u201cFeral Child\u201d (2012), Judith Schaechter. Evidence of multimedia artist Judith Schaechter\u2019s decades-long relationship with computer-assisted design tools might be hard to pinpoint. Her stained-glass compositions are ornate, wildly imaginative, and intricately hand-detailed. Where the physical ends and the digital begins only adds to the dreamlike, ethereal quality of her work\u2014an update …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27731,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27724\/revisions\/27731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}