Kimberlie Sanders

What is your senior thesis?

Fire. It can be anything. The power that this element possesses is extraordinary. It holds the power to life, the power to take life away. I am fascinated with the endless ability it has to manipulate and destroy. I want to explore all aspects of the destruction that it can infer. I want to show the change from before fire touches an object to essentially and most literally the nothing and death that can be left by it. Most specifically I want to focus on the aftermath, the detail of the ash of an object that once was, and how it has been manipulated and changed.

What motivated you to start this project? What inspires your creative process?

It is a project that I have always wanted to challenge myself to pursue. It is also so much different than all the work I have done prior to this.

Do you work in film or digital? Please describe any technique or process relevant to your project.

I have been shooting a variety of film and digital for this project so far. The work at this point is a variety of medium and large format film that I scan, edit and print digitally, along with digitally shot prints.

Is this a new project or a continuation of previous work?

This is a completely new project for me.

How has your work developed or changed over time?

My work develops the more work I put into it. The more that I shoot the more that I learn about what I want to do differently or keep the same. This project is transforming as we speak, I believe, to be more about the aftermath and destruction of fire, rather than the act of burning itself.

What artists or works of art have inspired or influenced you?

Whenever I am asked this question my mind goes blank for some reason even though I am constantly inspired and influenced by other artists work. I am inspired everyday by everything around me. Some favorites off the top of my head are: Susan Derges, Nigel Poor, Nina Katchadourian, Stefan Sagmeister, Erik Spiekermann, Marian Bantjes, M. C. Escher, Willem Bosoph

What kind of response do you hope to get from your viewers? Is there a certain experience you want people to take away from your photographs?

I don’t necessarily want to evoke a particular response from viewers. I simply want them to evoke some kind of opinion and thought process in interest on a personal level. If nothing other than evoking some thought, that would be more than enough.

What is the ideal setting to view your work? Do you picture your photographs in a book? In a gallery?

I feel like I generally make my work to be displayed large, so a gallery setting might be ideal. Bookmaking/binding is a passion of mine as well, so I constantly see everything I do being transcribed in that form as well.

Do you have any ideas or plans for future work?

I constantly find new ideas for work to pursue, but it is either not the right time or not a developed enough plan. I cannot wait to have more time to pursue so many of these tangents simultaneously.

What do you see yourself doing after graduation?

I plan to travel as much as possible, for as long as possible, making as many pictures as possible along the way. I’m going to attempt to experience and see as much as I can until it is financially unrealistic. I’m going to continue making pictures, and I'll have so much more time to do so. I plan on working when I can whether it is in graphic design, photography, or what have you. At some point I might want to pursue graduate school but definitely not for a while.