GINA KROPF

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Gina Lumsden-Kropf is a photographer, writer, and mixed media artist currently residing in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. After many years of traveling around America, photographing, painting, sculpting and figure drawing, she finally returned to Raleigh, NC to graduate with her BFA in Fine Art. Kropf spent 20 years working in the photo studios of others and running her own before settling in Manhattan.

Gina employs various mediums such as digital photography & manipulation, analog /120mm film photography, acrylic paint, gilding, and sculpture to explore aspects of individuality, non-conformity, and the human figure. She translates her own thoughts and ideas onto canvas to find understanding of human nature and how her own life evolves and takes on new meaning. Her feet landed on the streets of the city in 2015, after too many years in the white-washed suburbs of America. This is where I held captive every unconscious bias towards others that were different than me. Endorphins soared with each scene I encountered, adding to the enormity of questions I already had about the world and its people. Images, caught in a split-second by the camera, fed her sense of curiosity, as well as her search for a place to call home.

The artists paintings are snapshots of momentary expressions. They take the form of collage comprising acrylic paint and old negatives, made in darkrooms during my BFA studies using methods including photo transfer, old toy cameras, and gelatin silver print.