Art
of
Women

My name is Mary Ruesen Strauss and I have been exploring photography here at AACC. I have a BFA in design and animation and a MA in liberal arts. After finishing my BFA, I took a position as an animator for a broadcast and motion picture design/FX firm in NYC. Less than a year into the job, I became the art director and later became the creative director for a broadcast group. I wanted to show it was possible to make money with an art degree. What I didn’t realize at the time was, as I moved further up, I was also moving further away from the creative process. I never had a chance to explore or develop myself as an artist; long hours and constant travel made taking classes or doing anything on my own impossible. I then spent twelve years homeschooling my children—helping them find their interests and develop their talents.

A little over two years ago, a catastrophe nearly killed me. The aftereffect ripped apart my life and set my creativity on fire. I began to get back into art. I started experimenting with mobiles and handmade books. I have been working with printmaking and letterpress, exploring philosophical ideas through images and typography. I have also been writing essays, short stories and now a novel, which I will create as a hand bound book.

I started taking classes here at AACC to learn American Sign Language. I am profoundly hard of hearing and thought having another way to communicate would be interesting. As a lark, I enrolled in Digital Photography 1. I thought I would learn to use this behemoth of a camera I have; I didn’t know it was a conceptual art class taught through the medium of photography. Professor Matthew Moore opened my eyes to photography as an art form: how to look and talk about image based art and how to look at the world through a lens. The way he teaches connected to me in a way that has set off a flood of ideas. He meets all his students where they are and encourages us to take risks.

Where am I going with this? I don’t know. In photography last year, I began exploring ideas of near death experiences and magical thinking. I am now taking Darkroom Photo 1: Black & White with Professor Moore. Working in analog is forcing me to think more when I’m actually taking a picture because I will not be able to alter the image as much as I would a digital image. When I’m taking pictures or working on Lightroom or in the darkroom, I completely lose track of space and time.