Renée Ricciardi, Photo ’13
As a student at MassArt, I thought of myself strictly as a Photographer, and all other projects were independent from that. By taking a variety of courses, such as Ceramics, I learned how art processes inform each other. Like photography, ceramics is deeply based in chemistry and I learned how much art disciplines overlap. By the time I graduated I felt more rounded as a “maker.”
For my most recent project, Earth is an Island, I walked around the perimeter of a European nation. While trekking the circumference of Malta, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, I photographed the people and landscape. This body of work is equal parts performance, meditation, and photography.
I’m a beekeeper, and observing honey bees over the years influences the way I look at almost everything. A beehive is a superorganism, it’s a unit of individuals that cannot survive alone. Honeybees have a hierarchical approach to solving complex problems that we can learn from.
My project, Earth is an Island, similarly touches on themes of cooperation between groups of people with varied backgrounds and ideals. Togetherness will save our planet, which itself is isolated and it’s boundaries finite – like an island. I truly believe peaceful cooperation is the key to sustainability.
www.ReneeRicciardi.com
Instagram @Renee_Ricciardi
