Name: Brandon Snow
Primary Medium: Large format photographic silk screen prints, on linen, from my original photography.
Tell us about your upcoming exhibition:
Diamond Dust. Smoke. Protests. Rallies. Life. Death. Studio. Streets. You and I. The past few years, the nation has reached a breaking point; turned upside down, divided, and united. I have been documenting protests, rallies, and marches, for the past two years, and this show features some of my strongest work yet. I am bringing my viewers straight to the front line of these tense and hostile environments; exposing an interesting dichotomy as some rallies have brought beautiful acts of unity and others not so much. Titled, “Present Past | Tense”, these images showcase the present which will, hopefully, one day be the past; simultaneously these photographs look like the past but is the present. Similar to photographs like, The Kent State Shootings (1970), Self-Immolating Monk (1963), and many others, much of the new work is not meant to be “pretty”. It is meant to provoke conversation, preserve the harsh realities of the present, and remembering them, in the future, is crucial for keeping these events in the past.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I am working on the last piece for the show! A recent rally occurred, this May, yielding imagery for a last- minute piece. I should have just enough time to sneak it in!
What draws you to your medium?
The physicality of it all. I shoot with film, and develop the negatives in my bathroom for starters. Showcasing my best photographs through the silk screen process allows me to hand print my own work. No hitting the Print button for me. I had a few photos printed by CPU, before I knew what screen printing was, and was just unsatisfied. I felt like I didn’t really do anything. Additionally, in a world so saturated with imagery, I want a way to express importance. When I choose to make a large-scale silk screen out of one of my photos I am expressing that this image is important. Important to me, important to you, important to the future. So, important that I will invest a large sum of my own money into producing it, a large amount of my time into producing it, and I will produce it with an unmeasurable dedication of attention to detail and quality.
How long have you been an artist and how has your practice changed over time?
I believe everyone is an artist. It is just whether or not you explore that side of yourself or not; So, I, like you, have been an artist all my life but really dedicating myself to the artist inside for six years now. From the beginning, I just photographed. No reason. Just photographing anything and everything all the time. It wouldn’t be until 2012 that I would dedicate myself to teaching myself how to create photographic silk screen prints as big as I want. I am obsessed with creating work at the highest quality possible and you can see this evolution, in both materials and imagery, upon close examination of my work throughout the years.
In your opinion, what does the Austin arts community need as the city continues to grow?
The art community in Austin is really great, I love it. It’s easier to want more and to want something to be different or better but the community here is really great and I like it just the way it is and it just needs to not change. It can, should, and will grow but don’t change!
Bio:
Florida born and Texas raised, Brandon Snow (1990) infuses photography with large format silk screen printing on linen. Photographing with both film and digital, Snow works with an arsenal of cameras dating from the 1930’s to present day while still developing film in his studio bathroom. Snow’s work is often described as “timeless” with recurring motifs exploring the relationship of life and death, the good with the bad, and in recent work documenting current events. Snow’s dedication to quality and originality has catapulted his work to a national stage, early in his career, and it’s only the beginning.
Website: www.brandonsnowart.com
Instagram: @snowbrandon
