Summer of Selfish // Genevieve Texeira
Genevieve Texeira / NYC
how you came to be involved with Selfish:
I was fortunate enough to come across the website via google and then asked to be part of the 5th issue: Void of Course.
tell us a bit about the work you've selected / created to be a part of this particular show and why:
the pieces that I submitted for the show came about organically over a few years. It so happened that I kept taking these landscape-esque photos with a female at the forefront and begin to see a connection between the images and the mythology of elementals. This marriage of nature and people is something that we are constantly at war with but these images serve as a reminder that we were once existing together in a more balanced fashion than we are today. Also, the concept that inside of individuals therein lies that force, that spirit of nature of the elements - magick.
what are your current ambitions / intentions / desires as an artist? what themes are you currently exploring through your work?
I've been making art since I was a kid and I had thought that when I went to college, afterwards it would be - I don't want to say easy, but that it would happen for me and I could support myself. I was wrong. I went to film school and then we went into a recession. A dream I thought was long since dormant has been revived over the past few years through photography. I enjoy the duality and unconventionality of things - I feel that in the space between lies mystery and a beauty that we rarely see.
what does summer evoke for you, and how does it affect / tie into / play out in your process?
I'm my most creative during the summer and I feel people generally whether they dislike the summer or not are a little more free. I enjoy the long days, I feel like I don't have to sleep and therefore can do and experience everything. Summer is steeped in a nostalgia that permeates your cells, you can feel the 5 year old you want to run through an open hydrant or sprinklers. I feel that ends up leaking through to my work and projects.
tell us about your most recent work and what it means to you:
I actually shot my best friends engagement photos. They came to me wanting to just shoot in a library and it was challenging shooting in public locations with two introverted individuals, but being able to feel them out and make them comfortable in the moment was a great experience. The photos themselves were very not very "engagement" photo like which was extremely important to me and all parties involved, and I got to do something for someone who means a lot to me. I got to make art that shows their love and commitment to each other. What more could you want in a project?
find more of Genevieve here: @texterror