amandine nabarra-piomelli

In 1995, I moved from Paris, France to California where I found myself immersed in the West Coast art world and it transformed my dreams. As a young man, my father was a street photographer and we always had an enlarger set up in a closet turned into a dark room everywhere we lived.

My work starts with a photograph and I let the image take me on a journey. I usually decide to work on an idea that is intriguing to me like fantasy worlds – Imaginary Biology - or human experiences – Secret Love, The Caretaker. Sharing mental visions and visual stories requires unusual printing supports. It can be a special paper that I hand-coat with albumen or gesso, a system of thread that allows the image to float, a sonic montage or a sequence that will lead to creating an artist’s book. It is an exciting challenge to transform an abstract idea into something palpable that can be shared with others.

Amandine has exhibited widely over the last ten years. Her work is included in numerous American and European private and public collections like New-York Public Library, University of California-Los Angeles Special Collections, among others.

The OC Art Blog
Contemporary Art in Orange County Artist Intv.
Amandine Nabarra Piomelli

January 17, 2008

I'm happy to introduce a new regular feature to the OC Art Blog, artist interviews. I'm also happy to introduce my friend from France, Amandine Nabarra Piomelli as our first subject. Amandine is now based in Irvine and consistently shows in our area and is now starting to show in LA and beyond. Enjoy:

1. Tell us about your work.
When I moved from Paris, France to California I found myself immersed in the west coast art world and it transformed my dreams. As a young man my father was a street photographer and we always had an enlarger set up in a closet turned in to a darkroom everywhere we lived. Photography has always been important in my life but it wasn't until I learned digital photography that I became serious about my work. Photoshop allows for experimenting with the subject matter as well as with the printing supports and I have taken advantage of both: creating my own paper, blurring the border between painting and photography, and building structures with images. I have been working on two ongoing projects. The first one is called Imaginary Biology which deals with our perception of nature and the second project explores different aspects of narration through sequencing, installation and artists books.

2. What artists have influenced you and how?
Caravaggio is one of the few masters I keep in mind at all times. He had a passionate/rebellious heart and his work is amazingly spiritual. Also, Frederick Sommer's inventive and surreal images remind me to keep searching for artistic possibilities. For Imaginary Biology: Fauna I revisited Jean Simeon Chardin and I looked at the work of Michiko Kon and local artist Carlee Fernandez.
For my narrative work, Secret Love, I looked at a lot of impressionist art, book artists and I'm carrying out extensive research on the meaning of secrets in literature as well as in ordinary peoples lives. Other artists who inspire me at the moment: Annette Messager, Doug and Mike Starn and Christine Nguyen for their use of paper and their experimentation with installations. Lately, I saw the exhibit of Luc Delahaye at the Getty Museum and I have been struck by his "historical" large format photographs.

3. What inspires you to make work and how do you stay motivated in the studio?
Sometimes taking a picture allows the reunification of the self with the world. The experience of the moment adds intensity to the image. With digital photography there is an option to subtly manipulate the image to truly emphasize the intuition which guided the process. I am trying to make images that reflect the complexity of my intentions, which in turn define their own inherent world. There is a kind of urgency when I realize a project...something like an instinctive energy coupled with an intellectual curiosity and when they both work together it feels like poetry. It is for these moments that I work so hard.

4. Give us your thoughts about the benefits and challenges of being an artist in Orange County?
There are a lot of great artists in Orange County. OC doesn't have the appeal of LA or New York and it's easier to network, be accepted and exhibit. There are institutions that strive to promote OC artists from museums to cultural centers to individual intuitive like The Office. Nonetheless it seems difficult to present experimental art and if we want to sell art we need to reach galleries and agents in big cities where the art market is more developed. To facilitate the transition, I became a member of the Los Angeles Art Association this year and enjoy the opportunity to meet curators, collectors and gallery owners and to sell work.

5. What shows/projects are up next for you?
I will expand my work on "Secret". I am fascinated by the fact everyone of us has secrets and how they shape our destiny. It will take the form of a pop up installation.
Traditional photo papers feel two dimensional and uniform so by hand coating them with different substances (albumen, gesso) they became more tactile and sculptural. It took me six months to make my own paper for Imaginary Biology: Fauna because I wanted the printing support to look like skin. Lately, I have been printing with Mac Holbert at Nash Editions and I came out of our meetings with more experimental ideas to try for the next series on artificial flowers in laboratory settings.There are talks for a solo show in Los Angeles and an important meeting in France to find a date for an exhibition...It's an exciting.

Hiromi Paper Int’l. Winter 2006, Vol. 12 #4
Inkjet prints on albumen hand-coated gampi
Amandine Nabarra-Piomelli

I was first introduced to Japanese paper (washi) for digital printing while visiting Mac Holbert at Nash Editions. He was kind enough to spend time showing me different projects he had been printing. Before I left, he gave me a sample of some work printed on a gampi paper the thickness of tissue paper. It was fascinating to see such a colorful image on a delicate paper. I realized there was a wide range of papers I could experiment with, but it wasn’t until I started a tunnel book made of a series of photographs I took in Europe that I felt the need to search for a different type of paper. The tunnel book required gluing and folding. It had to be opened and closed several times to experience the three-dimensionality of the work. I needed a sturdy yet flexible paper that could bend and extend without tiring. I went to Hiromi Paper and to my surprise found washi papers coated for digital printing. I tried KM2 Shikoku White with great success. The paper had a warm quality that enhanced the pictures shot at night while resisting the rough handling.

I showed my next project, Imaginary Biology, at The Office gallery. Seeing the large format photographs on a commercial paper I felt the concept needed improvement even though it had good reviews in the press. There was a delicate balance to strike between the subject matter and the printing support. The series needed be to worked further. The photographs are made of pieces of animals paired or juxtaposed with other elements to create sculptural installations. They are photographed floating on a white background. I imagined a paper that would look like skin, with wrinkles, roughness and the transparency of the epidermis. Suddenly, using a gampi paper like the one Mac had showed me made sense.

Washi made from gampi is strong, crisp and has a pearl-like luster. It is smooth to touch and mellow in tone. I used gampi HP 12 because of its transparency but the overall aspect was dull. This was remedied by coating the paper with albumen (egg white), an old recipe photographers used mainly during the second half of the 19th century. When dry the gampi paper wrinkles, gets shinier, more transparent and it can be worked in a lot of ways. The albumen preparation must age for one week and then once coated on the tissue, it takes another 12 hours (overnight) to dry. According to the recipe the paper should be immersed in the albumen for a short while and then dried. But the gampi paper is too thin and I wasted a lot of sheets trying to do it this way. Now, I brush the albumen on the paper and delicately carry it to the hangers. Since the egg white has aged for a week, it has a strong smell when coated on the paper, which goes away after a few days. The next challenge was to feed the gampi paper in the printer (Epson R-2400). I wrapped the paper around an Epson Watercolor-Radiant White sheet. The Epson paper has the right thickness and size so it is easier for the printer to recognize it. I tried using ordinary freezer paper but it was not thick enough. I feed the printer manually from the front so the papers stay flat and don’t get caught in the wheels. Usually when printing with a paper that is different from the ones sold by the printer’s company it is recommended to have a profile made. Unfortunately, it cannot be done for the gampi tissue paper because of its transparency. I used the Epson watercolor paper’s profile and it worked beautifully.

Each piece of washi is different by nature. For example, there are pieces of Mulberry in the gampi paper that add a natural touch to my photographs. It echoes the pieces of the animals in my images in a very subtle way. To keep the natural look of my exhibition prints, I deckle the edge of the paper. It is tricky because the gampi paper is made of long fibers and doesn’t want to tear evenly. In all, I have created a series of 20 prints in an edition of 6, but because each print is hand coated and each gampi sheet is different, no two prints are alike. The contrast between the crisp digital photographs and the delicate paper is striking. The images seem to breath life.

Thank you to Rick Steadry for reviewing this article


		Biography In 1995, I moved from Paris, France to California where I found myself immersed in the West Coast art world and it transformed my dreams. As a young man, my father was a street photographer and we always had an enlarger set up in a closet turned into a dark room everywhere we lived. My work starts with a photograph and I let the image take me on a journey. I usually decide to work on an idea that is intriguing to me like fantasy worlds – Imaginary Biology - or human experiences – Secret Love, The Caretaker. Sharing mental visions and visual stories requires unusual printing supports. It can be a special paper that I hand-coat with albumen or gesso, a system of thread that allows the image to float, a sonic montage or a sequence that will lead to creating an artist’s book. It is an exciting challenge to transform an abstract idea into something palpable that can be shared with others. Amandine has exhibited widely over the last ten years. Her work is included in numerous American and European private and public collections like New-York Public Library, University of California-Los Angeles Special Collections, among others. The OC Art Blog Contemporary Art in Orange County Artist Intv. Amandine Nabarra Piomelli January 17, 2008 I'm happy to introduce a new regular feature to the OC Art Blog, artist interviews. I'm also happy to introduce my friend from France, Amandine Nabarra Piomelli as our first subject. Amandine is now based in Irvine and consistently shows in our area and is now starting to show in LA and beyond. Enjoy: 1. Tell us about your work. When I moved from Paris, France to California I found myself immersed in the west coast art world and it transformed my dreams. As a young man my father was a street photographer and we always had an enlarger set up in a closet turned in to a darkroom everywhere we lived. Photography has always been important in my life but it wasn't until I learned digital photography that I became serious about my work. Photoshop allows for experimenting with the subject matter as well as with the printing supports and I have taken advantage of both: creating my own paper, blurring the border between painting and photography, and building structures with images. I have been working on two ongoing projects. The first one is called Imaginary Biology which deals with our perception of nature and the second project explores different aspects of narration through sequencing, installation and artists books. 2. What artists have influenced you and how? Caravaggio is one of the few masters I keep in mind at all times. He had a passionate/rebellious heart and his work is amazingly spiritual. Also, Frederick Sommer's inventive and surreal images remind me to keep searching for artistic possibilities. For Imaginary Biology: Fauna I revisited Jean Simeon Chardin and I looked at the work of Michiko Kon and local artist Carlee Fernandez. For my narrative work, Secret Love, I looked at a lot of impressionist art, book artists and I'm carrying out extensive research on the meaning of secrets in literature as well as in ordinary peoples lives. Other artists who inspire me at the moment: Annette Messager, Doug and Mike Starn and Christine Nguyen for their use of paper and their experimentation with installations. Lately, I saw the exhibit of Luc Delahaye at the Getty Museum and I have been struck by his "historical" large format photographs. 3. What inspires you to make work and how do you stay motivated in the studio? Sometimes taking a picture allows the reunification of the self with the world. The experience of the moment adds intensity to the image. With digital photography there is an option to subtly manipulate the image to truly emphasize the intuition which guided the process. I am trying to make images that reflect the complexity of my intentions, which in turn define their own inherent world. There is a kind of urgency when I realize a project...something like an instinctive energy coupled with an intellectual curiosity and when they both work together it feels like poetry. It is for these moments that I work so hard. 4. Give us your thoughts about the benefits and challenges of being an artist in Orange County? There are a lot of great artists in Orange County. OC doesn't have the appeal of LA or New York and it's easier to network, be accepted and exhibit. There are institutions that strive to promote OC artists from museums to cultural centers to individual intuitive like The Office. Nonetheless it seems difficult to present experimental art and if we want to sell art we need to reach galleries and agents in big cities where the art market is more developed. To facilitate the transition, I became a member of the Los Angeles Art Association this year and enjoy the opportunity to meet curators, collectors and gallery owners and to sell work. 5. What shows/projects are up next for you? I will expand my work on "Secret". I am fascinated by the fact everyone of us has secrets and how they shape our destiny. It will take the form of a pop up installation. Traditional photo papers feel two dimensional and uniform so by hand coating them with different substances (albumen, gesso) they became more tactile and sculptural. It took me six months to make my own paper for Imaginary Biology: Fauna because I wanted the printing support to look like skin. Lately, I have been printing with Mac Holbert at Nash Editions and I came out of our meetings with more experimental ideas to try for the next series on artificial flowers in laboratory settings.There are talks for a solo show in Los Angeles and an important meeting in France to find a date for an exhibition...It's an exciting. Hiromi Paper Int’l. Winter 2006, Vol. 12 #4 Inkjet prints on albumen hand-coated gampi Amandine Nabarra-Piomelli I was first introduced to Japanese paper (washi) for digital printing while visiting Mac Holbert at Nash Editions. He was kind enough to spend time showing me different projects he had been printing. Before I left, he gave me a sample of some work printed on a gampi paper the thickness of tissue paper. It was fascinating to see such a colorful image on a delicate paper. I realized there was a wide range of papers I could experiment with, but it wasn’t until I started a tunnel book made of a series of photographs I took in Europe that I felt the need to search for a different type of paper. The tunnel book required gluing and folding. It had to be opened and closed several times to experience the three-dimensionality of the work. I needed a sturdy yet flexible paper that could bend and extend without tiring. I went to Hiromi Paper and to my surprise found washi papers coated for digital printing. I tried KM2 Shikoku White with great success. The paper had a warm quality that enhanced the pictures shot at night while resisting the rough handling. I showed my next project, Imaginary Biology, at The Office gallery. Seeing the large format photographs on a commercial paper I felt the concept needed improvement even though it had good reviews in the press. There was a delicate balance to strike between the subject matter and the printing support. The series needed be to worked further. The photographs are made of pieces of animals paired or juxtaposed with other elements to create sculptural installations. They are photographed floating on a white background. I imagined a paper that would look like skin, with wrinkles, roughness and the transparency of the epidermis. Suddenly, using a gampi paper like the one Mac had showed me made sense. Washi made from gampi is strong, crisp and has a pearl-like luster. It is smooth to touch and mellow in tone. I used gampi HP 12 because of its transparency but the overall aspect was dull. This was remedied by coating the paper with albumen (egg white), an old recipe photographers used mainly during the second half of the 19th century. When dry the gampi paper wrinkles, gets shinier, more transparent and it can be worked in a lot of ways. The albumen preparation must age for one week and then once coated on the tissue, it takes another 12 hours (overnight) to dry. According to the recipe the paper should be immersed in the albumen for a short while and then dried. But the gampi paper is too thin and I wasted a lot of sheets trying to do it this way. Now, I brush the albumen on the paper and delicately carry it to the hangers. Since the egg white has aged for a week, it has a strong smell when coated on the paper, which goes away after a few days. The next challenge was to feed the gampi paper in the printer (Epson R-2400). I wrapped the paper around an Epson Watercolor-Radiant White sheet. The Epson paper has the right thickness and size so it is easier for the printer to recognize it. I tried using ordinary freezer paper but it was not thick enough. I feed the printer manually from the front so the papers stay flat and don’t get caught in the wheels. Usually when printing with a paper that is different from the ones sold by the printer’s company it is recommended to have a profile made. Unfortunately, it cannot be done for the gampi tissue paper because of its transparency. I used the Epson watercolor paper’s profile and it worked beautifully. Each piece of washi is different by nature. For example, there are pieces of Mulberry in the gampi paper that add a natural touch to my photographs. It echoes the pieces of the animals in my images in a very subtle way. To keep the natural look of my exhibition prints, I deckle the edge of the paper. It is tricky because the gampi paper is made of long fibers and doesn’t want to tear evenly. In all, I have created a series of 20 prints in an edition of 6, but because each print is hand coated and each gampi sheet is different, no two prints are alike. The contrast between the crisp digital photographs and the delicate paper is striking. The images seem to breath life. Thank you to Rick Steadry for reviewing this article