The Forum: Vita Litvak

Vita Litvak

Intuition guides my practice; ideas are rooted in a feeling, a gut reaction and take form through observation and interaction with the world. In the act of photographing, I engage in a kind of dance, a struggle to distill the image from the scene. Organization, editing and installation processes are creative functions in which subliminal ideas come into consciousness. I utilize the photographic medium to explore a concurrent existence of two worlds – the exterior and interior.

While several prevalent themes reappear in the work it is my intention to avoid a singular thesis. I’m drawn to the diverse and enigmatic nature of the real, as well as its psychological implications. In investigating modes of perception and psychological being the work evokes universal themes of loss, isolation, impermanence, innocence and desire. These underlying concepts unite the work but also create a tension between the impenetrable surface of the image and its symbolic depth.

In sequencing and installations I use scale, formal and thematic variations to explore narrative and spatial possibilities. The photograph is an object that has power to express ideas autonomously and in the context of a large body of work. The numerous layers of meaning revealed when images are placed in proximity of each other create a complex and multidimensional narrative structure. The format and scale considerations explore ways in which a photographic object might effect and activate the three-dimensional space of the viewer.

Vita Litvak is an MFA candidate at VCU Photography. She and 7 other graduate art students from VCU, UVA and JMU participated in 1708 Gallery's Graduate Artist Invitational Forum on October 14th. Her work in part of the 1708 Forum show at Capital One in Richmond.