Interview with Nina Pak
My far from ideal childhood turned me toward the exploration of my internal landscapes. The struggle and the hardships I endured made me search deeper. Circumstances were such that I spent most of my time alone. As a child the only thing that seemed to fit my introspective temperament was art. The internal world became for me more complete and more real than the physical. I would create with anything I had available to me, which had to be experimental because I rarely had real art materials to work with. My unaddressed dyslexia shaped my perspective of the world and deepened my need to understand myself in relation to the mystery. Nothing was as it seemed.
As a teenager, discovery of European and Eastern religions, philosophies, and art invoked a passion that shaped my studies and influenced my own creations. I was greatly inspired by the Italian Renaissance and the philosopher Pico who spoke about the “Magia Naturalis” which combined art and science, and various enlightened methods of natural magic. This paradigm embodied the virtues and actions of natural forces and their effects on others. It was otherwise referred to as the marriage of Earth and Heaven.
This concept best describes my process as well as my perspective on the purpose of art. The “Magica Fausti” (magical elements) have always been incorporated into my art. Incorporating unorthodox amalgamations which are symbolic and sacred; at times wholly palpable and otherwise ethereal, my work reflects the natural world and the dream world. Art for me is an attempt to make physical what we see inside, or in dreaming. It’s an attempt to capture the elusive and make it tangible.
I believe that nature should be befriended. When we surround ourselves with natural beauty or uplifting elements, they complement and balance our lives, thus invoking a presence of well-being. Such an environment, filled with objects of art which inspire us, will improve our disposition and our health. I want to create works of art that have this affective potential.
Art and nature have been intertwined throughout history. The symbolism of four elements pervades both. These archetypes are imprinted on the human consciousness. I am deeply moved by them. I have a fascination with symbolism, which largely shapes my internal process. The element of mystery prevails in my work. My creative process is a life long search using the language of art to explore the depth of the enigma called life. For me this is a metaphysical exploration.
I work in many media: Digital and alt process photographic works, cards, hand-made books, visual journals, collaborative art books, design & layout, mixed-media: large paintings on canvas
Art in all forms fills my life with beauty. I am grateful to have the ability to touch the mystery, and express it in so many ways.More of her work:
Q: Your work is an outgrowth of your dreams, as is much of the work of Dalí and the Surrealists. At the same time, it seems that you do not consider your work surreal. It also has a strong spiritual component, like that of Mati Klarwein. Are you conscious of those parallels? How do you view your work, and are there more relevant comparisons?
If I were to identify myself with any surrealist painter it would have to be Remedios Varo. I am quite sure I have been influenced by her. I do love Mati Klarwein, and although not consciously it is possible I was influenced by his art as many of his paintings were the covers art for albums which were favorites in my youth. I am equally drawn to the Renaissance painters such as Botticelli, and Leonardo DaVinci, And the pre Raphaelite Painters such as Waterhouse. When I was painting in my twenties, my work tended to venture into to the surreal worlds of my dreams, and I want to go more in that direction with my work in general.
Q: Would you say you are simply sharing a personal journey through your work, or do you have a more specific message to convey?
I am not one of those artists who thinks about the work or plans. I don't do preliminary sketches or do research unless it is a commissioned work. So the concept that a message needs to be shared through my art, and should be, is not something I strive to do, at least not consciously. But I have learned that many artists do find inspiration in this way, my nephew, James Luckett, who is also a photographer, asked me once what question I am attempting to answer with my art. And I looked at him with such, amazement, awe... the idea had never come to me that anyone would do that. He went on to explain that he usually starts with a question and that leads him to discover what he wants to photograph, and in the process he comes closer to understanding what he was exploring, or answers the question. My process is completely different, I usually don't have any conscious mental activity going on, I just sort of daydream and work, and things come, transform and materialize, in different ways, I can use any materials, the process is always the same, I sort of loose myself in what ever I am doing. Later I sometimes stand back and observe what I have done and find unexpected things there. Or someone at a gallery opening might be talking about the symbolism in my work and I would find it interesting and curious, because it was not planned. So I would say if there is a message being shared in my work, it is coming through me, rather than from me.
Q: Much of your work is extremely layered, and the layers interact, rather than simply covering each other as they generally do in collage. Can you talk about what it is that draws you to creating such layered work, and what the layering means to you?
I developed a way of working with layers and masking in digital photography, which really came out of my dark room experiments with layering negatives, and other alt process experiments in wet lab photography.
I was grasping at the dream, how to capture that illusive feeling that a dream image has, the way the pictures in my dreams flow one into another, and that magical quality of things that don't quite behave the way they would in our physical world. I could never get it right with my paintings, but photography allowed me to layer images and blend them in a way that comes close to what I want.
Q: What is the role of the nude in the work that you do? Does nudity have
an intrinsic aesthetic meaning?
I find the human body beautiful, I prefer to work with a nude form, it's
easier to blend an unclothed figure with layers to make art. For me it
is not about a naked form, it is about the art. All those dishonest clichés
which are so characteristic of the nude in our modern world, are not a
part of what I do. I feel the human body is pure, lovely, honest. And I
like the simplicity of it. When a model is clothed it sets a theme for
the art, it places the model in time, and creates limits that I have to
work with. When the figure is just natural, I can do much more with it.
There are more options.
Q: Do you consider your models to be collaborators? Can you say a little about how you work with and give direction to your sitters?
Yes I do consider the work a collaboration. The models are allowing me to see into them, and pull something very private out, and put it into my art. They are trusting me to be respectful, careful and honest, and I try not to show them anything they are not ready to see. But sometimes that can happen, sometimes an image is just very raw with emotion and the model doesn't like to see that reflection of themselves.
I also ask my models to bring something to the shoot to inspire me, some prop or fabric or accessory. The wonderful part about this is that by seeing what they bring, I learn about them, and it also helps me to interact with them. I am a very introverted person, I would call myself an observer, but when I am behind the camera, I work fast, I know what I want, and I can usually communicate it in such a way that the model understands. If the model is young or inexperienced, and not able to relax, or if they feel shy for example, then I give them some guidance. I ask them to close their eyes and to just breath, and I ask them to move in certain ways such as rolling the neck or swaying their bodies, when I feel they have relaxed I begin to shoot. Music also helps, but it is not always possible to have it during on-location shooting.
Q: Aside from photography, you draw, paint, and make music and books as well. Your paintings often involve photographic elements, and your photography has a "painterly" quality. How do the other forms that you work in relate to your photography?
Every form of art that someone creates, reflects their personal style. And one form of art informs the other. For example my music is also layered and has a spiritual or mysterious qualities. Each media is attempting to do the same thing, to pull the dreams out and make them physical.
Q: Do you compartmentalize these practices — switching hats from time to time? How, or perhaps when, do you decide what will become a photograph and what will become a painting?
I think that compartmentalization is a gift that men have. They are able to do this, and focus on only that which they decide to give attention to at that moment. Women tend to embrace the whole, all at once. They are aware of many things at once, they don't get divided, I feel like it's always there, within the reach of my soul. All the work I could ever do, all the ideas, all the options, like a fullness that holds every possibility... I just pick up a tool: a brush, a pencil, a computer mouse, or a microphone, and then whatever needs to be expressed at that moment, just comes out.
Q: You have said that you spend hours in Photoshop working on images. Do you work on more than one image at a time, and how long might it take to complete one of your works?
Yes I have folders of images, I will sometimes finish an image in one sitting, it just comes together and I am pleased with it. It can happen in an hour or five hours, I never really watch the time to be honest. I sometimes forget to eat, because I get so lost in my work. At other times I will close an image and put it away for a time, work on another photo that pulls on my attention. Then at some later time, I will open the unfinished image and work on it more. Sometimes an image will linger with me for weeks or months before I find "that just right something" that tells me it is finished. I have hundreds of images in my files now that are in progress. But I should say also I am very flexible, if I have a deadline I can work faster, the result may be different than if I had more time with the image, but I can produce work that pleases me within the constraints of a time limit. I usually do this for my models, within a week after a shoot I give them ten images from the session, I really do not like to keep my models or stylists waiting for the finished work, especially if it is a collaboration, I feel it is only fair that they should have something to show for their time. The images I give them are completely finished, edited and layered in my style. Then over time I will play with one or two images from the shoot that I especially like, in my own time frame, and do something special with them.
Q: When you work on an image, are you generally working to refine specific ideas that you had when you shot the component material, or is the final work more the result of what emerges from the construction process in Photoshop?
I am not thinking at all about any particular ideas when I work, but inspirations seem to just come, and I pull from my files, this and that and put them together. As to refining, I just keep working on an image until it feels pleasing and in balance, and until all the flaws which I am aware of, are eliminated. At this point I just put it aside as finished, I never over work it.
Q: Where did you develop your digital technique?
Well I did do layered images when I shot with film, either by double exposure or in the dark room. It was wonderful and a bit different, very much more complicated. I do love the happy accidents that the film layering tended to produce, and the "one time", perfect prints that you just can never quite repeat because there are so many different elements and steps involved. And yes, that is because I was not the type of printer to make endless timed test strips. So it was mostly all done by feel. Then I began to do photo transfers of all sorts, I thoroughly explored this medium and found that I preferred the gel medium transfer process as it gives me a translucent skin with the inks embedded into the gel and this image can then be layered.
About ten years ago I began to seriously work with computer imaging. I had taken a few community college courses here and there from the time Photoshop first came out. But to be honest I did not feel inspired to pursue it at that time. I wanted hands on tactile work with my art. But then two things happened, first I closed my painting studio when I married a Russian man because those first three years of our marriage we traveled back and forth, so I rented the studio to a friend who needed a place to stay. Also, I had been using the dark rooms at the local community college for my photo printing, at that time I was making huge mural sized prints. But the administration changed and with it the rules for the art department. They decided that lab time would no longer be available for a fee, and you had to be enrolled in a photography class to use the dark room. So suddenly I needed to redirect my creative energies, and then I decided to learn Photoshop.
Q: Are you self-taught?
I learn best by example, show me how a tool works, and then I will explore it until I feel I know it well. I do not learn easily from a text book or tutorial. I am fortunate to have a husband who is a computer wizard, and he is brilliant. He is not an artist but he has training in desktop publishing and knows many programs. He also writes code and builds computers. He is my tech support, and my teacher when it comes to anything related to computers. For the most part, once I am shown the basics about a tool, then I learn on my own by experimentation, how to use that tool and its application for my art.
Q: You embrace digital, where many who have mastered film reject it. Is there something about digital that has made it easier for you to embrace it?
I like to be creative, to make art, that is what I do best, and that is what makes me happy. I try not to ever limit myself in that expression, I use what ever tools and materials are available to me at the time. Right now I have a digital camera, and a computer, but no access to a dark room, and no space to paint. So digital photography is my focus. I also love alt process photography and when ever I have an opportunity I make prints, then I do, I use what is offered, what is available. Life is too short to box myself in to only one expression. My only fear about aging or death is that I will not have enough time to do everything, to explore all that interests me.
Q: You are a member of the PPA (Professional Photographers of America). Do you think the organization offers anything specifically for the fine art photographer who specializes in nudes?
I have not found that PPA is very art oriented; it seems to be mostly supportive of any commercial photographic studio or commercial photographer. There are many classes and workshops offered, information and support for businesses. I have seen that some contests are taking place there, and yet have not taken part in them. I only recently joined PPA.
Q: Considering your long involvement with the Glendale Arts Council, have you had any official duties within PPA?
No, I have no official duties with PPA, nor do I seek them out. When I got involved with the Arts Council, I found that it was much more time consuming then I expected. I enjoyed it, I learned a lot from it, but at this time in my life I just want to make art. I am always happy to help, but I have learned how to be more discerning about what I take on, what responsibilities I agree to. I feel it is only fair that if you do a job, you do it well and give it all the time it requires. That means that you can end up doing mostly organizational work and have little time to make art. There may be a time, later in my life, when I choose again to do some volunteer or organizational work for the arts, It is very rewarding.
Q: Do you have any recommendations about professional associations that art photographers should be aware of?
My dear friend Patrick Alt, who works exclusively with the nude and is an alt process wet lab photographer, recommended that I join Community Zoë, it's an online gallery and community for Artistic Fine Art Nudes. I have not yet joined, but I am interested. I join so many on-line sites for art and photography, I tend to use Model Mayhem the most when it comes to finding models for a shoot. Talent Data Base is a useful site, for all types of creative mediums and there are galleries, magazines and publishers represented there. It is a good place to connect with people.