Blog 7: Presentations - Carlee Fernandez

The artist that stood out to me the most from the presentations we have seen so far has been Carlee Fernandez. I found her bear studies series to be exceptionally interesting. I like how Fernandez cleverly used real bearskins in her photography to express the unity of humans and animals. Fernandez’s photos from the bear studies present Fernandez half nude and half with a part of the bearskin. Fernandez being nude and with half of the bearskin on truly expresses how she wants to become the bear, yet she still represents the human side of her.  I found Fernandez’s work to be exceptionally different from the other artist’s we have been discussing in class. Fernandez’s photography art is raw, and has an interesting spin on animals. The fact that she incorporates a lot of animals into her photography sets her apart from other Chicana artists. A Chicana artist that has interesting, and similar work to Fernandez is Laura Aguilar. Both of these Chicana artists use photography to express themselves. Both Fernandez and Aguilar are not afraid to photograph themselves nude. Fernandez and Aguilar both incorporate elements of nature into their photography. What sets them apart in their photography is the meaning. Fernandez uses her photography to express unity with animals, while Aguilar uses nature to combat depression from her body.