Oliver - Week 7 - Shizu Saldamando

The moment I saw the work of Shizu Saldamando, I was taken with how it struck me. I think that needs to happen with art from the perspective of the viewer.  Saldamando concerns herself with people in their complex everyday nature, but she takes that everyday into a hyper focus that makes it extraordinary. Born and raised in the Mission district of San Francisco, Saldamando has lived in Los Angeles for many years where she does her work and is an artist in residence at Oxy Arts in Highland Park. The people around Saldamando are her inspiration and it people that are found in her work often through a unique and personal style of portraiture. 

Upon a four paneled bed of gold, a couple in the painting below embrace and kiss leaving no space between them. The painting is entitled Cat and Carm and was first displayed in 2008. I have found only two paintings that involve this use of gold leaf from Saldamando with the other entitled, Carm’s Crew. The massive use of gold leaf immediately makes a striking moment. The usage of space and its emptiness speaks to the artists Japanese heritage due to this usage of space often being seen in centuries of screen art in Japan. The usage of gold leaf also undeniable connects to the art of the Christian church and their glorification of their holy individuals. When going closer into the painting on the embraced couple a sort of magic occurs. The gold then acts as a way to highlight the gloriousness of the embrace and acts as a celebration. It’s as if the minds of the lovers in the embrace are also being displayed through the gold being that it is illuminous and full of wonder, richness, and a sense intense love. These are two ordinary people sharing a moment of their love, but through their position on panels and the glistening of the gold a moment of the ordinary is turned into a moment that celebrates, honors, and validates the individuals that have become one. Transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary through capturing a moment in time and the essence of people is the hallmark of Saldamando and one that she does with incredible individuality and skill.