Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Maria Efimova
Soap by aspiring HS Maria Efimova
Fresh from the entry pool, today’s Hot Shot hopeful has found a fan in me. Maria Efimova’s work is clean, crisp, a little creepy, and, of course, gooood looking. Her images pinch my not too infrequent desires for domesticity. They smell of lysol rather than febreze. These lifeless spaces scream all kinds of reprimands right at my lifestyle. They remind me of my grandmothers and the South, of the thought - your home is your calling card.
In Maria’s words…
For the past few months I have been taking pictures indoors, in my rooms or rooms that belong to other people, in rooms that have changed hands or no longer belong to anyone. I am interested in looking at these spaces because looking seems to me to be a way of organizing, understanding, and integrating (or not) what is around us in the world.
She goes on to quote Alex Katz’s words on art as a way of “working with what you don’t understand, not what you think you understand all too well.â€?
Her simple site [which you should go see this very second] features many an amazing image, I selected Soap not only because I think it’s beautiful and all that, but also because a) I just spent the past half hour in Duane Reade trying to decide which soap would be the kindest to my skin and b) I mistook the top piece of soap for a slice of lemon and I am dying for a glass of such.
Her site also includes images of recent paintings. Take a moment to enjoy this pair - Norfolk and Yellow Walls. Then for a little somewhat relevant fun, go read this classic. And to top the afternoon off, enter the Fall 2007 Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! before you realize that it’s too late.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Interesting photos. A good find, very lovely colors.
October 18th, 2007 at 7:18 am
The contrast between the yellow soap and the bathtub makes the rest of the photograph seem almost B&W. The curve of the bathtub is very nice. I agree the soap does look like something you could eat! mmmmmmm