Stefanie Schneider
Untitled (Traintracks) - based on a Polaroid
2004

Name: Untitled (Traintracks) - based on a Polaroid
Brand: Stefanie Schneider
Price: 800 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Untitled (Traintracks) - The last Picture Show - 2004 38x37cm. Edition of 5, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Signature label and Certificate. Artist Inventory No. 1057. Not mounted. Stefanie Schneider was born and raised in Cuxhaven, Germany but lives and works in Southern California. Exploring the American dream and capturing it with Polaroid instant film. Situated on the verge of an elusive super-reality, her photographic sequences provide the ambience for loosely woven story lines and a cast of phantasmic characters that reflect a part of the narrators life told from her perspective. Often about love, communication. sexuality and relationships. Schneider works with the chemical mutations of expired polaroid film stock. Chemical explosions of color spreading across the surfaces undermine the photograph's commitment to reality and induce her characters into trance-like dreamscapes. Like flickering sequences of old road movies Schneider's images seem to evaporate before conclusions can be made - their ephemeral reality manifesting in subtle gestures and mysterious motives. Schneider's images refuse to succumb to reality, they keep alive the confusions of dream, desire, fact, and fiction yet they also explore the relationship with the medium and the viewer. The wabi-sabi 'ness' of Schneider's work can not be denied or ignored. It's a step of acceptance of 'flaws', gaps and distortions. Missing pieces of the puzzle. The artist flaunts, uses and exposes the unknown using expired Polaroid instant film intentionally. Presents it. What you do with that is up to you. That missing part of the picture is for you to include yourself, you fill it in with yourself. That might be critical that it's there at all, missing and missing the entire point all together or by filling in the unknown with their own imagination. Even their own memories which then integrates the viewer and artist as one with limitless potential. Stefanie Schneider's Polaroid photography is often described as "timeless," "nostalgic," and "dreamlike." Her use of expired Polaroid film, with its unpredictable colors and textures, creates a sense of unreality in her images and creating a sense of fragmentation and ambiguity that blurs the boundaries between past and present, and it creates a sense of memory as a fluid, shifting concept. Schneider's interest in Americana motifs, particularly those associated with the 1950s and 1960s, speaks to a sense of longing for a bygone era. Her images of motels, diners, and vintage cars evoke a sense of nostalgia for a time that may never have existed in reality. At the same time, these motifs are often paired with images of decay and abandonment, which suggest a darker, more complex interpretation of the American dream. Schneider's depictions of women are also a significant aspect of her art. Her female subjects are often depicted in states of undress, but the images are not intended to be exploitative or objectifying. Rather, they are intended to explore the complexity of human relationships and emotions. Schneider's women are often depicted in moments of vulnerability, suggesting a sense of shared humanity and a challenge to traditional notions of female beauty and perfection. Overall, Schneider's Polaroid photography is a deeply evocative exploration of memory, nostalgia, and the human experience. Her art challenges viewers to question their own perceptions of reality and to consider the complex, shifting nature of time and memory.

Creator:

Stefanie Schneider (1968, German)

Creation Year:

2004

Dimensions:

Height: 14.97 in (38 cm)Width: 14.57 in (37 cm)Depth: 0.04 in (1 mm)

Medium:

Archival Paper,Photographic Paper,C Print,Polaroid

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2000-2009