Gallery Intern Reflection

MADISON FLOOD

GALLERY INTERN reflection

A new way of perceiving and interpreting information

As I hunch over my laptop in a Latvian cafe, stress drapes its weight over me. In two hours, how do I articulate a reflection on the two years of path-altering mentorship and involvement at the Institute for the Humanities? In an attempt to decompress and recollect, I take a ten-minutes-of-blankly-staring-into-basketwoven-lampshades break and realize that “looking up” is a lesson that I have learned from Amanda Krugliak, curator of the Institute for the Humanities Gallery and my mentor, time after time.

It began with my enrollment in Amanda’s minicourse during the spring semester of 2020, where she encouraged students to think visually about their academic research and interests. Her practice was my first glimpse of the arts at the University of Michigan, and the final assignment of translating my activist interests into a PowerPoint proposal for an arts installation felt surprisingly natural to me. It was actually fun, a feeling I had hardly associated with my U-M studies. After the minicourse was complete, the turbulence from the pandemic threw me off my intended course of study, opening opportunity for deep reflection and change. During this time, I decided that the alignment that I felt with the humanities was something I would continue to explore. I began interning at the gallery in August 2020. I consider this experience to be my formal introduction to the art world, and Amanda gently guided me through this new way of perceiving and interpreting information. Although I withdrew from classes halfway through the semester, leading to an 18-month break from studying at U-M, my position at the gallery persisted. As I developed my own relationship to and practice within the arts, Amanda adaptably provided me with mentorship.

Upon returning to my studies in January 2022, I was overjoyed to return to the position as gallery intern. Through this internship I have gained exposure to various artists and their practices, a cohesive view of curation, and a gentle evolution of visual thought. And from this I have birthed my own artistic practice, currently based in Riga, Latvia, where I am preparing for my first publication of poetry and collage work. I would not be here without my involvement in the institute. My position as gallery intern has been one of the cornerstones of my time at U-M, and for that I have the utmost gratitude.

—Madison K. Flood, gallery intern

How to Build a Disaster Proof House installation, Tracey Snelling.

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projected amateur footage of life in the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming, captured by Naokichi Hashizume in February 1945. This short film documents Japanese-Americans interned in the camp making wreaths of paper roses, a way to honor loss at a time when fresh flowers weren’t available. Saldamando’s mother’s family was forced into the internment camps because of their Japanese descent. While at U-M, Saldamando engaged U-M students in flower-making and conversation, creating the space for human connection through crafting. Saldamando and students shared stories, histories, and their feelings navigating through the challenges of the present day. The flowers were then installed on a section of chain link fence and mounted in the Osterman Common Room, creating their own makeshift memorial to honor their experiences together.

canvas, wood, paper, and cloth. The work functions as homage, as well as documentation of friends and peers within artistic and musical subcultures around the Los Angeles metropolitan area. She is currently represented by Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: In When This is All Over/Cuando Esto Termine, Shizu Saldamando explored the many layers and intersections of individual and collective identity. Featuring people from the Latinx art scene, queer clubs, her native Los Angeles, and a family both Mexican-American and Japanese-American, Saldamando’s portraits honor those closest to her in a time defined by isolation and disconnect. The images, mostly in oil and mixed media, include handmade papers, glitter, and gold leaf that trace back to the craft traditions of Saldamando’s multiethnic heritage. RELATED EVENTS: • Special evening viewing with Shizu Saldamando in conversation with Curator Amanda Krugliak

The Small Details exhibition.

• Numerous workshops where students learn how to make the same paper flowers created in the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII.

HOW TO BUILD A DISASTER PROOF HOUSE Tracey Snelling

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Through the use of sculpture, photography, video, and large-scale installation, Tracey Snelling gives her impression of a place, its people, and their experience. Often, the cinematic image stands in for real life as it plays out behind windows in the buildings, sometimes creating a sense of mystery, other times stressing the mundane. Snelling’s work derives from voyeurism, film noir, and geographical and architectural location. Within this idea of location, themes develop that transport observation into the realm of storytelling, with reality and sociological study being the focus.

Snelling’s core skill as an artist is to capture the essence of time and place, engaging with her surroundings and merging its residents, localities, and atmospheric peculiarities into her work. By exploring the immediate environment, studying every detail and extracting specific highlights, Snelling transforms the information into artworks, best described as 3-D non-linear sculptural films. Combining sculpture, video, light, sound, and sometimes even water and smell, they capture places and people at a specific time in history.

Tracey Snelling’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany; El Museo de Arte de Banco de la Republica, Bogota; the Stenersen Museet, Oslo; and the Sundance Film Festival. Her work was exhibited at the 2019 Havana Biennale and Venice Biennale.

ABOUT THE INSTALLATION: See article on page 28.

RELATED EVENTS: • Special evening viewing with Tracey Snelling in conversation with Curator Amanda Krugliak

• Numerous workshops with the artist. See article on page 28 for details.