Hello!
Amy, image maker
Amy Caterina and Edwin Lands Daughter
Amy Caterina seamlessly merges what appear to be myriad interests into a compelling and evolving body of mixed media work. There is a literal thread that bands these photographic, fiber, video and installation works. Driven by process as content, Caterinas work follows her interests in the physical world revealed through her voyeuristic observations of others lives and relationships with ephemeral natural environments.
Grounded in the history of photography as a document, Caterina thinks about the evolution of the media as well as the process of documentation. Her photographic work flows between digital and analog processes depending upon the content. Her exploration of the document has led her to explore fiber art, mixed media, video and installation as process and catalogue for both her experiences and those around her. Amy understands the temporal nature of her various media and challenges the idea of permanence by creating work that exists in the physical world as ephemeral or in the digital world as an idea. This is Caterina's way of referencing the changes in her physical world from ecology to body.
Amy, educator.
Every student has an innate curiosity and a natural capacity to be creative, and, as a teacher, it is my goal to create an outlet for this creativity that is conducive with the ways technology is currently shaping education. There is interconnectivity between creativity, technology and the way students interface (or interact) with the world. I use teaching tools to make this interconnectivity accessible, engaging and impactful.
Creativity, play and experimentation are built into the learning pathways for all my classes. I use innovative solutions to visual problems that go beyond simply teaching the tools and technology. It is not enough to model the technology -- there has to be a shift in the student from passive listening to kinetic participation. My students call my classroom a “community,” and there is no greater compliment. I strive to create an environment that is both nurturing and challenging. I encourage an open exchange among students as well as between students and myself.
George Saunders, writing in The Braindead Megaphone “Don't be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.” I am the students’ advocate and their cheerleader. I want them to love light, seeing, and image-making, to welcome technology rather than be hindered by it. I encourage experimentation, embrace hard-fought success (and failure) and celebrate inevitable victories of all sizes. It is my job to help them develop and nurture a place in their hearts, minds, and daily practice for photography.