"Out of Nowhere" by Melissa Shaak
“Francoise” (color and silhouette) video still
Seven cutout figures reveal themselves in the slow weaving of their paths through light and shadow. The figures serve as trustworthy personas made manifest to help us navigate and mediate the world today. Each raises a torch, or scepter, holding the light, signaling and leading the way.
This five-minute video is part of an installation in which the figures are twice transformed. They step daringly out of their portrait paintings into space and time—first in sculptural form and then in video and performance art. This process of seeking and finding form is one filled with creative sparks and enigmatic turns. The invitation inherent in the work is to catch and take hold of the creative impulses that come, seemingly out of nowhere. The full installation will be on view in the exhibition “Out of Nowhere,” with artist Marcia R Wise, scheduled for March 2021 at Fountain Street Gallery.
It was this ensemble of oddly archetypal figures that compelled me to try my hand at video. It evolved into a creative collaboration of the highest order. Greta Bro is as wise and soulful as her music. The Puppet Showplace Theater’s Roxie Myhrum and Sarah Nolen embraced the cutouts on sight, and it is Sarah’s creative and technical genius that you see at work. Alex Ezorsky patiently taught me the basics of video editing, and Fountain Street video artists Allison Maria Rodriguez and Joseph Fontinha provided encouragement along the way. I am grateful to each one, as well as to my Creativity Lab colleagues, gifted teachers, and numerous dear friends for their wealth of inspiration and support.