Ana Castillo Lopez ’21
Ana Castillo Lopez ’21 is among artists selected to be featured in the exhibition “Strange Time” currently on view at Atlanta Photography Group gallery. The exhibition is free and open through October 10, and may also be viewed online.
The works in this “fun, small print exhibition, featuring unique images” were selected by juror Barbara Griffin, an independent creative director, producer, and photo editor whose work ranges from photo shoot direction and production to exhibition curation to fine art photo book editing.
This is the Studio Art major’s first professional exhibition of her work. Lopez’s pieces were created in her Concepts in Photography class where she developed a photographic series called “Metaconsciousness.” The inspiration for the series came from the book “Simulacra and Simulation” by Jean Baudrillard.
“In this series, I attempt to depict the distortion of our perception of reality due to the excessive consumption of the perfectly curated media that is constantly being fed to us,” Lopez said about her work. “It represents our crippling relationship with technology and the consequences that this has on our own psyche, our own understanding of ourselves and others, how we understand and follow constructions that are not real, and how we come to pass on these structures that are ingrained in our societies from past-generations.”
Synthesizing the Conscious and Subconscious, by Ana Castillo Lopez
The senior’s initial interest in photography began in an Introduction to Photography class during her sophomore year. Before this course, Lopez was an Accounting major pursuing film as a hobby.
“A challenge that I continue to face is the cost of pursuing photography; it is an expensive medium. However, I have learned to make quality art with what I have because it is not about the looks for me as it is about the importance of the concept that I’m trying to depict. I have learned that I don’t need an expensive camera and all these different types of lenses to make good art. It is about my vision and being creative with the things that are around me.”
Neural Network, by Ana Castillo Lopez
As an immigrant who has been in the United States for five years, Lopez finds it hard to make connections in a career field where “who you know matters.” However, Professor of Art Christina Price Washington has been a significant mentor, helping Lopez enter the “art world” by encouraging her to find inspiration, teaching her how to prepare photographs for galleries, and inviting her to curator talks.
“I am very grateful to have been able to build such a close relationship with a professor,” said Lopez. “The fact that Oglethorpe is such a small school allows students to really get to know their professors and build a connection with them that you couldn’t do in a big school.”
Lopez is currently interning with the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and is a member of the Young Collectors Club of Atlanta.
Work by Ana Castillo Lopez and other artists featured in the Strange Time exhibit are available for purchase by emailing [email protected].
Image at top: Suspended Consciousness, by Ana Castillo Lopez
