Dealing with the laundry or making your morning cereal has never looked so difficult. San Francisco-based photographer Lee Materazzi finds a dark humour in the mundane tasks we care so little for; her photography places herself, her friends – and even her mother – in decidedly uncompromising positions.
Beautiful, haunting, contemplative – Materazzi’s work is all of the aforementioned and much more; quietly unsettling and deeply amusing, we caught up with Lee for a quick chat about her inspiring work…
Lee, where are you from, and where do you live/work from now?
I grew up in Miami, FL but have been living in San Francisco, CA for 3 years now.
Some of your images appear to be the result of horrifying, and bizarre, accidents; whilst in others there’s an element of humans becoming at one with their often mundane surroundings – care to put us out of our misery and explain a little about the thought process behind your work?
My work is a reflection of my relationship with everyday life; the frustrations, compulsions and inevitable dark humour. By materialising the scenarios in my work I am able to get closer to the mundane and for a moment laugh at it.
Some of your models find themselves in seemingly uncompromising positions – who are the willing participants in your artworks?
The subjects have been friends, myself and very frequently, my mother.
What’s the favourite part of your job?
When I get an idea for a scenario that I would like to create, it is always somewhat vague and outlandish. I enjoy taking the chance to materialize such ideas, improvising to make them work and seeing what ultimately becomes of it. I enjoy this process as it is always a surprise. I now shoot with digital, but I can relate this feeling to when I would shoot with film. I would drop my film off to the lab and days later it would be so exciting to open the pictures and see what became of it all.
The top 3 creatives who’ve inspired you…
This a constantly changing list…. Right now; Francis Alÿs for his mammoth yet intentionally futile projects such as “Moving Mountains”, Maurizio Cattelan for his wit and integrity, and lately the poet Rainer Maria Rilke for his beautifully tragic perspective on events that are commonly overlooked or brushed aside.
You couldn’t live without…
My family… Even though my 3 month old daughter is making it very difficult to do this interview.
What art could we expect to see hanging in your home?
I have made a lot of trades with friends/ fellow artists such as Tatiana Vahan, Aramis Gutierrez, Alex Kuechenberg, Manny Prieres and Sion Parkinson. My husband also makes surprise purchases sometimes. His last one was a picture of an astronaut looking at alien space craft…. Had to find a special spot for that one.
Any forthcoming projects or exhibitions you’d care to share with us?
I will be showing with Quint Contemporary at Art Projects during Art Basel in Miami, FL.
