Amy Kaluzhny
Amy Kaluzhny is an interactive projection and new media artist who has exhibited at Temple University in Philadelphia and Cookhouse Gallery in England. She has a background in theatre, including costume and set design, experience which she has combined into her current projection video works. Amy describes her fascination with impressionist painting and how the art influenced her work by expressing dance as a “sensation to life in a more literal way, using modern technology and collaborative methods. I view each painting as a kind of stage—a space for visual movement where the work can metaphorically and physically ‘dance’ across the surface”.
Using either an interactive method of combining her paintings with projections of choreographed hired models filmed by Amy or straight video projections on various surfaces such as frames against the wall, she delivers a vibrant, nuanced, and sophisticated interpretation of motion to the audience. These combinative works reflect a deep desire to advance the visual arts beyond the surface of canvas and texture of paint with fusion of video motion. These projected films often contain colored lighting ‘painted’ onto the dancing figures, creating a contemporary interpretation of the art of dance.
The jointed and almost geometric postures of the figures in Amy’s paintings combined with the mechanical-like poses of the dance allows some pieces to give off the illusion of Egyptian hieroglyphic art, reflecting symbolism and iconography. These studies in motion laid against fixed figurative depictions offer a dichotomy between portrayals of two-dimensionality and capturing sustained movement. Through carefully imagined form and staged theatrics, Amy’s interactive projection works reveal how painted and lighting color, futurism-related mechanics, and contrasting 2-D and 3-D planes of figurative structure, creates a visionary realization of how integrating various artforms can lead to exciting and dynamic results.
Chromatic Flow (pictured above) most closely reflects symbolism of ancient Egyptian art through iconography and mechanical motion. The piece depicts a hired model, painted with colored light, as she sustains dynamic dance motion across the surface of the painting. With repeated visuals of the dancer, the work creates a hypnotic, trance-inducing effect, combined with hallucinogenic colors.
Amy Kaluzhny offers a promising career as a young artist with such advanced methods of visual communication. Her interactive approach creates a deep appreciation not only for her subject matter of dance, but also with stretching the boundaries of how we interpret sustained motion against two-dimensional surfaces. Beyond a filmmaker and painter, Amy can be described as a visionary who releases the tension of sensory experiences through methods which can be regarded as exciting and innovative. She remains a dynamic creator who has the viewer question and observe the value of evaluating a well-rounded visual experience beyond singular art forms.
