“Wonder Power Activate – Form of Tema – Form of America”
Let’s just call it “T-America”.
Tema Stauffer’s got her finger on the trigger, Tema Stauffer’s got her finger on the pulse… Tema’s got the vibe, oh yeah, Tema’s got the energy, oh yeah… Tema is feelin’ it. Tema’s… an American girl, yes she is and Tema’s vibe is an American pulse. Like some others that I have featured here (Abeles, Simon), Tema is sort of a dangerous female ride, like a swirling-view looking out into the night sky from some sort of spinning-broken-cartwheeling-metal-dirty-no seatbelt-carnival ride, the sounds and smells emanate out from below in some sort of American blur, American show. The work is a cross section, perhap dissection or a worn-deck of cards with a painted-like-view on the back of each – disturbing and inviting – stark and empty but warm and cozy – black-white-yet all shades of serial-killer-white-trash-grey and good ol’ American violence baby, oh yeah, good ol’ uniquely-American violence hints at the core. Let’s call it a puzzle of sorts that fits together to form a certain view, form a feeling, take a shape, create some sounds. This fantastic photographic formica-counter Folger’s Blend is “imaginary-real”, yeah, that is what it is… “imaginary real”.
Many have mined this American-human-earth-God & man-made-landscape (Eggleston, Shore, Sternfeld… to name a few) and the surface ain’t even scratched… trust me – it ain’t even scratched. Don’t you dare think that it is played out… maybe in your head it is, but – it ain’t. Tema should go on with this and very, very, carefully, stir, blend, wind everything together, continue to build out this texarkana-desert-dog-trailer-park-fabric… an American gal-a dark Americana tale… broken-hope, violent-past-vast-present-future, full-empty-slipping, of beautiful sights and growling sounds…
Check Tema out… yeah, check her out.
Best,
Doug Rickard
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