7x7x7 Series: Kori Price
Published on October 1, 2019. Interview by 2019 Summer Intern, Caroline Carr Grant. Kori Price is a photographer, writer, and engineer living in Charlottesville. She will be the Spring 2020 New City Artist-in-Residence. Kori is our fifth featured 2019 artist in our fourth 7x7x7 Series, which asks 7 questions to 7 Charlottesville artists and published once a week for 7 weeks.
Image courtesy of the artist
If you had a free afternoon in Charlottesville what would you do or where would you go?
I would go to the Blue Ridge Parkway—I just love to experience the mountains from there. I would just want a chill and laid back kind of day.
Describe your artistic work in 7 words.
Changing how we choose to see ourselves.
Image courtesy of the artist
Who or what inspires your current work?
In my last job, we had an African American forum. A bunch of folks come together to think about how we can better support the community. We wanted to change up some of the things we were doing and I threw out the idea of exploring black hair. I became really interested in this and read about black identity and black hair. I went and talked to Barber Shops and Salons around the area. Then, I shared a photo every day of Black History month, which is 28 days. So many people have so many stories about how they represent themselves through their hair. Through this work, I learned more about why I felt more comfortable when I went natural about 5 years ago. It marked such a confidence shift for me. I know there is more to be told around this and I want to continue to explore this and share this with the community.
Consider one piece you’re working on right now. Give us a snippet of your routine—from start to finish, what goes into making it?
I am currently in the process of trying to focus my ideal down. I recently went to a Chihully exhibit and they encourage photos of the work. I had my camera with me and something in my head thought about the fact that anyone can take a picture of his physical work but I was really interested in the shadows and color patterns that were created by the work. So I would photograph the light casting down across the back wall—but without including the physical work in the image. How can you capture something about the feeling of the work without showing the form of that work? I intentionally unfocused the camera. It’s almost emulating the feeling of taking a pair of glasses off and experiencing the blur of the world. You are just appreciating the shapes and the intensity, or lack thereof, of the color. The idea is to create a collection of things where you notice and shape and the color rather than the physical object itself. How can we train our minds to appreciate color, and shape and intensity?
What have you learned about yourself as a person through the experience of making art?
So much. It’s been a battle with imposter syndrome. It’s just so sneaky. For me, art has helped with validating myself, and teaching myself confidence in my ability to create from myself and my own ideas. I love having the freedom to play with ideas that I’ve always had. I love trying a new idea and watching it work out.
What would you like to see happen in Charlottesville to better support artists in our community?
I would love to see more opportunities for networking with different artists from the community. I would love to see a place where artists can consistently come together to meet each other and share ideas and all kinds of art—from writing to visual arts, etc…
What is currently on your studio/work desk?
I usually either have wine or coffee around, depending on the time of day. There are always snacks around, too! I always have external hard drives around my desk. I also have a colorful stack of notes always sitting around with various ideas and inspirations. I have an old film camera and it reminds me to not take everything so seriously. You’re not going to see what is there until it get develops—it reminds me to really spend time composing a shot.
Image courtesy of the artist
The opinions expressed in this interview are solely those of the artist and do not necessarily represent the policies or positions of NCAI.
Originally from Culpeper, Kori Price has been proud to call Central Virginia home for most of her life and is passionate about telling the stories of her community and of her clients. Kori holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and seeks to maintain balance between her technical and creative interests with her work. During her residency, Kori will explore black hair, culture, and identity through photography, building on her 2018 series: 28 Days of Black Hair.