Prana Machine
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Hot Still
🕑 Added 2019-12-22 17:47:13 +0000 UTCI never promised that I would upload uncensored IG pics right away. I posted this a couple weeks ago to honor one of my favorite self portrait artists. Evelyn Sinclair. She was hit by a train in Virginia in early October. She was doing some self shooting on the tracks, definitely nude. Doing her thing and feeling more alive than some of the nearby cubicle slaves or even people on the fuckin' train.
She was probably in the same self shooting trance I often seek on hard days needing distraction. I let the hypnotic creative haze wash over me and hours can go by while marinating in unnoticed physical discomfort. Or danger. I'll be hiking, bundled up, cold. I'll undress to shoot. Within the first few minutes all discomfort drops away just like the clothes that previously shielded me from the sharp air that now holds me gracefully still.
She died while I was in Bisti Badlands, doing my thing too. Before I went out I had screencap'd a couple of her legendary poses to try out myself. I had just gotten the Shot of the Day. Her pose. I hiked back naked, warm, giddy. I Found a pocket of cell service meant to notify me of her departure. I cried in the dessert. It was so tragically fitting. The now-heavy Shot of the Day became so much more. We were in touch to work together in 2020. We worked together this past fall instead. (I'll let you know when you can see it.)
Her style was a very deep and emotional portrayal of the human form. She had a nice camera and would shoot video that she would grab stills from to edit. She was an absolute badass m(art)yr who would travel for days, rent cars to sleep in all over the states, pull all-nighters for the right kind of light. She was twenty-fucking-one. She was in school. She was introverted and poetic. We needed her. We are so lucky to have seen her light for this while. I went out and shot some video on my point-and-shoot (note poor quality) in her honor once I was ready to do so. It's a hot spring tourist attraction in Durango on the side of the Million Dollar highway. Not for swimming as it doesn't have any pools. That's a blessing in this overloaded tourist town. It was a little bit too far past blue hour. My Prius headlights made it happen. The steam wafted nicely in the cold. It was snowing and below freezing, so I had to press against the mineral mound and its cascading walls for warmth. I got sick anyways. I had to run back and forth around the back for incoming traffic. It was chaotic behind the scenes like self portraiture often is. I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Thank you, Evelyn, for your pursuance of tender digestion on creative analysis and expression of Self. You helped so many just like me. I see you. Thank you.
It's a still, a hot one. Canon rx100. Cervical Nod got the video.
Comments
Roger Nehring
I have often marveled at how physically difficult some of your portraits look. I asked you about one of them and I remember you saying that you didn't mind dealing with a little discomfort in setting up a shot. I was fascinated to read about your difficulties and admire the fuck out of your commitment to your art. Obviously I admire the fuck out of your art too.(insert smiling starry-eyed emoji here). I love the look of the rock, the colors and textures are like a fantasy. The sharp angles of your knees and elbows make a wonderful visual counterpoint to the wet, soft-looking stone. The lighting gives a sense of danger. Really nice work.
Roger Nehring
I'm really sorry to hear about Evelyn, and I am sorry for the pain you feel at her loss. Your empathy for her artistic focus is insightful and helps me to understand how such a tragedy could occur. I really hope she was in a creative trance and locked in bliss at the moment of transition. If there is any continuation of consciousness after death, bliss would be the feeling I would want locked in.
