美国国家公共电台 NPR How Do You Dream Up A Cockatoo Feast? An Artist Explains In 'Imaginarium'

 

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Looking at Claire Rosen's photographs can feel like walking into someone else's dreams.

CLAIRE ROSEN: I have a very sort of whimsical, surreal view of the world that is deeply rooted in magic and fairy tales and this idea of archetypes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Her fantastical images feature things like toy horses in flight or turtles enjoying a sumptuous¹ feast as if at their own Last Supper. Even though she's only in her early 30s, Rosen has had a successful career as both a fine art and commercial photographer. Her new book "Imaginarium," seeks to help people forge their own path as artists, starting with finding their inspiration which for her began in childhood.

ROSEN: When I looked back at the things I was doing in my childhood and the things that I cared about then, they really imprinted³ this aesthetic⁴ on me that is carried through my work. For example, I spent a lot of time at the museum of natural history when I was little, in New York. And, you know, my mom jokes that I would cry when we had to leave because I wanted to crawl into the dioramas with the animals and stay there. And we would go to the Met frequently, and I would get lost in those paintings.

And even recently, you know, I thought I was very original with my animal feast project. And I dug up a bunch of my childhood books, and there all these wonderful children's illustrations of animals eating dinner and having parties and carrying on in anthropomorphic ways. And I thought, you know, I am not being particularly original. I saw this when I was 5 years old. And I find that if you look at a lot of artists' work and a lot of just innovative⁵ people, their childhoods have left such - I think we all - our childhoods have left an impression and an imprint² in terms of what we care about and what we do in our adult lives.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This book is for photographers. But there is something there for anyone who wants to be creative. What advice do you have for someone like me or our listeners who want to find inspiration?

ROSEN: Sure. I think that it's amazing if you can take control of curating the imput of your life that you are actively⁶ seeking out knowledge and information and experiences that are interesting. I think it's very easy to get sucked into a very busy, monotonous⁷ work life. And, you know, when you get home and you want to unwind, all you want to do is sit down and watch Netflix. But I think to fight that, to actively curate your life so that you are having interesting experiences in the world and that you have something to reflect upon to bring back to whatever it is you do in your life.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meaning what, when you say curate - go out and and make sure that you're having interesting experiences with people, going to a museum, basically enriching your life, making time for that?

ROSEN: Yeah. I would say that it's a very - but I don't know that it has to be the sort of traditional formula of going to a museum. Maybe you take up archery. Maybe you are doing pottery⁸, but you're really a banker. You know, maybe you're going to see a talk on a field that has nothing to do with what you do or traveling. But that you are seeking out experiences outside of your comfort zone, that you are experimenting and exploring and figuring out what it is you actually like. You may come across something that you never knew you were interested in.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Photographer Claire Rosen, her new book is called "Imaginarium."

Thanks so much for being with us.

ROSEN: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF AMIINA'S "PERTH")

1 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

2 imprint   

n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记

参考例句：

• That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
• Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。

3 imprinted   

v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The terrible scenes were indelibly imprinted on his mind. 那些恐怖场面深深地铭刻在他的心中。
• The scene was imprinted on my mind. 那个场面铭刻在我的心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

5 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

8 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。