Artstagram: How the #100DayProject inspired a B.C. artist to paint again
An Instagram challenge prompted Betty-Ann Lampman to ramp up her productivity
Name: Betty-Ann Lampman
Handle: @balampman
Betty-Ann Lampman left serious painting behind when she finished her art degree. That was in 1989. But an Instagram challenge prompted the Victoria, B.C. artist to pick up her brushes earlier this year — and the striking results have reportedly led to upcoming gallery shows in Toronto, Montreal and her B.C. hometown.
Lampman's an artist, and you can find a variety of her illustrations and collages at her web site, balampman.ca. But as she told the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper, commitments and day-job demands often put her creative career in the backseat. That's where the #100DayProject came in.
What could you do with 100 days of making? That's the challenge issued by #The100DayProject. It's an annual social-media happening that's open to anyone, and when this year's campaign began in April, Lampman picked up the gauntlet. She chose to paint portraits — each image inspired by Marina Abramovic's 2010 MoMA exhibition, The Artist is Present.
Her first portrait for #100DaysOfTheArtistIsPresent was also her first attempt at painting with acrylic ink.
"It was hard to get past the rusty part," Lampman told the Times-Colonist. "You go to do it and think: 'Oh god, I'm so crappy now.' I pushed past that. [...] I guess it kind of showed me what I could do."
Her first post:
Her resurgent productivity also showed the art world. In addition to upcoming shows, beginning with an October exhibition at Victoria's Martin Batchelor Gallery, she caught the attention of Marco Anelli. He's the photographer behind Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramovic, the photo book Lampman referred to for each of her paintings.
Telling the Times-Colonist he is "really impressed" by her work, Anelli said: "Betty-Ann's paintings give all the faces a new interpretation in black and white while keeping precisely every single aspect and peculiarity."
Social media can be so much more than selfies and viral videos — it's increasingly becoming a scratch pad for emerging artists and other creative minds to show off their latest work. Artstagram curates the best visual talent on Instagram, helping bring a little more art into your daily feed.