Photo by Jenny Mauer
Georgia Ballas - Artist Profile
A photo of Georgia Ballas on display at the Wustum Museum alongside her work
How are dreams and memories interlinked? How are people influenced by the subconscious? For 24 years, Georgia Bellas has been exploring these questions in a variety of mediums from writing to puppetry. After moving from Boston to Racine in 2017, Ballas has made a name for herself in Racine with her art as well as her musical double act with her partner and poet Dan Nielsen.
Photo by Jenny Mauer
Transmission from a Disassembled Time Machine by Georgia Ballas
Work by Georgia Ballas on display at the Wustum Museum
Her latest project, “Transmissions from a Disassembled Time Machine,” shows her more visual artistic side as she incorporates film projections, audio media players and collaging to explore childhood, memory and the human condition. It runs at the Wustum Museum in Racine until November 22. Bellas met to discuss influences, mixing mediums, and how we can learn from artistic endeavors.
Describe your journey to becoming an artist.
I’ve been a huge reader since I was a kid and I think books led me to art. Stuffed animals were also huge for me as a kid; just a whole world of imagination. I did a photography course in college where I learned black and white photography and how to develop pictures. If I go back farther, when I was a kid, I remember we made books all the time with my sisters and friends. I was always writing and drawing, but I didn’t really think of myself as an artist until I was much older. After college, I just started to take classes, anything that interested me. I’ve done drawing, print making, film making, and working with textiles. I just like making things
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What was the process of choosing which mediums and materials to use for this exhibition?
It’s a very organic process for me. Nothing I do is linear, it’s more that I experiment with things and one thing leads to something else. I had the word “transmissions” in mind and that’s kind of what started it. I knew I wanted to visit themes of childhood and work with my stuffed animals and dolls. I wanted to bring together a lot of different mediums but also integrate them so there’s echoes of everything in all the pieces.
Photo by Jenny Mauer
Georgia Ballas Art Work
A piece of Ballas' art on display at the Wustum Museum
What do you think makes the subconscious such an appealing concept for artists to explore?
There’s so much more to life than what we see on the service in this capitalist world we live in. I think the subconscious, the world of the imagination, is a place that helps us survive this world and also see other possibilities to change it.
Did you learn anything new about the human condition or yourself when working on this project?
I learned to trust myself more: things go in cycle and aren’t always straightforward or linear. I learned to keep working and find the threads to weave together, even if it seems like things aren’t connected. I learned to just trust the process.
What do you hope people take away from your exhibition?
I hope it touches something in them where it brings up memories or connects them to their own childhood.
Where do you see your art going in the future?
I know I’ll continue making things. In the title, I say “Disassembled Time Machine” so these pieces will show up in other ways because we’re always taking things apart and putting them back together.
What do you hope to accomplish in the coming year?
I’m hoping to find a publisher for my poetry manuscripts, and I want to develop a new puppet show. I’m also working on a mini documentary about my partner’s art.
