2023 Grad Show

Dominque L. Lievers

AUArts Grad Show path to the storm with dramatic sky

Photography

www.dominquelilysphotos.com/

My name is Dominque Lily Lievers, and within this statement, I will be talking about where I’m from, my interest in multiple photography styles, concepts, and how I incorporate them into my current practice. I was born and raised in a small town community called Westlock, Alberta; This is where I was first introduced to Adobe software, such as photoshop and lightroom, in my Media Arts and Work Experience programs starting in 2015. With the help of my Media Arts instructor, I was able to grow my passion for photography and further established a career interest in pursuing a Bachelor of design with a major in photography. Initially, in the first year of my degree, while taking photography 101, not only did I upon my skills as a freelance photographer, but I was also familiarizing myself with other areas of my creative expression that played a crucial role in the preparation of my practice. This included historical and sculptural aspects within photography. Due to the exposure to other mediums within the AuArts course planning guides, I was able to separate my artistic personas – Photographer and fine arts practitioner. As evidenced in the following images, my fine art conceptual influences are astrology, mythology, and topics in mental health. As a photographer, I leaned toward creating a profile for myself that I could build a portfolio with and expand on while simultaneously forming new relationships within my community, surrounding areas and clientele pool.
However, my current focus is the continuation of research in mythological stories and the manipulation of the narrative in my studio practice. Moving forward, I will be utilizing the knowledge gained from achieving my bachelor of design by acquiring the necessary equipment to build my future studio and online presence.


The studio would be a community space to learn and grow alongside other emerging artists with an interest in photography. But first, expanding the collection of my works for my social media is a priority so that the community space I envision can be created upon the foundation of my online representation. This concludes the subject of my concepts and current practice. For me, One can’t exist without the other in photography.

It all starts with you…

Pomona + The mango Within this piece, I wanted to capture Pomona, the Roman Goddess of Tree Fruit, Gardens and Orchards; Pomona protects fruit trees and cares for their cultivation. I wanted to capture the photograph and turn it into a painterly image within Photoshop with lighting that you’d see in paintings from the Renaissance or Baroque periods. Within the mango grad showcase, I intended to stick to my creative roots in fantasy photography while experimenting with nude photographs for the first time.
Oh, Persephone While researching Mythological stories, Persephone's story was the first I read upon when I first started researching. She was the Goddess of Spring, associating her with growth, fertility and love. Persephone got kidnapped by Hades, God of the Underworld, and became stuck there for six months out of the year thereafter when she ate seven pomegranate seeds, making her the central figure in a new cycle of life and death. After marrying Hades, She then became the Queen of the Underworld.

Mythological Goddesses

Within my practice, I’ve recently researched mythological stories, mainly surrounding gods and goddesses from Greek, Norse and Roman mythology. While exploring the stories, I created a plan thinking about posing, lighting, and props, as well as taking time to think about how I could take these stories of characters from mythological narratives and make them into my interpretation of them in a real-life form within photography.

Mythological Goddesses AUArts Grad Show ©Dominque.Lievers.16x20mango.Pomona.GoddessofFruit14x18
Pomona + The mango Within this piece, I wanted to capture Pomona, the Roman Goddess of Tree Fruit, Gardens and Orchards; Pomona protects fruit trees and cares for their cultivation. I wanted to capture the photograph and turn it into a painterly image within Photoshop with lighting that you’d see in paintings from the Renaissance or Baroque periods. Within the mango grad showcase, I intended to stick to my creative roots in fantasy photography while experimenting with nude photographs for the first time.

Mythological Goddesses AUArts Grad Show ©Dominque.Lievers.Persphone-Danielle2021
Oh, Persephone While researching Mythological stories, Persephone's story was the first I read upon when I first started researching. She was the Goddess of Spring, associating her with growth, fertility and love. Persephone got kidnapped by Hades, God of the Underworld, and became stuck there for six months out of the year thereafter when she ate seven pomegranate seeds, making her the central figure in a new cycle of life and death. After marrying Hades, She then became the Queen of the Underworld.

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