Artist Interview: Savannah Calhoun

Savannah Calhoun is a visual artist based in Muncie, Indiana where she is a photography technician at Ball State University. Driven by the connection of being haunted by a ghost to the idea that media repeats itself, her art tells a story about how “hauntology” affects her life as an artist.

The artist mainly works with photography while experimenting with digital collage, augmented reality, and video works. She holds a BFA in Photography at Herron School of Art and Design and an MFA at the University of Missouri, and has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at galleries.

We asked Savannah about her art, creative process, and inspirations.

*Digital Art by Savannah Calhoun: House, 2022*

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

I am primarily a photographer working within digital photography, but have experimented with various digital media including digital collage, augmented reality, and video. I have always been interested in photography, but through my time in art school I gradually discovered its digital possibilities.

Since childhood, I have loved photography. In the early 2000s my mother worked at a photo lab and would often bring me film or disposable cameras to shoot. Eventually I decided to study photography at Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I am originally from. I later went on to pursue my MFA at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. In graduate school I expanded my horizons digitally, and began working in digital collage, video, augmented reality, etc.

*Digital Art by Savannah Calhoun: Ghosts Of My Life, 2023*

What inspires your art? Are there any particular themes or subjects that you enjoy exploring through your artwork?

I am significantly inspired by two writers, Mark Fisher and Grafton Tanner. They both have written extensively on the concept of "hauntology," which is a mixture of the words "haunting" and "ontology." The term was originally made by Jacques Derrida, and it is "a range of ideas referring to the return or persistence of elements from the social or cultural past, as in the manner of a ghost." I'm really driven by the connection of being haunted by a ghost to the idea that media repeats itself, and also that the future isn't how we anticipated. My favorite book right now is Ghosts of My Life by Mark Fisher, in which he details how hauntology is present within his own life and in certain media he had consumed. His anecdotes are relevant and interesting, and in my art I aim to essentially tell a similar story about how it affects my life as an artist.

*Digital Art by Savannah Calhoun: Parabola, 2022*

What is an event which you consider a milestone in your digital art career?

I would say, at least for my most recent project, discovering Zero Books, the publication from which many of Mark Fisher and Grafton Tanner's writings come from. Either that or the first time I read Into the Universe of Technical Images by Vilém Flusser. All of these writers and books inform my practice in a significant way, formulating how I think about images and where they stand.

Can you tell us about some of your favorite pieces or a past or upcoming project? What makes them special to you?

One of my favorite pieces is from a separate work, titled Cyber Fantasy. It is titled "In My 4x3" and shows a computer monitor with a mouth on screen, and also a hand extending a rose towards the monitor, all on a black-on-white grid background. I really enjoy this work because I consider it a metaphor of a love offer to the digital/cyber world, from me, an artist. It exists both as a singular image and within a larger installation.

My current project is titled Portals & Hauntologies, and is primarily a photographic series discussing hauntology, the death of the future, and how photography situates itself within that. I have been working on this project since 2022 after I finished my MFA and see myself continuing to work on it for a while.

Can you share an example of a challenging project you've worked on recently? What were the obstacles you encountered, and how did you overcome them?

Recently, I created a digital collage out of photographs I took of various objects. The challenges weren't too great, but it was quite laborious for a single image. I photographed a timer, a rose, a postcard, a tarot card, and an 8 ball and collaged them together. I had a vision in my mind of how the image would turn out, but it took a lot of editing, re-photographing, re-constructing, etc.

Are there any artists or creative influences that have had a significant impact on your work? How have they shaped your artistic style or approach?

Definitely! I would say my main inspirations are Lucas Blalock, Nando Alvarez Perez, Farah Al Qasimi, Sara Cwynar, and Samantha Box. All of these artists either work within still life, installation, or digital collage, all of which are huge components of my work.

What is a fun fact about you?

Most of my work is made from a home studio, which is just a large bedroom in my house.