Nenad Samuilo Amodaj

Hoop and Ball Series

Nenad Samuilo Amodaj created the Hoop and Ball series in June 2010 during two 3-hour sessions with the model/dancer Shawnrey Notto. Inspiration for this project came from Nenad's art teacher Micheal Markowitz who purchased a wedding dress in a thrift store in 2009 and deconstructed it. Shawnrey wore parts of it in various figure drawing sessions. From these drawing sessions Nenad then created a collection of drawings with the intention of recreating them with film photography.

The series explores abstract architectural properties of the hoop skirt, a clothing item with curios geometric form that we can classify as “flexible cone”, a form that appears both in nature and in the world of artifice: flowers, bells, horns, nuclear power plants, tower roofs, skirts, hats etc. However, hoop skirt is really an augmentation device, a skeletal extension supposed to alter the visual perception of human form. 

To realize the full associative power of the hoop, Amodaj placed it in dynamic relationship with human body. Minimalistic setting, uniform lighting, and a central vantage point helps with the shift in perception from a trivial reality to a metaphysical one. The intent was to induce the spectator to spontaneously alternate between the three separate aspects: visual sensation of human form, symbolic function of the skirt, and the more abstract geometry of the flexible cone.

It was clear that the hoop needed a counter-shape. Amodaj built a hollow sphere out of the beach ball covered in wet plaster strips. When strips dried out, Amodaj deflated the ball and took it out, and was left with a perfect sphere with a wonderful surface texture, very similar to the texture of the hoop

Amodaj started his career as a self-taught photographer in the 1980s. Born and grew up in Belgrade, Serbia. He went to engineering school, spent many years designing software for microscopes and imaging systems for research in molecular biology and visual exploration of micro-worlds. From 2002 to 2010 he worked with Michael Markowitz to create the 23rd Street Studio in San Francisco. He has lived in San Francisco since 1998.