Meet Molly Dickler | Artist & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Molly Dickler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Molly, why did you pursue a creative career?
From as early as I can remember I was interested in performing, costuming and creating events. I was always drawing, fooling around with clay, and inventing shows with friends in the neighborhood. I went to the Music Academy at Hamilton High where I studied singing, acting, dance, photography, drawing, and painting. During summers in high school, I went to art camps and decided to go to art school for college, where my interests focused first on Fashion Design and then on Photography. At Otis College of Art and Design, I ended up doing staged photographs that combine all my interests. I am my own model and make costumes and sets that I photograph. Doing these things are natural to me and are my passion.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an artist and photographer whose interests span visual arts, performance, and fashion design. As a photographer, I have experimented with lots of genres and styles, including portraits, couture, urban landscape, animals, and journalism.

I started creating self-portraits in the fall of 2019, in a series called Housewife. I began by taking photos of myself wearing my late grandmother’s clothes. I would think of my grandma and her daily life, then I would wear her clothes and imagine I was her. When I did this I started to get sad. The more I took photos of myself in her clothes telling her story, the more I realized I wanted to tell my own story.

For my next series, Loss of a Loved One, I revisited traumatic events that I still think about, and then I would create traumatic situations. I had a few different ideas about how to do this. One was to stage whole scenarios. As I looked through my photo library, I decided I could project scenes I had photographed on the wall and then use props and costumes to complete them. The advantage of this approach is that it made the events, real or imagined, look like memories instead of documentary footage. Here are some of the photos from my series Housewife and Loss of a Loved One https://fineassfineart.com/Molly_Dickler.

I am proud of my shows and publications. I have done a solo exhibition called The Loss of a Loved One in March, 2021. I have shown in group exhibitions: In Conclusion in December, 2020 (an online group exhibition); Last Night I Dreamed Somebody Loved Me in September, 2020 (an online group exhibition); and the Photo L.A. Fair in January, 2020. My photographs have been published in Intima Magazine, Voyage LA Magazine, Global Traveler, Ok Magazine, STAR Magazine and Radar Online.

I’ve acted in several short films and done some on set photography.
I am excited about all the possible directions I can take in the future doing what I love. I got to where I am by continuing to experiment with new ways of making photographs. One thing I’ve learned is that you have to keep developing innovative strategies and ideas. I love collaborating and working with talented artists.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If I were to show friends around the city, I’d take them hiking, since I love nature and being outside. Walking, biking, swimming, playing sports, anything really. We’d go to a wine tasting in Malibu, and at least one of our museums. We’d head to the beach, relax for a few hours on the sand, enjoy the waves and watch the sunset in Santa Monica, and then we’d catch some live music. Dining with friends is always fun. I love going to Solidarity Restaurant patio, sitting by the fire pit. We’d definitely go dancing, maybe salsa. I enjoy adventures and being spontaneous. Driving down PCH with the windows down, music on, and ready for where the wind takes us.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m where I am today because of my Dad and Mom. They encouraged me to follow my passion and were always in my corner. I really appreciate my teachers at Otis for helping me to shape my work and to understand its meaning, but a special thanks to one of my mentors, Alex Slade, for giving me the idea of putting myself in my photographs, following the example of artist Cindy Sherman. Soo Kim and Kevin Buzzell have also helped to shape my artwork. I am grateful for the love and support of all my family and friends.

Website: https://www.mollymaxphotography.com/

Instagram: @Mollymax_photography or @Mollymax92

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-dickler-39907b52/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DicklerMolly?s=07&fbclid=IwAR1Zf_QDBQh66L5OEeNUwijFSO1RYXW1ozOShI-IIHno7QNZ0-4uI2IPwfM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molly.dickler

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLx052cNv2S1PzLROAS2nw/featured

Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6252360/

Image Credits
Molly Dickler, Emiliano Contreras, Latife Whittington