Blue Velvet by Lydia Panas

Hot Shot hopeful Lydia Panas has a heavy background in academia. After getting her BA in Psychology from Boston College, she went on the the Art Institute of Boston and then to SVA for a BFA in photography. She went directly into the Whitney Independent Study Program and then on to get her MA in Photography from New York University / International Center for Photography. Two weeks away from getting my first degree and anticipating the release from the academic world of art, this list boggles my mind.

Lydia submitted work from her series The Divine Byzantine Crypt. I will admit this image makes me a bit uncomfortable for various reasons I need not go into. In her words:

My work is about the discovery of who we are; so that through recognition, we proceed less from unknowing, and more from a place of clarity. I want to find that tenuous place between glory and defeat, which is the human condition.

The clock ticks. Use the weekend wisely.