a sense of place

Installing off campus for A Sense of Place was inspiring and informative. Trying to fit my studio working studio became a problem solving situation I needed to face head on; I needed to balance my allotted time with the piece's stages of drying. I worked alongside the curators of the show in the stressful finishing times before the show. Their passion for the show and the work in the show made me focus on my work, making it not so much for me but for them, for the people who would see it. Although I wish I could have had an extra day for more touch ups, I learned how to better budget my time for the next show or time limit I need to function within. The preparation for the show was filled with encouragement from my peers and the curators.

the diversity of one

Cindy Sherman found a way to make herself look like many different ladies, specifically actresses, in her Untitled Film Series. Her concept of starting with one constant and placing it in with variables such as camera angles, clothes, hair styles, expressions, etc. is simple but remarkable.
That same philosophy can be true to many art forms not just photography or acting. From one body of clay a maker could create extremely different results. Take a finished piece and place it in the gallery setting, it could have a regal and sophisticated tone. But place that same piece and put it in someone's cabinet- what atmosphere does it have? Not the same one in the gallery. A sculpture can have a completely different look or even meaning simply by placing it outside vs. inside or inside vs. outside. Presentation holds a lot of weight in the outcome.

For a brief moment in history, I wound up taking a hip-hop class. This only happened because my friend needed a ride and she convinced me to stay and dance instead of leaving and coming back to pick her up.

I CANNOT dance.

My body just won't connect dance moves quickly, especially hip hop. Maybe if there is a slow-mo hip hop I would have a chance, but even when I did get it down I looked terrible, like the moves didn't fit me. But the teacher said something every class that is true for anything, I believe.

"Mechanics is 50% of the game, the other 50% comes from presentation"

When a painting becomes a sculpture...

Albert Pinkham Ryder was a Symbolist painter. His paintings are continuing to evolve even after he is dead because he would continue to had more paint, more layers before the previous layer had dried. In the end, the paint comes off of the canvas in some parts at least an inch. They have physical dimension. The way he applied the paint is an attribute to the finished whole, flowing, gestural, dynamic. By placing strong darks next to vibrant whites the viewer in engaged in the theatrical drama.

a new place to install

Jason de Caires Taylor's new work of underwater sculpture breaks the traditional boundaries of exhibition space. The location of where he shows work becomes an integral part of what the work means and looks like. His work physically evolves overtime as the water claims it as its own. The figures take on a new layer as they become a coral reef and the dying marine life gains a new environment. He places the pieces shallow enough for people to swim down and take a look at them.

Bernini

Bernini, a Baroque sculptor, was said to be able to give marble breath. The viewer can hear the grunt David let out right before he throws the stone. The viewer can see the agony that Persephone is in. So what makes Bernini's work transcend from being just marble?

He uses differences in detail and thinks of the entire composition and setting as one; not just props for his sculpture to sit in. He unifies. He brings together segments of marble, different types of marble with other material-like wood, plaster, and light. It all functions for one purpose of engaging the scene he has created.

Frosted Flakes....

I recently went to the Nelson-Atkins to do minor research for an Art History class. On my way to the African Art section, I passed through the beautiful new exhibition, 3 visions in glass; featuring 3 glass artists working in Venice. My favorite of the 3 was Yoichi Ohira. The colorless vessels speak to space that exists between exterior and interior form- or tension, as the label describes it. Lining several of these pieces together creates another level of dialogue.

"The Bamana people believe that raw clay possesses extraordinary, potentially harmful amounts of nyama, the vital , spiritual energy animating all things."

I found that statement on a label for a pottery piece in the African collection.
I connect with that.

When I work in my studio, the clay almost comes alive with the minimal plan I bring to it. Whatever is created with clay (not just from me but in my studio mates and other artists in all mediums) a personality, an atmosphere, an emotion, an idea that was not there before the artist touched it. I think the Bamana people are right, especially for Yoichi Ohira's work. He breathes life.

Nubians and Egyptians overlap

This is a beautiful terra cotta piece created by the Nubians. The Egyptians loved the Nubian craftsmanship so much they had work like this imported and painted Nubians inside the Tombs of Pharohs and any wealthy individual. They valued their work so much they wanted to bring it to the afterlife.In primitive times the Nubians could build the vessels walls paper thin, and knew the difference of oxidation and reduction.
These vessels were not made to sit on the tabletop but as offering to a deceased person. That is why the majority of these vessels wer found in graves of Egyptians and Nubians ( but the vessels in the Nubian graves were far superior than the ones found in the Egyptians).

I'm a creep

Judy Fox is a master of the human form in all stages of life. But right now her work of young children inspire and motivate me for my own studio work. To precisely sculpt a child's proportions is a challenge in itself, but the poses she places them in brings a whole other dynamic to the work.
Awkwardly alluring your eyes to stare.


In studio, as I struggle sculpting my own adolescent figure, weird social topics come up. My studio mates discuss ways to compare my piece with an actual girl. These ideas consist of going to a park and doing a couple of a few things, 1. pull aside a girl and take photos of her. 2. lure children with candy or ice cream, 3. other things I am not comfortable distributing on the internet. Besides the park, 'googling' "13 year old girls was brought up but proved itself of projected unwanted fruits.

I feel like a creeper.

wrapping for art- not christmas

Christo and Jeanne-Claude set out to wrap the un-wrappable:castles, buildings, rivers, bridges,etc. They bring the city together through the process because this couple cannot do it along. Many people work together for the goal of covering an object. Where does the funding come from? No one who admires the cloth covered Pont-neuf could purchase it and take it home. They front the cost of the project-material, labor (no volunteers), any expenses, then get it back with the selling of their drawings planning the project.

This idea of selling prep work or little mementos of their installation is very intriguing to me as a ceramic sculpture creator. Not everyone who looks at a large sculpture or installation can take part of it home, no matter how much the viewer likes it. These drawings can let the admirer take "the idea" of a work of art instead of the whole thing.

i love dirt

ants carry out picnic basket.


Right now I am in a class that is focusing on our local rain garden, KCAI Brush Creek Community Rain Garden, so I have been thinking a lot about functional, sculptural ceramics. Where does a sculpture officially become functional? When it is used in some sort of action? Isn't decor or knowledge still functional? This thought led my head down a bunny trail to this past summer on Earth Day the Stone Lion Theatre had a GIANT puppet show encouraging people of all ages to take care fo the earth. Lots of talent went into this production to stress this note.two manned butterflies were very elegantthe preying mantis was my favoriteflower petals come down the lane and formed a circle where a hula hoop girl popped out of the centerbugspray wears converse, thus anything/ anyone wearing converse is bad on the environment. bugs fight back on bugspray by ganging upmother earth thanks the bugs

hide and seek at the nelson-atkins

"Art is a continuum of ideas."

Lately I have been wondering how I weave other artists ideas into my own. Where is that line that get crossed from someone's idea to mine? Am I degrading a beautiful moment when I transform it into a moment in time for me?
Or is it just that I relocate the feeling that artist gave me into something that is mine so that I can give it to another person?

With that being said, I have been inspired by photos in the exhibit, Hide and Seek, at the Nelson Atkins museum.

Gorjus, Sally Mann

Hummingbird,Betsy Schneider
Boy with Ball, Kajjansi, Uganda, Gloria Baker Feinstein