Senior Show III

Here are some images of my installation that Vern took. I'll be taking the strobes to the gallery, so I can get some truer looking images, but these work for now.

Left to right: Toads, Discovery, Impressions, Adventure.


In my work, animals represent seasons of life. By pairing imagery from personal experiences with animals I have encountered, I am creating a self-portrait.
Maps aid us in moving forward, but are also a tool for re-tracing our past. I have constructed a map of the city of Ashland, continuing the idea of the self-portrait.
Using printmaking as my medium of choice, I am able to create multiple impressions and variations from one single plate. This idea is similar to that of making discoveries in life. One realization can lead to endless applications.
My images: Impressions, Discovery, Adventure, and Toads, are about basing new adventure on past discovery. I intend to engage the viewers with small details, and encourage them to draw connections to their own lives.

Show

Tomorrow the the last senior show opens. I am happy that my work is finally completes, and I can focus on digital stuff for the remaining few days I have left. Hopefully I can post photos tomorrow, and will soon have new animal/texture images too!

Recent activity

I showed a lot of images in crit on monday, and plan to expand on the idea of filling animals with texture to illustrate specific places or events. Some will have texture as the ground, like the cricket, and others like the cows will actually have texture in the body.

Catch up time

Ok, so I'm a little behind on the blogging... I'm going to try to make up for lost time. Today the Art Theory and Crit class traveled to Cleveland to view an exhibit at the MOCA. I had never been to this space, so I was excited to see what they had to offer.
The show that is on view now is FROM THEN TO NOW:Masterworks of Contemporary African American Art. I was familiar with several of the artists on display, and enjoyed learning about some new ones too.
One of my favorite works was by Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry. I am including an excerpt from their website describing the project, there were only a select number of portraits on display at the MOCA though.



"The 104 portraits pay homage to the protesters who were arrested during the January 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycotts. Each portrait is constructed of two layers: one, an oil painting on linen painted from the original mugshot and the second a photographic image printed on sheer silk. The source image for both the painting and the photographic layer was the original mugshot of each protester. This work forms a dialogue between classical portraiture; which establishes a position of dignity and honor for its subjects, and photography as document and evidence. On the painted layer the arrest record is omitted; however, this number appears as a ghostly image on the silk layer."http://www.mccallumtarry.com/

It was refreshing to see some good contemporary art as I continue working on my show. I will provide updates as they come.

Light box progress

I made a light box and showed it at critique last week. I am currently working on fixing the box so the viewer can slide different images in and out of the box. I will add images when I finish.

Lightbox

I am in the process of creating a light box for my maps. I found a socket set that you can screw a light bulb into, so I'm building a box to hold that. There will be a slot on top so you can insert the different maps. Any feedback would be helpful!

Statement and new progress

Maps are a way of moving forward and tracing where we have been. I am creating imaginary maps by photographing linier texture in the art studios. By taking images from a place I am familiar with and pairing them with text, I hope to bring awareness to the fact that our lives are what we make them to be. Everyone makes choices, either good or bad, that shape the way our lives play out.

Throughout the rest of the semester I plan to continue exploring the idea of imaginary mapmaking. I will alter the image both on and off screen. Adding text to the images in a poster like way will allow the viewer to relate the image more to his or her life.

I will have these maps printed on backlit film multiple times and work on layering them for a topographic effect.