LEAP DAY announcements

Greetings, everyone.

I've enjoyed the concerted dialogue and visual discourse of the past week. Your team work and expertise during the installation of The French Connection was impressive - I only wish you could meet more of the international artists. Perhaps we can have a Skype conference call with a few of them during one of next meetings?

Please note - we do not officially meet again until March 7 - or *March 6, if possible.... but I could meet anyone who really needs facetime @ the Robinson Street Starbucks today @ 4:30. As the weather is not great for moving art or driving please telephone me, rather than text me, if this is an option you are in need of.I am spending a lot of time on the blog today, so it is an excellent time to post whatever you are doing!

I've also updates the links on the top right of the blog so you can pull up the course calendar quite easily. I look forward to seeing more of your work here!

*Tuesday, March 6 we could meet at Plant Zero with Sally's class, have a discussion about the show and its installation, visit several artists studios and take a look at your work in progress. Please let me know if you are open to meeting on Tuesday, March 6 instead of Wednesday, March 7. You can email me or respond to this post on the blog! I need to know soon so we can confirm arrangements with artspace and the artists whose studios we'll visit. Thanks!

Sketch comment for Mary

Here is a doodle I made at the bottom of the last image that Mary presented at our crit.  I feel that the image showcases much artistic talent and that trying to figure how to finish the border seems to be the trouble with finishing the work...I just thought of this idea of having the red brain like thread matter somehow shaping itself around the border might be interesting and using a pattern that does not appear rectangular may enhance the work and bring out the red brainy stitch pattern...I hope you can visualize the idea I'm suggesting by the digital sketch I made..

-Andrew 

Fiberglass Window Screen-Mary Buchanan

This is an easy material to use and I believe it may resolve some of the issues discussed during critique. I have cut apart a template and am using it to collage pieces of the screen onto the surface.

I spent a good bit of time today considering possible options for the work we critiqued last night. I am not convinced that adding the black and white shapes in the head is a worthwhile option. The strip on the bottom may stay.

 I have found that some of the detail oriented stitching I do becomes lost in a gallery with large rooms and high ceilings. Working with the same iconography on a larger scale was an attempt for me to reach viewers from a distance as well as upon closer inspection. 

So the piece is a flat, graphic, silhouette.  Am I able to express some of the more uncomfortable ideas that I am considering and successfully convey this information to others? I don't know? A title and statement help. Can or will people still be interested if they do not know the entire story? How much is enough? 

Myron Helfgott at Gallery A

The first thing I did when I entered the gallery was read the article written by Howard Risatti for Sculpture magazine. Reading about Buddha Wisdom/Women Have Told Me and hearing the audio coming from the gallery seemed both curious and familiar. I couldn't help but think of Paik, Acconci's narrative video's, and some of Bukowski's short stories.

I also felt as if I was in the artist's work space as opposed to a gallery with a huge selling focus. This felt like a luxury.

James Stroud - etchings

  

This print (the one on the right is a detail) is hanging in the hall outside the Harnett gallery, where the Joan Snyder retrospective is. It is part of a series (Stations II, 2005) by James Stroud (b. 1958) – nine etchings with aquatint, drypoint, beeswax and chine colle on paper. I LOVE THEM! It’s just a visceral attraction to the variety of scrapey marks and faint splashes, and the fibrous threads that you can see at the border of the black and white; and then there is the delicate sheen of the beeswax that you can pick up from some angles. It’s a pity these have to be under glass. If bees themselves could make pictures, this is what they would make!

Alice Anne Ellis

Joan Snyder - Four Proofs of My Work

I liked this set of 8 pictures. It’s called Four proofs of my work (1997). It’s intriguing in lots of ways. It invites scrutiny, with lots of words, as if they are diagrams. The central shape (woodcut?) is sort of heart-like, but also evokes images of other organs and body parts.

Alice Anne Ellis

Joan Snyder - retrospective - Modlin Center, UR

     This is Our Foremothers (1995) by Joan Snyder. It includes all the names of the women in the Old Testament, plus the names of women in her family. She said it was technically difficult to do and she thought of it as “composing a symphony.” I like it because of the use of words as visual tools and the sort of ontological irony of having names with no referents.

     I was interested to read about her printing process, mixing lithographs, monotypes and woodcuts.

Alice Anne Ellis

Clown pictures

Myron's show was interesting as always...I was happy to be able to view it on Monday as the gallery was closed but Al just happened to be working so I popped in for a short while for a personal viewing.  This piece and many others like it were quite interesting because of a few things.  I enjoyed the ripped paper with the drawn gridded paper in the torn space...the drawings were interesting in their appearance and there was an interesting distorted printed quality to them...I also enjoyed the seemingly intentional shoddy mounting of his prints...to me it spoke about the imperfection we face as people, sometimes we just have to accept what is...I found the work for the most part very conceptual and I appreciate the bouncing back and forth between the craftsmanship in his substructures and ideas mixed with the thrown together appearance of his printed work.

-andrew Woodward 

Joan Snyder 'For F'

After viewing the Joan Snyder retrospective at U of R I was pleasantly surprised to read that The artist was from Higland Park NJ... A small place that I know very well...in fact my uncle was friends in high school with Joan in the 1950's...alas, I enjoyed how her work was evidently free-flowing as far as her use of the mediums she worked with, while keeping her subject matter in good focus...it wasn't just randomness...I saw connections with artists such as Joan Miro and Basquiat which is an interesting parallel because the artists are similar in some ways and but approach their presentation quite differently...Joan's work for the most part had a nice balance between subjective focus and material experimentiaiton, while maintaining a slight sense of mystery to it...the piece 'for f' struck me because of how it resembled a tarnished exterior wall (repetition of words, apparent spills, weathered look).  I felt the media experimentation here worked particularly to her advantage and gave seemingly unimportant subject matter a place for further investigation.

Black Friday turkey

Here is my overweight and unnecessarily dressed turkey...complete with bling bling high tops, colorful toe socks, sequin belt, hunter orange brand name hoodie, big jewelry, and naughty butt shorts...definitely a jab at consumerism...I enjoyed the way I was able to focus on the subject matter working with a tesselation on occurring once rather than repeated...

-Andrew Woodward 

Black Print for Alice

KRISTAN KENNEDY
N.T.N.L.M.R.R.W.Y.T.B.L.R., 2011
Archival inkjet print (Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl)
47 3/8 x 32 inches
Edition of 3 + 2 AP

Mapping in Art

Mark Bradford, Scattered Thoughts

Lynn Setterington

Emma McNally

Texting trees

 

This is not a very successful execution of what I’m aiming at, but I’d like to explore using different densities of text to represent tone. I’m also interested in the concept of using printed words to represent something purely visually.

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Tutoring

      

 

Tutoring. Graphite and Sharpie on printer paper. 8.5” x 11”.

 

This drawing is about tutoring in the library. Every day we have over a dozen tutors meeting small groups of students, going over and over what will help them pass the State’s standardized exams. It is drawn in different kinds of pencil, pen and Sharpie, the tools of note-taking. There are various representational elements – library tables and plants, geometric and scientific diagrams. The words are a nonsensical mixture of the words that are patiently repeated day after day. There are two mazes: one is like a lab rat’s maze; the other is like the ancient, circular maze walked by pilgrims for penance. The repetetive lines echo the repetition of words. The picture on the right is a detail, again exploring framing and magnifying.

 

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

studies

        

 

Don’t pay any attention to the first two.

The third one is just black gesso but I’d like to explore further the open paper through the brushwork. There is a name for this in sumie, which I’ve forgotten. I love it and there is something very magical about it. It is both the record of a moment in time AND a result of something which was not wholly in the artist’s control. So it’s like a record of a chance moment  – while also being very evocative of physical things in the world (light, mist, etc.) What are the correct terms for it??

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

More study of scale

          

More examination of the small as if it’s large.

Alice Anne Ellis

Exploration of scale

         

 

Acrylic on rice paper

 

These were painted as grounds and pieces to be torn up. It is very interesting how scale and framing transforms what we see. The pieces are small (only a few inches wide), but could be seen as large canvases. Examining them close up also alerts me to the nice unintentional effects at the edges of the paint, which I’d like to repeat.

 

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Tree reflections

Tree reflections

 

Black gesso, acrylic, rice paper and foil on paper. About 7” x 7”.

 

I want to explore tree reflections in water because  there are so many things going on. There is the above and below (in the air, and on the water surface). There is the distant and close. There is the immobile, large (trunk) and moving, small (leaf). There is earth and sky.  

 

I’m also fascinated by trees because they are so ageless and universal. This almost identical scene has been experienced by man and animal, king and peasant, hominid and me.

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Experimental grounds

        

Pastel and acrylic medium on paper, washed with water.

 

These are experinental grounds I made with pastel, painted over and mixed with acrylic medium, and then washed with water, to make a worn surface. I’m pleased with the ones on the left and right, but I don’t like the scribbly one. I like the clear history of movement in some of the lines, and the random and natural looking way they are obscured by being washed away.

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Falling Creek, photograph

 

Photograph, dissolved onto paper, ink.  Approx 8” x 7”.

 

This is another early effort for this class. It is a photograph printed in reverse, then transferred to paper by dissolving the ink off the original print with orange oil solvent (Citrasolve – which is very difficult to find, by the way, but I finally got it at Elwood Thompson). I’ll explore this further another time. It would probably have more potential with a smaller, more singular and defined subject, rather than a landscape. But this happened to be a scene I’d like to draw sometime.

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Trees

    

OK, I’m posting these because I did them for this class, as my first attempts, but I really hate them so you don’t need to comment on them!!! Because these trees had such simple shapes, my aim was to do more and more schematic drawings, to get at the essence of the shapes. But it all turned out soulless and forced and very unsatisfying. Quick – close this window!

 

Alice Anne Ellis

 

Bochner

I was struck by the message because it is an idea that we often do not realize or forget about...the medium is also pretty interesting as it compares itself to the subject matter in so any ways...

-Andrew 

Black Friday turkey

Here is another tessellation I created...this time I chose not to repeat the image so that I could focus more on the subject matter rather than 'what would happen if I repeated this image many times what would it look like'...I am going to paint with enamel certain parts of the turkey image...I enjoy the simple noticeable quality of the bag as a reference to society but also as a presentable medium as it hangs and frames itself in a very straightforward way...

Buchanan Images relating to Mira Schendel

These are the image that reminded me of mira schendel’s work.

Mary Buchanan detail

Megan Mattax / Documentation details

This post is in response to the most recent work on the blog......I really enjoy the tattered book forms...it makes me think about how some of the best books I have encountered are totally abused because of how much use they have been through, as opposed to a book that has been collected and is preserved in pristine condition never to be touched...the connection with knowledge and sharing is prevalent throughout this work...at first glance the hanging structure did not appeal to me, but looking at the bigger picture I see a tree form and I think of mother eart and nature dealing with the elements, time, climate, interaction...the size of the shadow also suggests nature...how interesting would it be if the lighting changed over time and suggested shadows at different times of day...

I photographed these images, but Travis photographed the images of my “Weightless Whisper” installation on my flicker.  http://www.travisfullerton.com/

Tangled Alphabets / Mlmattax

I discovered her work while working on my thesis.  I intentionally looked at her work because of her use of text, but really found her sculptures amazing.  Check out this link to a show at the MOMA "Tangled Alphabets" w/ Schendel and León Ferrari.

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2009/tangledalphabets/

enjoy,

mlmattax

Mira Schendel drawings / MlMattax

She made some beautiful drawings.

Mary Buchanan Website

www.mary-t-buchanan.com

Megan Mattax

My work addresses loss and emotions entangled with grief.  To do this I incorporate mixed media and traditional fiber techniques with found objects, organic material and hand-spun threads.  I relate these pieces and their creation to the transformation from life to death, as seen in the stages of a woman’s life which is a symbolic reference to the nymph, mother, and crone. 

 

My working process also emulates the cycle of life.  Each piece is delicately bound and shaped to create a form that reflects organic materials, such as leaves, petals, and pods.  Then, I transform and shape these structures through powerful and destructive elements:  fire, water, and air.  Construction and destruction of the pieces emphasizes the brevity of its existence from one stage of life to another.  Each piece is meant to capture the beauty, pain, and release that I associate with the process leading to death. 

 

I am interested in knowledge.  Specifically how information is passed from one generation to the next.  I use book-like forms as a metaphor for the conduit in which knowledge is transferred.  By looking at the life cycle through various cultural lenses I am able to create universal metaphors for this passage of knowledge. 

 

Below are links to my most recent body of works:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/sets/72157629316231151/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/sets/72157629316299305/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/

 

 

Artists make discoveries, not mistakes

Here is a frisbee that I used to mold some tiles in sanded grout roughly mixed ith some rit dyes...the grout piece fell apart completely as the dye prevented it from drying because there was too much water...subsequently the dye left a great marble texture on the frisbee with the sand leaving textural marks on the surface...I am familiar with dyeing techniques that incorporate rit dye on plastic such as frisbees...the results of using sanded grout as a mode to transfer the dye to the plastic is any area I would like to explore more as I make more grout blobs...I've even considered cutting them up once complete and reassembling them in a mosaic image...

Chicken paper / Andrew

Here are two pieces I created using my 'chicken-paper' technique...I call it that because of the way I manipulated the surface of the paper in my chicken tessellations...I am using these pieces which are adhered to hardi backer as hand-made mosaic tiles.  The larger piece will be an abstract image and the black background will serve as 'grout'...the smaller piece is about the size of a thumb...the paper has a really nice natural textured look about it that I am trying to direct so that it mimics a brushstroke...

Lynne Setterington

 This is older embroidery by Lynn Setterington. I am showing these in response to the image posted by Andrew and the comments that have followed. The last time I contacted Lynn she was working on a gallery drop in project focused on mental illness and community awareness. 

www.lynnsetterington.co.uk/

IMPORTANT DATES TO NOTE

Please mark your calendars! The exhibitions, deadlines and critiques outlined below are essential components of our curriculum this semester. Please note - this itinerary does not include weekly updates and commentary on your artwork, art field trips in RVA, etc.

NOW: Post your media experiments, respond to your classmates posts and post a response to the exhibitions at VisArts and Reynolds if you've not already done so.  Remember to include a jpg of the work you most respond to, as well as a jpg of your own work, for a point of comparison.

Please sign your blog posts and comments - otherwise I don't always know who made them. Thnx!

SEE SOON: Myron Helfgott's exhibition at GALLERY A. Visit this link for more information. Post a jpg of a work from the show and write about it.

FEBRUARY 22: Meet at Artspace at 4:30. Bring all of your media studies and larger work you have begun as a result of this warm up series. Post a link to this series on the blog, along with a larger work and proposal as your focus and goals this semester. Plan to stay and participate in the installation of THE FRENCH CONNECTION.

MARCH 7: tentative field trip TBA, Midterm critique of work in progress

MARCH 28: Critique at HHS

APRIL 25: Critique, location TBA, include final artist statements 

MAY 2: photograph work and post documentation of series of three images from final series on course blog with artist statement and links to relevant artists in the field

MAY 9: post the URL for your own personal research blog and documentation on the course blog -

comment on each others' blogs. Share resources, dialogue, etc. Include all work completed this semester on the blog via links, jpgs and research.

Cold Dawn

 

Cold Dawn, 7.5” x 7.5”. Fabric, gesso and foil, mounted on paper.

 

     The fabric is cold and shiny and I wanted to see how it would do as a cold sky. (“Yes” glue is much better at gluing the foil to the fabric than acrylic medium!)

     I’m going to do a more abstract study based on reflections next.

    

Alice Anne