Sculpture Studio Spring 2012

Summaries of Four Art Events

Art Event 1

This afternoon I attended Martin Brief’s artist talk with no preconceptions or familiarity with his work. After about 45 minutes listening to him discuss his various projects, I was in love.  The blend of language and art has a special place in my heart.  Some of the notable projects he discussed included “The Newspaper Series,” in which Brief filled in all of the letter o’s on a newspaper page, “The Dictionary Series,” in which Brief outlines the column of text on a page in the dictionary, leaving empty space where words should be, “The Art Forum Series,” in which Brief wrote down the name of every person mentioned in one year of a magazine publication, and lastly, “Truism,” which based of Jenny Holzer’s work, replaced every word in a definition with the dictionary definition of that word.  Brief called the end product definitions “beautiful equations.”  The most powerful project he presented, for me, was the “Truism” project.  The concept that what Brief presents to the viewer looks like complete nonsense, but is in fact the most straightforward and complete definition of a word, is amazingly beautiful.  Brief’s dedication to both his art and language in general is truly inspiring.  

Art Event 2

This afternoon I attended the 43rd annual Student Art Show in the Boyden Gallery.  My first impression when entering the space was that of a general state of impression.  The caliber of the pieces chosen to exhibit demonstrates the dedication and talent of my fellow St Mary’s students. While impressed by work I was previously unfamiliar, I also found it interesting to see pieces in a gallery setting that I had seen in the classroom setting, or even hung or installed in Montgomery Hall. The work exhibited at the show consisted of digital mediums, sculptures, photography, book art, paper, pastel drawings, charcoal drawings, and much more.  Some of the pieces that stood out to me were a painting, a photograph, and a sculpture.  “Ray Chull Hice” is a self-portrait by Rachel Heiss.  She used oil paints on canvas to capture a compelling image of a distorted, yet realistic face.  Her color use is bright and blends well, her thick, exaggerated brush strokes allow the viewer to see the process behind her portrait, and the subject’s direct eye contact with walkers-by draws the viewer in.  “Children of Beijing” is a black and white digital photograph taken by Katherine Schaffer.  The subject is a young female outside in the rain.  What I find intriguing about this pieces is that due to the lightening, the viewer has a difficult time distinguishing the facial expression of the young girl—is she playing in the rain, or is she caught in the rain?  The meaning and relationship between viewer and subject; artist and subject, change drastically as the content of the photograph changes.  The third piece, “Geometric Figures,” is by Caroline Mende.  The plywood sculpture is painted vibrant red, bright yellow, and light blue.  The plywood has been shaped into smooth curves and sharp points and angles.  Due to the placement of the piece—it is on the ground, the viewer must squat or sit on the floor to achieve an eye level view.  The combination of color, shape, and orientation make this piece stand out.  I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the work of fellow art students, and I am incredibly impressed!

Art Event 3

This past week I went to three fellow students’ art exhibition in the Boyden Gallery.  Elise Kielek, Remina Greenfield, and Laura Hausheer’s SMP artwork is truly inspiring.  The first pieces I looked at were Laura’s.  The beautifully mastered paper cutouts bring energy to the page.  The shapes, lines, and dimension of the individual pieces contrast with white backgrounds. Her cutouts can stand on their own, but become so much more when brought into their larger context of a children’s book.  I found the paper cutout images compelling, the story itself endearing, but I realized my favorite aspect of her work after the opening. Listening to Laura talk about the different influences on her creative process while creating the book brought everything together for me.  I knew the books she referenced and love that she looked to others for inspiration, wanting to keep her work within the standards of esteemed literature.  

The second student artwork I looked at belonged to Elise Kielek.  Knowing her first set of work that was displayed during the winter SMP gallery show set up her second round of work well.  After seeing the pieces and listening to Elise speak about them, it is obvious that her creative process has matured from a whimsical sense of wonder to a more adult tense sense of anxiety. The two photographs, “Screws” and “Debris,” played up the elements of focus, perspective and color.  These two photographs were the most compelling to me because they drew me into an unknown, undefined space that seemed familiar but at the same time new.  Hearing Elise say her intention was to create a dream-like space resonated with my experience with her work.  Learning about the process that took her from the 3-dimensional children’s book concept to a collision of dream and reality was also very interesting. Her transition from creating a scene to document, to using the lens as a means of creating a space, worked well conceptually in her work. 

The third student artist in the show was Remina.  Her pieces differed greatly from those of Elise and Laura’s.  The installations were very stimulating.  Your ears and eyes have a lot of sounds and visual aspects to take-in.  This overload created a sense of anxiety for me as a viewer.  I was caught trying to listen to what the subjects were saying, having to lean into the speakers, and watching the video clips as the faces began to contort and blend into fragments of the individual’s online identity.  Listening to Remina discuss the different influences and intentions behind her SMP definitely brought things into perspective for me. Before I did not really understand the audio and visual clutter that took over the subject’s face.  But hearing Remina talk about the “online, Internet” identity and the “off-line” identity, and the duality between the two, was very provoking.  The influence technology has on this generation has been outstanding, and seeing it placed at the forefront of this SMP really makes viewers question their own interactions and dependency on technology.

All three artists created phenomenal work, and I am excited to see the next round of senior art SMP work next week!

Art Event 4

I came in to the second series of SMP art discussions a little late, so I only caught the second and third students discuss their SMPs, but what I heard was inspiring! 

The senior, Sam Nickey focused on the beauty and life of moths.  I found personal connection to her pieces because of a shared perspective.  Nickey claims she had an irrational fear of moths, and since I have a fear of butterflies, I can sense how difficult it must have been for her to stretch out of her comfort zone to further investigate the animal.  I also enjoyed viewing pieces, and listening to the artist discuss a topic somewhat unusual for the fine art world.  Although many artists paint landscape and animals figures, insects are not usually the most prominent subjects.  It was compelling to see such technical work and dedication put into paintings of seemingly mundane objects.  Though I had never before thought of a moth as beautiful, Nickey’s oil and acrylic paintings play so much on the life and light behind the moth, that my concept and notions concerning moths started to transform.  No longer were these annoying, frightening insects, but calm, serene, winged, majestic beings.

The second artist I heard speak was Koko Olszewski.  Though Koko’s SMP involved her own artistic skill and talent, I connected most with her inspiration and intentions of her overall project.  Koko’s discussion on the American tendency to focus on the “I” not the “we” truly struck a chord with me.  Her hard work this past year, rallying the St. Mary’s County and St. Mary's College of Maryland communities together to discuss visions and to create art embodies her desire to share the love of art making.  The power of art is undeniable, and Koko’s SMP gave true meaning to healing art.  As someone who participated in both the community mural and the mural project in Anne Arundel, it was interesting to hear the artist discuss her inspirations for the projects that touched so many lives on campus.  Koko’s goals of creating accessable, empowering, and inspiring art, in my eyes, were more than met for those students and community members who took the time to be involved. Two quotes from Koko’s SMP talk that really rang true for me were her definition of art and one of her intention statements for her SMP.  Koko stated that art is “ a coming together of voice to tell a complex narrative.”   Her mural and quilt projects both embody the complex stories of different voices involved in the college as a whole.  The second quote of Koko’s that caught my attention was that through her SMP she hoped participants would understand “the infinite possibilities within.”  Through art we can better understand ourselves, even if we are trained artists, or have never taken an art class.