Summaries of Four Art Events

Art Event
Lynn Tomlinson

Lynn Tomlinson came to visit St. Mary's this year to give a talk on digital culture and animation. She is an artist with an outstanding body of work and resume. She has worked on Sesame Street, MTV and many major colleges and universities. She has two MA's, one in communication and one in art and education. Her talk was primarily focused on the clay paintings that she does in order to create a unique animation. She puts clay on top of a sheet of glass and then works the clay around the glass. Shot by shot her images are produced and create a stop motion effect. Her work impresses a wide range of audiences, something that both children and adults can enjoy. She is an excellent storyteller and uses the Claymation to make short clips that can tell a story in a short period of time, with few frames. Lynn is very engaged in process and was able to impress many digital artists in the audience. She was straightforward, almost mathematical. Her focus right now is primarily in educating young women through the arts.

Art Event #234
Heather Layton

I had the pleasure of hearing Kathleen Hall's talk this semester. Formerly a painter who has turned towards installations. Often her installations feature the use of her paintings, like what she has planned for the Istanbul Biennale where she will be creating next to Ulay. Kathleen is a teacher at Rochester University. Her art encourages activism, it is often heavily political and she is attacking major institutions like the United States Government. She spent a lot of time talking about the Drone project in Pakistan. Her and her husband have been spending time in Pakistan trying to become aware of the United States influence there. I would love to be making work like this woman. She was incredibly engaged with the community, her pieces are clever and thought provoking. They engage directly with the world in a positive way that spreads awareness. She told me that she gave a talk one time and played the sound of drones over the speaker so that the audience could barely hear the talk just to emphasize what its like for the Pakistani people. She encourages action and is careful not to assume to much. She is one of the most humble people I have ever met and was a major inspiration on me.

Art Event #999
Student Art Show

This year I participated in the student exhibition. My sculpture, Thoughts, won a viewers choice award. I had never entered an art competition before and really enjoyed the process. I wanted to give myself a challenge and follow through with something that was difficult for me. I had been working with the ropes with the hopes of creating an entrance to my SMP exhibition but I didn’t like what was happening. I thought about their form and their natural emphasis. I decided to see what they would look like if they were hanging and went from there. I quickly rejected the idea of using them in my SMP and decided to create something specifically for the Boyden Gallery. When the opening happened a couple people talked and then awards were given out. I didn't really like being in there during such a formal time, it was nice to talk about my work but it created awkward interactions as well. I just don't like forced environments. I will enter more art shows.

Art Event #244
Kathleen Hall

Kathleen Hall is the artist in residence who is painting from still life sculptures or settings that she creates. She has moved through a series of experimentations in her painting styles but has consistently returned to similar characters in her paintings. I find her paintings oddly eerie and felt like they were unapproachable. She was monotone in her talk and it was hard for me to feel excited about her work because she didn't seem excited about her work. I remembered that during my SMP talk, because I knew that if I didn't believe in my work then other people weren't going to. It was neat to see the work she was making at the artists house, I have never been over there but I would like to check it out at some point.