tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59991939173849625522024-03-13T04:26:13.673-07:00Ilana Rose Cloudwww.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-62573801842252120882011-05-09T09:55:00.000-07:002011-05-09T09:55:38.463-07:00Guerra's Woodblock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyAxBMam6aQQs38AeMir_sSen8SOf81ipOhCXNw-8DgKW4RBGgpEEdNWN1csgBD603JivBFVt9iW_EqI1BfvQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-10578110312192011112011-05-09T09:50:00.000-07:002011-05-09T09:50:38.849-07:00Exhibtion ReviewWorking in a group show has been a truly rewarding experience. In addition, however, I have learned that without complete communication from everyone, the show will not go smoothly and could potentially erupt in total failure. <br />
Seeing my work surrounded by others, was very enlightening. These people are ones that are fighting the same struggles as I am and discovering so much about their practice and themselves. I feel I learned such a great deal about my own work and my own ability to create something that I thought deserved gallery space. I now also somewhat understand the politics of working with other artists, working with staff and ultimately working with reputation.<br />
I was surprised by how different my work felt in the gallery space. I had been working for months in a dark garage, with concrete walls and clutter of all kinds. To then take my piece and free it from its constraints (also including a wood frame), felt liberating and unbelievably real.<br />
When I installed my work, many people offered to help. After strings were tied and hooks were placed, it was time to hoist my work of the ground and into the air. I looked p and stared at my piece, finally falling into its right place, into the place that I could only have imagined it would ever exist in. I fell silent. Those surrounding me asked, "is this right? Tell us where to change it." For a long moment I did not respond-all at once I had been taken out of the University setting a placed into a gallery, as an artist, being asked what I wanted for my piece. The feeling struck me as eerie and all together unfamiliar to my student-self, but yet quite familiar to my self as an artist, collectively understanding what artists understand. I reveled in it, soaking up the uneasy feeling and putting out the knowledge that this would not be the last time. This is just the beginning.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-84119929543123717312011-04-21T16:31:00.000-07:002011-04-21T16:31:56.896-07:00THE GUERRA MONOTYPE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzV0yCUtSVsJPK3w_8a5lrDM4tqSDMeYusSznu8hdWzuQKoFJU8Ep7y8s8lktzAubWHy2nNFvpOSD-mZDsQgA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-62794077950514882982011-03-13T13:54:00.000-07:002011-04-01T14:07:27.968-07:00Crit CommentsComments for other members of my thesis crit group <br />
Sasha:<br />
During Sasha's critique I suggested using white glitter, if some pieces are gold and some are white, and how to maybe tie those two together. White glitter could be a strong adherence to the use of the strong gold, gaudiness but the whiteness of the glitter could still be subtle enough that it wouldn't be overpowering and might not be as tacky. Also, we discussed using fur on some pieces or as external materials for how the pieces can sit in the gallery. Flemington Furs in Flemington, NJ has a discounted fur store across the street, where all furs are used and can be found at a very reasonable price. This might be a good place to find some materials.<br />
Eduard:<br />
I was wondering through out the crit whether graphic design is going to play into the thesis piece or not. It does not have to just because it is his concentration, but I am curious if graphic design could play a key role in laying out the drawings or in constructing any text. I really found a lot of Eduard's ideas to be interesting and compelling, but I feel as though he is deciding to focus without looking at all ideas and their benefits. I was interested in the idea of fixing things, and people being taught again how to repair things so that there is less waste. I think that this concept can still be put into the broader idea that he has of showing how things are made and then how they are thrown away. While drawings of the step by step process can be informative, they did not seem to draw me in; I personally felt I already knew these generalized processes and movements towards the garbage heap. Using a direct quote or a very specific product could reign in the drawings and have people become more interested.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-743286715845806672011-02-22T22:27:00.000-08:002011-02-23T23:06:59.013-08:002nd Thesis Critique, Friday, Feb 18thI have come up with some new ideas for the layout of my installation and I shared this with my group on Friday. I want to create a shape similar to an industrial salt dome (see image below) because I feel that this shape is a very strange one; it looks almost alien to me. I still want the outside to be reminiscent of the slightly translucent plastic and wood frame from Kabakov's Palace of Projects, the only problem is, will the shape still read the same way? When talking to my group I didn't really envision exactly how it would look, but creating that type of shape with the Palace of Projects structure, it might not read like a foreign place. However, even though the salt dome looks very alien and out of this world, it still reads as industrial which is a big part of my overall work.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWQDiOFbGxEfoZUNceCmJXIz_FVYAmgfL8Gp_D1rVSNsXt8HTW85Hk0dBkkbShz4kgsobV2a3eQ_Ihu_hqzhyphenhyphennT3_hdpbaEsyt_sY-KgwKCNX-VX1s1BxO7WiYSL2GTMdZ-revAXG_gnF/s1600/salt-dome-hardendale-depot-shap-interchange-m6-j39-20101027-01m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWQDiOFbGxEfoZUNceCmJXIz_FVYAmgfL8Gp_D1rVSNsXt8HTW85Hk0dBkkbShz4kgsobV2a3eQ_Ihu_hqzhyphenhyphennT3_hdpbaEsyt_sY-KgwKCNX-VX1s1BxO7WiYSL2GTMdZ-revAXG_gnF/s320/salt-dome-hardendale-depot-shap-interchange-m6-j39-20101027-01m.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I am now working towards incorporating industrial buildings or aspects of these fixtures that have become a part of our everyday life, especially in New Jersey. Plants, mining, and electrical towers are everywhere, and it is not only their industrial qualities and their cause of pollution and environmental problems that I notice them, but also the status that they have in our way of life, in our culture. I have found that electrical towers remind me a lot of totems and statues erected in the ancient world, people all over the world created ways of worshiping the Gods they believed in, and it seems as though the over bearing, tall, arms outstretched towers represent the electricity gods that we bow to, the oil gods, the cell phone gods that loom in the background of our towns and cities, highways and local roads, trailing off far into the distance but constantly a reminder. How easily we forget that they are there, how easily we can forget how they have completely changed our landscape.<br />
I realized through talking to my painting teacher that when I used to take a lot of photographs of night scenes, tree lines, or even mounds of sediment, rock, or anything that I found to look romantic in a way, but yet strange at other times, industrial or not, I often wanted or liked having the bright orange cones of construction or caution to be lingering at the bottom of the photograph, or bright strips of light from cars rushing past. I looked for the industrial that was so invading my life, I wanted to be reminded of what I was really in front of me--no longer is it just a tree line, no longer is it a vast forest, but a new world, a new place filled with wires, currents, and construction, constantly building, taking down, and putting more cones on the ground and more cars on the roads. <br />
I found an artist, Edward Burtynsky, who photographs oil refineries and other industrial areas like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0voIxQX4wbyk5OZbABIdJLcBGnl2NQDes7BotAwVBgBwCmDzh5GyW0dbJVm7wzGYGWFF35bKoVfa7zXfpfCEZg8FKabAX8K3dTo9VYYOSlsTZDAzzcirheDGMQmg2FQgt0dEPWOCRptH/s1600/2009_1002_burtynsky01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0voIxQX4wbyk5OZbABIdJLcBGnl2NQDes7BotAwVBgBwCmDzh5GyW0dbJVm7wzGYGWFF35bKoVfa7zXfpfCEZg8FKabAX8K3dTo9VYYOSlsTZDAzzcirheDGMQmg2FQgt0dEPWOCRptH/s320/2009_1002_burtynsky01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I want to bring together the wires, the structural elements and the qualities that they remind me of from the ancient structures. <br />
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Also artists like Brice Marden and Suzanne McClelland are becoming greater influences in my work.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-85112216821994533922011-02-05T17:22:00.000-08:002011-02-23T22:27:47.633-08:00Speaking to artistsI have had the amazing opportunity to meet many artists through interning at the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions over winter break and into this semester. Through this I have had many wonderful and immensely insightful conversations and critiques. I will post aspects of some of the critiques on my blog. My first post will be about my recent discussion with local artist, Harry Naar.<br />
We first began talking about space in a painting--how size of marks, color, and placement can change the visual perception of the space in a painting monumentally. Looking originally at figurative paintings and landscape paintings, Harry Naar elaborated on the importance of the color changing as it recedes in space and the attention to how the marks interact with a mark next to it or a color next to it. These seem like obvious aspects to making a figurative painting, but in fact, when not done, they leave the observer lost in a sea of marks that do not fully form the image or contain holes of understanding. When a shape of an arm comes out of a sleeve of a shirt, the artist must make the choice to render the shadow as it wraps around the form of the arm coming out of the shirt, so that it becomes understood that the shirt is above the arm or on top of the arm in space. In landscape painting as well, light sources must correlate, especially when reflected, and how the color changes just slightly can move the viewer's eye back and forth in a painting tremendously, instead of just sitting on the surface. In addition, if using a photograph to make the work, what will the use of it be? Is the artist using it to gain useful information or is it considered a photograph, and used for its ability to already see space and calculate information for the eye? By the end of the discussion the main point that arose was the idea of consideration, the consideration of mark, color, size, and how the artist decides to control the viewer's understanding or seeing of the painting. Making the painting with integrity, with consideration of everything at their disposal, using the eye to their advantage and the way in which the eye works, is a part of painting that seems at this moment to be the most important. In the beginning, I did not relate these comments to my own work, but as I looked at the marks I am making in my more abstract pieces I found myself seeing the same problems. My paintings do not have any true or considered relation to space; my colors do not have any considered relation to each other or the whole, and my composition does not spatially bring the viewers eye anywhere except the center of the painting with no useful reason. <br />
As if seeing my work with completely fresh eyes, I began to understand the problems I was having so immensely, connecting on what felt like another level with Harry Naar's suggestions and comments. I also realized that during the making of a painting I would often question myself, why am I putting a mark here, why am I choosing this color, why am I choosing this size of mark, and I have never been able to really answer these questions or find ways to answer them. I finally feel now that I have some footing that I did not seem to grasp as a young undergrad. In addition, other comments that Naar made were about connecting the viewer's eye to a mark and continuing throughout the painting: when a mark starts in a certain place, with a certain color, start at the end or the top of the previous mark further along on the canvas and keep a consistent correlation between marks/brushstrokes. Though these ideas may seem to make things calculated, they give things reason, they give my paintings a certain credibility that they are seriously lacking. Many people have remarked that I tend to place things in the center, and when seeing that, as well as my tendency to break up the canvas into two sections or multiple sections, Naar said that it forced the eye to move to the center or stay divided, stay in one place and hardly move around; but then when the eye moved to that area, what was there to look at? What becomes the importance of being made to look at that place? What do they gain?<br />
Naar also suggested using a painting by Piero della Francesca and recreating it in terms of my own mark making and painting style, using the color, composition, space, and interaction of these things, with everything there already. I can learn greatly from an exploration of work such as this and understanding why it works the way it does. Also, creating a painting using just mark and using only 2 or 3 colors, limiting the palette and really considering each mark, each decision. <br />
Being extremely attentive to the way in which I place a brush mark, a line, a stroke of the hand, a calligraphic word or phrase, being completely obsessive and immersed in my approach, the reason for my approach and the choices I am making will create paintings of more interest, more depth, and more credibility.<br />
This conversation will continue to be enormously important as the months progress and I continue to work on my final thesis project: an installation covered in my paintings. Taking serious steps to create an elaborate and fully immersive environment with only paint and canvas will be hugely influenced by this conversation, as I will begin to hone in my consideration and attention to every decision I make.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-388668558175768502011-02-03T12:06:00.000-08:002011-02-04T12:54:29.234-08:00Spring 2011 First Thesis Crit: Jan. 28th. 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPf6OD1B2r6RZKGb_qBSHl0eL4s95dJn3UE9V0n-s403TYyVMxiJcCeTkATwB5k3edA4G8Ilhb_fGgLBlLdx4JmWl-AGSG2BpgaHhI8KJRqKFx-8WJgI3puQOIe46qesrEztb6ocqjVrVD/s1600/painting+1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPf6OD1B2r6RZKGb_qBSHl0eL4s95dJn3UE9V0n-s403TYyVMxiJcCeTkATwB5k3edA4G8Ilhb_fGgLBlLdx4JmWl-AGSG2BpgaHhI8KJRqKFx-8WJgI3puQOIe46qesrEztb6ocqjVrVD/s200/painting+1b.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBABmJ11UTAJ3q6D6IuMAEOYtHGOFq8kXLzPmsFMZ7-O8UxNZthmf-sa756UKHIoPWlV1nrm7mL4aKtyqE6E2CWdOmpXcCjrokX2WEjN16ujGQTG9bS73C2BUEaQ4HQPmh6IqjUbq94t6i/s1600/painting+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBABmJ11UTAJ3q6D6IuMAEOYtHGOFq8kXLzPmsFMZ7-O8UxNZthmf-sa756UKHIoPWlV1nrm7mL4aKtyqE6E2CWdOmpXcCjrokX2WEjN16ujGQTG9bS73C2BUEaQ4HQPmh6IqjUbq94t6i/s200/painting+2.jpg" width="200" /></a> First Thesis Critique Response:<br />
For my first thesis critique I showed the two works on either side, but I primarily focused on my ideas for the final thesis project. I discussed that my thesis would be an installation, placed in the main gallery space. I discussed how and what materials I will find and use to create my installation, room-like structure. My influences come from the following sources below, which I also discussed in my critique: Ilya Kabakov's Palace of Projects, 1998 - I am specifically looking at the outside structure of the work and how that translates to the work.<br />
David Edgar's play, Pentecost, which discusses a found fresco from the 1400s as well as the writing of refugees, writing to tell their families where they are on the same wall as the fresco, which is more important?<br />
Thomas Hirschhorn's Cavemanman, 2002 - a contemporary cave, filled with tons of found images, contemporary books, magazines, and mass produced aspects of society. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV2Sm9kWg98">Cavemanman Video </a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a name='more'></a><!--more--><hr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> </span></span>I talked about how the structure, the use of cardboard, tape, plastic, and wood in my construction is related to the commonality of these products, the appearance they can make as calculated choices themselves instead of just building materials. Using written language in my painting, the writing of all different cultures, and referencing ancient writing, as well as, mark making, I want to create an atmosphere of contemporary society, past and present. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CFpGbnLXAeuOyFCLy_d6KrB2rIqNJTJFomysbuO1V_B_7tmW3hGOblT53fAygig9ozqKgeBcXfpw7Ui_6cSXX0fYeyjbs5fggAguwRnCEY4oHmz9Lqq0TARlwGCesJFj8zWWXvMNF9c/s1600/palaceAngled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CFpGbnLXAeuOyFCLy_d6KrB2rIqNJTJFomysbuO1V_B_7tmW3hGOblT53fAygig9ozqKgeBcXfpw7Ui_6cSXX0fYeyjbs5fggAguwRnCEY4oHmz9Lqq0TARlwGCesJFj8zWWXvMNF9c/s320/palaceAngled.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ilya Kabakov's <i>Palace of Projects</i>, 1998</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z2jY-tXr909kvZJ6z-llBCmpvkfzVsdIjyTykPl8xIw9lV3fxtZsevzsxPum_UZ80TIZHMOVBX9MFhZhyphenhyphenGXDyUz3MOmWuYeyrdt5K6o5u46Ao2jBLRjUuB2_ZeXc2NpnYI3AEtlQ7vm2/s1600/palaceScale.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z2jY-tXr909kvZJ6z-llBCmpvkfzVsdIjyTykPl8xIw9lV3fxtZsevzsxPum_UZ80TIZHMOVBX9MFhZhyphenhyphenGXDyUz3MOmWuYeyrdt5K6o5u46Ao2jBLRjUuB2_ZeXc2NpnYI3AEtlQ7vm2/s320/palaceScale.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ilya Kabakov's <i>Palace of Projects</i>, 1998</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bKbEZ0cvgfZv24-hxyituoArMv0gmm7Rg4g3XzT6g2teQJd52erRmLOfgP22wZ3KnjQdGrOKYSoS6_a61SIAhoupty16Jnld8XEMUtD5r8RL6sSj0ocSwqUlfUZ9nu43p_7JTXmnpxy9/s1600/pentecost.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bKbEZ0cvgfZv24-hxyituoArMv0gmm7Rg4g3XzT6g2teQJd52erRmLOfgP22wZ3KnjQdGrOKYSoS6_a61SIAhoupty16Jnld8XEMUtD5r8RL6sSj0ocSwqUlfUZ9nu43p_7JTXmnpxy9/s200/pentecost.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pentecost, A Play by David Edgar</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDpwuHNkGZyTzkMezTWf0niqJ8Llo00Fl5yXCOxGiyUuazksQEU5VyGEqpLmCJu3ndp45vIlagkHcr-KlN-mGdl8x8D49NdkMSipDURtPg4BR2JZ6rpdrI_a0TwA95XO-uNCPslf7R0bC0/s320/thomas_hirschhorn_cavemanman_2002.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Hirschhorn, <i>Cavemanman</i>, 2002</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Megan made suggestions about possibly thinking about both handmade and computer made, employing suggestive fonts, or referencing how mark making has changed over the decades because of the influence of the computer and electronic resources. I could also look at wingdings and other fonts that have become a part of the mainstream.<br />
A source that was offered was "How Art Made The World" a BBC documentary made in 2006, specifically discussing cave painting and the context of how that art was created. Thinking about as well whether the the appearance of the structure will seem to reference the ancient or the past, with a nomadic dwelling, will it be circular, what is the history of the space, and do you access new mark making inside of the space.<br />
Other questions that arose after my critique that I will bring up in the next critique:<br />
How should the observer enter the space? <br />
What should the viewer gain from experiencing the space?<br />
Where in the main room should this piece be placed, will it be blocking other work?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXX1IWznnj69mymaT1rS3bDnERikOjlmJuaUFDNmYiOkZKdT9unc02GmRJG_YU7dr7NLZ87Qk_3xpAeUeMnb8MiJDcWfg9okWy8oE1kfdRG6lgdeHx2TCfUME5YelO7TbADvkVVYS06ze/s1600/hirschhorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXX1IWznnj69mymaT1rS3bDnERikOjlmJuaUFDNmYiOkZKdT9unc02GmRJG_YU7dr7NLZ87Qk_3xpAeUeMnb8MiJDcWfg9okWy8oE1kfdRG6lgdeHx2TCfUME5YelO7TbADvkVVYS06ze/s400/hirschhorn.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Hirschhorn, <i>Cavemanman</i>, 2002</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV2Sm9kWg98"><br />
</a>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-63628249448624091032010-12-10T20:56:00.000-08:002010-12-10T20:56:08.870-08:00"You Are Here/I am"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> "You Are Here/I Am" First Year MFA show at first glance seemed quite interesting. The image of an interesting and exciting animal head spewing out a bloody substance like a fountain lingered with me in the few days before I really took a deeper look. However, as I went further and further into the gallery more questions than answers came to mind, more misunderstandings and confusions crept up from a place in my mind where things seemed without complete purpose. I was unsure of the artists' ideas, challenges, mindset, and yet I was also met with a certain understanding of contemporary art surrounded by the environment of Mason Gross. Most of the works spoke to me in a free-unabashed way, but what left me unsatisfied was a type of disconnection. I felt as though many of the works did not fully address the observer or the gallery setting, and some did not seem completely resolved. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjie3J64qDlzleFp5INQDRq-7txfXanja62nvYC-IEMhcoeak9TVgkB7nWYgYmM84FWhXtabjxkW0dyhEaGwzcy6c35-zs-nEaRbQJ_JSrhAgVwwP8pDm3amvmpEsRdeD2OL0sXuW47STSu/s1600/IMAG0481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjie3J64qDlzleFp5INQDRq-7txfXanja62nvYC-IEMhcoeak9TVgkB7nWYgYmM84FWhXtabjxkW0dyhEaGwzcy6c35-zs-nEaRbQJ_JSrhAgVwwP8pDm3amvmpEsRdeD2OL0sXuW47STSu/s200/IMAG0481.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> A.P. Vague's work called "Closer to God" struck me in several ways. First the title turned me somewhat away from the work, though I am not sure why; maybe it was that I felt I would find someone in the midst of an extreme spiritual rebirth or journey, but as I moved in closer to the work, and began to examine further the details of the piece I found myself quite involved. I wanted to know more, to understand each word, written or typed on the pages surrounding me. I felt as if on a journey myself, learning and taking note of each clue I received into the artist or subject's world. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR5hzUzUfE_Ze5MZEkCeS7psSJ6qziZfti12dX9wemSNQM_VyjCRS-KE2rX89KQ2ZpizCYJboDkYPWJd3-5CI80qS6dYtTz1dudC7RGNdjaYbwUYRf2Kh06-9MHqZREtImA2IeMrFcQ7P/s1600/IMAG0482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR5hzUzUfE_Ze5MZEkCeS7psSJ6qziZfti12dX9wemSNQM_VyjCRS-KE2rX89KQ2ZpizCYJboDkYPWJd3-5CI80qS6dYtTz1dudC7RGNdjaYbwUYRf2Kh06-9MHqZREtImA2IeMrFcQ7P/s320/IMAG0482.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The work seemed quite personal and let me deeper into a place I had not known before, this intrigued me. The composition of the work also allowed me to feel as if I was on a sort of diary treasure hunt, or as if someone like Anne Frank's diary was on show and it was my time to really find out what happened. Mixing what looked like older papers with images, pieces coming off the pages of the book, overlapping and wiping out details of text, with two video screens seemingly strategically placed, I felt as though history was meeting the present. In a space of the subconscious or surreal reality of vacant images, I was reminded of the video artist Bill Viola, and his video, "The Passing". In most of his films he is searching for identity, tying into my reactions to the MFA piece. The only aspect of this piece that left me wanting was I felt there was no conclusion, no way truly into the piece and no way fully out, no feeling of resolve. I found myself going back to the piece over and over and searching for more, but each time not really getting what I wanted from it, not really gaining any truth, any information, any meaning, but only seeing again what I had seen before, wondering whether I would ever really understand.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTlJWfiFG5E_-hiLooSskgqauAUPEib4T_aJMX2fcJMS12SMy4mVyt3wvou0DNdAW4-uPwT1vgpqC5JQ12bLCmVWVFIO0lUBtWkVcM3Aa85xvNuwc0yf5jF5tuH5oFAxhXEr0CtR7t5L/s1600/IMAG0483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTlJWfiFG5E_-hiLooSskgqauAUPEib4T_aJMX2fcJMS12SMy4mVyt3wvou0DNdAW4-uPwT1vgpqC5JQ12bLCmVWVFIO0lUBtWkVcM3Aa85xvNuwc0yf5jF5tuH5oFAxhXEr0CtR7t5L/s200/IMAG0483.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> ___________________________<br />
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Chris Camperchoioli's three paintings on the wall caught my eye immediately as I walked into the first room of the gallery. I felt quite drawn to the works, as though I was being sucked into a completely new dimension. These works seemed to be suggesting something coming in and out of existence. As I look deeper, I felt as if I was grasping something tangible just for a second, and then<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w1zLRswe_fE9qT-nSu2AI1ur6fxPPDAJQzq2dEyO3HhdKPie93fA5EPvkSqU2t1hVPS4cnvJn96WssQaDZRy00EzehdqG0nIywUysquCUnkj8Z5irV2eqBJG_2dUZGjFBSNXrJZjFpn9/s1600/IMAG0484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w1zLRswe_fE9qT-nSu2AI1ur6fxPPDAJQzq2dEyO3HhdKPie93fA5EPvkSqU2t1hVPS4cnvJn96WssQaDZRy00EzehdqG0nIywUysquCUnkj8Z5irV2eqBJG_2dUZGjFBSNXrJZjFpn9/s200/IMAG0484.jpg" width="119" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0_8TnXEnoREzqWU65Og94XjaR4VyUr-xm0dgfThoLthsSNP7ibhlyTvYWPrxsC_RviGlMHWIvJLa6h9SOzKtpix1w7o2rHFq08RKLFfuG-vH592sTiDL9q4GXOW5qEXYFRWq31NUQP-X/s1600/IMAG0485.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0_8TnXEnoREzqWU65Og94XjaR4VyUr-xm0dgfThoLthsSNP7ibhlyTvYWPrxsC_RviGlMHWIvJLa6h9SOzKtpix1w7o2rHFq08RKLFfuG-vH592sTiDL9q4GXOW5qEXYFRWq31NUQP-X/s200/IMAG0485.jpg" width="119" /></a><br />
the next minute it was lost. Use of materials appealed to me, and I found the difference in shape, color, mark all came together in united, yet unexpected ways. The worlds created by these paintings appear suspended in a deep void, though concrete in their existence and power. The only aspect that through me off as a viewer was the two blues of the last painting. I felt as though the colors could have been pushed further and that they did not seem to communicate the same feeling, purpose as the other color choices. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0_8TnXEnoREzqWU65Og94XjaR4VyUr-xm0dgfThoLthsSNP7ibhlyTvYWPrxsC_RviGlMHWIvJLa6h9SOzKtpix1w7o2rHFq08RKLFfuG-vH592sTiDL9q4GXOW5qEXYFRWq31NUQP-X/s1600/IMAG0485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUWQDt3g3hj5Rb9uuSif4g5Y7KcYJipjC4yVUhEIpVCIpPg4rMaYHM2vLIAGZdeg-4zXKG6mwKaWadz1_H9hKsskaOHD-hpeH43TRFfBvIzoSIa9FfnkSkUEGZ7CK0WD6upiGv7cTm3VA/s1600/IMAG0488.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w1zLRswe_fE9qT-nSu2AI1ur6fxPPDAJQzq2dEyO3HhdKPie93fA5EPvkSqU2t1hVPS4cnvJn96WssQaDZRy00EzehdqG0nIywUysquCUnkj8Z5irV2eqBJG_2dUZGjFBSNXrJZjFpn9/s1600/IMAG0484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div> Rita DeAngelo's two works seemed to completely contradict each other. I thought the big painting worked tremendously well and communicated a new and awkwardly rewarding space. However, the smaller work to the left gave me nothing except a certain distaste for the quality of the work. The <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGR1Vy_2Pz3UZowtEMn0G4xA5dclxaN8MK9koPxX5hH8PPlDPaNYgY8bckf5gauyKkIjYkeS5Qu3BhScTlxAwH_15kAlR5wAVNup_lGn4G4vpfd8KJVmJ9CyNvUc56QWebzB2k0JB6TNq1/s1600/IMAG0489.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGR1Vy_2Pz3UZowtEMn0G4xA5dclxaN8MK9koPxX5hH8PPlDPaNYgY8bckf5gauyKkIjYkeS5Qu3BhScTlxAwH_15kAlR5wAVNup_lGn4G4vpfd8KJVmJ9CyNvUc56QWebzB2k0JB6TNq1/s200/IMAG0489.jpg" width="200" /></a>smaller work entitled, "5.22.2004-5.24.2004", lacked purpose, lacked focus, and conveyed a lack of depth. As soon as I looked at the smaller piece I immediately wanted to see less of it, felt as though it took on little presence compared to the other works in gallery. The size felt arbitrary and the pieces of caulk and plexiglas seemed slapped together with little thought. <br />
The large piece spoke to me much more through the color, application, line, form, and composition. The scale, mark, contrasting marks create a layered affect that illuminated a new space involving a figure/ground relationship. The large pink shape seems to be covering something up, forcing the viewer to be confronted with the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUWQDt3g3hj5Rb9uuSif4g5Y7KcYJipjC4yVUhEIpVCIpPg4rMaYHM2vLIAGZdeg-4zXKG6mwKaWadz1_H9hKsskaOHD-hpeH43TRFfBvIzoSIa9FfnkSkUEGZ7CK0WD6upiGv7cTm3VA/s1600/IMAG0488.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUWQDt3g3hj5Rb9uuSif4g5Y7KcYJipjC4yVUhEIpVCIpPg4rMaYHM2vLIAGZdeg-4zXKG6mwKaWadz1_H9hKsskaOHD-hpeH43TRFfBvIzoSIa9FfnkSkUEGZ7CK0WD6upiGv7cTm3VA/s200/IMAG0488.jpg" width="119" /></a>engulfing space. The outer border becomes a sort of frame, however, the pink extends to the edge of the canvas, breaking the boundaries and allowing a passage in and out of the painting.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUWQDt3g3hj5Rb9uuSif4g5Y7KcYJipjC4yVUhEIpVCIpPg4rMaYHM2vLIAGZdeg-4zXKG6mwKaWadz1_H9hKsskaOHD-hpeH43TRFfBvIzoSIa9FfnkSkUEGZ7CK0WD6upiGv7cTm3VA/s1600/IMAG0488.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUWQDt3g3hj5Rb9uuSif4g5Y7KcYJipjC4yVUhEIpVCIpPg4rMaYHM2vLIAGZdeg-4zXKG6mwKaWadz1_H9hKsskaOHD-hpeH43TRFfBvIzoSIa9FfnkSkUEGZ7CK0WD6upiGv7cTm3VA/s1600/IMAG0488.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a><br />
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In entirety the first year MFA show examined many contemporary aspects, but they were not all together clear. Many works did speak to a certain exploration into the medium with which the artist was using which I found to be quite interesting and exciting. Although a further development of ideas and use of materials, composition, and presentation present themselves to me as beneficial. <br />
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</a>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-89047788929900395302010-11-22T21:11:00.000-08:002010-11-23T09:35:41.947-08:00Studio Journal: Questions I Am Asking MyselfWhat does a contemporary cave painting look like today?<br />
Do I create that? What compels me to create works that reference this old writing of the past, old slabs, caves, earth, dirt, cracks, scratches, symbols?<br />
what other artists are working on the same ideas? or grappling with ideas of contemporary culture, contemporary life-style, how the planet is being taken care of, how people are reacting to all different types of scenarios today?<br />
I would like to constantly be reading, searching for new source material, artists, articles, books, thoughts, ideas, references.<br />
<br />
"Knowledge is power: the more you know the better choice you make"<br />
-Barb Madsen<br />
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Notes:<br />
Progress<br />
Never Finished, always in progress<br />
the nature of order, limitless, subconscious<br />
self-finding self<br />
individual<br />
unique<br />
is the end result the most decisive part of the process?<br />
synapses of the brain<br />
mysterious quality<br />
prehistoric art<br />
what is your intent?<br />
Outsider Art<br />
Flipped through, "Inner worlds outside'<br />
book about Outsider Art.<br />
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all over image vs. having a definite focus?www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-91056830551794883362010-11-20T20:41:00.000-08:002010-11-22T20:52:59.766-08:00Studio Journal: Looking to GorkyArshile Gorky's paintings have recently become my foundation for the research about my subject matter and painting style.<br />
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His use of line, shape, color, brushstroke, thickness, and composition greatly inform my work. <br />
I feel that his work really touches on his sense of the world around him during his time. My sense of the world is a heavy influence in my own work--being able to connect Gorky's subject matter and tone with his use of mark and paint inspired me in more than one way.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXsitzBPSVEuEkVmdCVKgZ6oPo7kWNLcHH5wEIhr3Np66etFz58QCn5YUPbj-dzgkpgLilzjhtMIjb64ACE3PkQsGnYQiFxaEIiEd61rip8lVSvFo4eEaQsscE8PCk9TMDtfEQwFN73-lJ/s1600/agony.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXsitzBPSVEuEkVmdCVKgZ6oPo7kWNLcHH5wEIhr3Np66etFz58QCn5YUPbj-dzgkpgLilzjhtMIjb64ACE3PkQsGnYQiFxaEIiEd61rip8lVSvFo4eEaQsscE8PCk9TMDtfEQwFN73-lJ/s320/agony.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Gorky, <i>Agony </i>I saw this painting in a book in the Art Library as I was skimming books on Gorky. Agony stuck out to me not only for its color and richness, but also for its complex composition and the emotion reaction that I felt as I turned the page and saw it. I could not keep my eyes away and I had a hard time moving past it.<br />
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The daring gestural mark and strong emphasis on this spontaneous looking arrangement of shapes creates an atmosphere, much like the one I am searching forwww.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-83442570369225995152010-11-19T22:08:00.000-08:002010-11-22T20:40:46.159-08:00Studio Journal: Trip to Chelsea GalleriesGoing into Chelsea twice within three weeks of each trip allowed me to feel much more connected to the art scene in New York. <br />
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I found work that truly spoke to the dialogue that is occurring each day for me.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaSNRqLKl30vUJzI0ymCfywQP9Oi8ZYztxvE4LezzqqXEvC-MvfhPbI8LHaAHPo8B_I_eZvMYb6PlEYsPhklszj6gMY84WKxGUE5CQIngZbttS7aFgPWlXr99HfBglF-TE3x0tA7BXwt2/s1600/Gualdoni_OddsandEnds-72_7fa93a2561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaSNRqLKl30vUJzI0ymCfywQP9Oi8ZYztxvE4LezzqqXEvC-MvfhPbI8LHaAHPo8B_I_eZvMYb6PlEYsPhklszj6gMY84WKxGUE5CQIngZbttS7aFgPWlXr99HfBglF-TE3x0tA7BXwt2/s320/Gualdoni_OddsandEnds-72_7fa93a2561.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxswUcDlBXVZr1CcQVSmYsWow9_F_8_5fTOO1smpwVbSpi6UP8sRsGfXRX2OgpCC6gsAUuCQRKmjLKp8OWQPCyWAbAxVjZCJQ6V4Uz7_ZGjWJcv4ujV9h2vD7kxMM5txnuqGZHX7AqPMJj/s1600/IMG_5242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxswUcDlBXVZr1CcQVSmYsWow9_F_8_5fTOO1smpwVbSpi6UP8sRsGfXRX2OgpCC6gsAUuCQRKmjLKp8OWQPCyWAbAxVjZCJQ6V4Uz7_ZGjWJcv4ujV9h2vD7kxMM5txnuqGZHX7AqPMJj/s320/IMG_5242.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Angelina Gualdoni - Aysa Geisberg Gallery<br />
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I found Gualdoni's paintings to be very interesting and intriguing. There are many subtleties to the paintings that make them even more appealing to me, and I found that it was the strong marks colliding with the more passive subdued marks that created a layered image. This effect, this quality of the paint, of the surface, of the subject matter, caused me to question where my own subject and techniques arise from. <br />
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Tracey Emin and Louise Bourgeois - Caroline Nitsch Gallery <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryINk5hrO8PDti_1YmaAmj5CRNouJ81-15MZ8ADRxLDFEx7FzLczuBlqiWeou3iqlEzyafa1h9zjiBznBIh5B8lSyK_aRTgHroLy98ZGUASJrezP7IJm4q8R68n3mmW-tzgx3UmMZ4YEL/s1600/13_do-not-abandon-me-lb--emin05-cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryINk5hrO8PDti_1YmaAmj5CRNouJ81-15MZ8ADRxLDFEx7FzLczuBlqiWeou3iqlEzyafa1h9zjiBznBIh5B8lSyK_aRTgHroLy98ZGUASJrezP7IJm4q8R68n3mmW-tzgx3UmMZ4YEL/s320/13_do-not-abandon-me-lb--emin05-cb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
These works on paper as a collaboration between Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin suggest ideas about abandonment, betrayal, lust, depravity, birth, and death.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Tracey Emin, in particular, with her use of text, line drawing, and gouache speaks to a very personal narrative surrounding gender, confrontation, and vulnerability. These drawings were in "response" to Louise Bourgeois’ drawings, which I find to be a very interesting motivation and challenge in itself. How does one artist relate to another, while using their particular vehicle for making work. The vehicle for Tracey Emin's works was also something that I was looking at. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62JmAoJtPv7qwHoRCsvmSND8CJretlha0A9O2UIZCy9WThw5_yklxCKif2B-0Zoeh5xzIoXFCjQ-oKzy0bVhG_t9-09KzEwIrAOpG4UxkOEyL20x2wRlBKUKTNjoHxt20imxk6ByGpGux/s1600/13_do-not-abandon-me-lb--emin08-cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62JmAoJtPv7qwHoRCsvmSND8CJretlha0A9O2UIZCy9WThw5_yklxCKif2B-0Zoeh5xzIoXFCjQ-oKzy0bVhG_t9-09KzEwIrAOpG4UxkOEyL20x2wRlBKUKTNjoHxt20imxk6ByGpGux/s320/13_do-not-abandon-me-lb--emin08-cb.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>How does her use of writing, thin, simple line, figures, and sexual references speak to her subject matter and the messages she wants to bring forth with her work. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOGO7a0wlG-F2I8f2fYYyCw3LuPPf6dxIxsxhDPFXVEHE_0j94Ujj3bf-56t7eK9x6NjqZ6m7i0rFKFPhUJERsXmzBWPGL8_5BwaYRaAmBIWlr0KAUDfGFIg7y06gPQWTx5QGyVVBU2P7/s1600/IMG_5246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOGO7a0wlG-F2I8f2fYYyCw3LuPPf6dxIxsxhDPFXVEHE_0j94Ujj3bf-56t7eK9x6NjqZ6m7i0rFKFPhUJERsXmzBWPGL8_5BwaYRaAmBIWlr0KAUDfGFIg7y06gPQWTx5QGyVVBU2P7/s1600/IMG_5246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-83451997849666461682010-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:002010-11-22T20:08:22.789-08:00Studio Journal: William Kentridge Show, Boston, MAInforming my sugar lifts in the previous post was the William Kentridge show at Mass Art in Mass. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURmvuxh8MXmKYpfSr_LPq9Z-rcdWNi1RmfgZmScoZ-PPJIIw2ULhC4WLohsie7aSQLMsNBAyQVY8pSwjNLjGRo6QmllSWPPTXxsCIJkVn0wZmCRTbEbNqdWqRjvKZ75U-YFbQlE3liZlJ/s1600/IMG_5818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURmvuxh8MXmKYpfSr_LPq9Z-rcdWNi1RmfgZmScoZ-PPJIIw2ULhC4WLohsie7aSQLMsNBAyQVY8pSwjNLjGRo6QmllSWPPTXxsCIJkVn0wZmCRTbEbNqdWqRjvKZ75U-YFbQlE3liZlJ/s320/IMG_5818.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnJT-FJcw_i2Ki6I6m8qxcCcOx2lafityIHKZdaiL7r6kS6Z5Iqc3FH93UcEIA9v5we4bJXseQsTCflE67Df8pzrkvKbNtDQSKlFYAWLweWRUi1WSgxLdye4gNLyIonTDmGKbqR2egXlt/s1600/IMG_5820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnJT-FJcw_i2Ki6I6m8qxcCcOx2lafityIHKZdaiL7r6kS6Z5Iqc3FH93UcEIA9v5we4bJXseQsTCflE67Df8pzrkvKbNtDQSKlFYAWLweWRUi1WSgxLdye4gNLyIonTDmGKbqR2egXlt/s200/IMG_5820.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQ0VeFY_l1rv4Zom4sDbuUSSaO84pd5WSOiVOdTxcoGVpLGe-6KfbO5SMngHZ2oCUWA6x1thjS1VkZhojBqw8SsPRszCswM3uIsyH3_yB_hyphenhyphenZ578TnngKilJGxk5tDoTGW3WwMtaGOYG2/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQ0VeFY_l1rv4Zom4sDbuUSSaO84pd5WSOiVOdTxcoGVpLGe-6KfbO5SMngHZ2oCUWA6x1thjS1VkZhojBqw8SsPRszCswM3uIsyH3_yB_hyphenhyphenZ578TnngKilJGxk5tDoTGW3WwMtaGOYG2/s320/IMG_5824.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gLlFBETdx0OrL4J1kGs688JWoGdF2ZeaVc5vn3F7YpZ9yzMa1ZIQnln7DeaPX2Sk3FoiGdiLCzL1cFXfjAlQ82WUhU89WoimTJD3LaOV6F9SBAWI1msVsy-ktAB5IA7XCm-7-agCdc6L/s1600/IMG_5825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gLlFBETdx0OrL4J1kGs688JWoGdF2ZeaVc5vn3F7YpZ9yzMa1ZIQnln7DeaPX2Sk3FoiGdiLCzL1cFXfjAlQ82WUhU89WoimTJD3LaOV6F9SBAWI1msVsy-ktAB5IA7XCm-7-agCdc6L/s320/IMG_5825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kentridge's prints speak to a free and strongly passionate need to create art. As I look at them, I feel compelled to want to express myself, seeing how his techniques can create an image that also works well with my own ideas.<br />
The textures, strong lines, intense passages of multiple printmaking techniques create a whole world of surfaces, surroundings, and depth. My sugar lifts are abstract, but are based on an urge to create a dark strong powerful line, like those in Kentridge's pieces.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-11619995205629344182010-11-17T19:47:00.000-08:002010-11-22T19:56:42.372-08:00Studio Journal: Using Printmaking to Inform My PaintingsWhile I have not been able to fit in enough classes to have a printmaking and painting double concentration, I am committed to taking as many printmaking classes as I can. I really find that printmaking and painting are linking, in quite different ways that I would have expected when I first started printmaking, but now I find that my ideas can develop differently, turn in different directions, and can be totally new in a print.<br />
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Often times printmaking does not seem to work the same way for ideas in paint. Print is a very structured medium, often a lengthy process, where less can be spontaneous and intuitive. However, I have tried to the fullest degree to incorporate my painting style, such as a lack of drawing before hand, lack of necessary logical thinking, into my prints. It has not come so easy, but I have not given up.<br />
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Most recently I have been working on sugar lifts, which are a process in which one takes a mixture of sugar syrup and soap, applies it to a zinc plate and performs many steps to etch the sugary substance into the plate. When it is inked, the parts where the sugar was painted on will print black, as a form of intaglio.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJF7HUe-4QBhjqfAdNokW0iYoFjFcIp6qE8clcbvhR4FW8_Ahdb98Fz9MX1xgDxHfmu7AHNhDE2Mp71L0C2ljkobajNbdvNl5yrZslKUrPM_s31k8MUhdzrDC3QcxSN9XfsG3jDiEEPMM/s1600/IMAG0421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJF7HUe-4QBhjqfAdNokW0iYoFjFcIp6qE8clcbvhR4FW8_Ahdb98Fz9MX1xgDxHfmu7AHNhDE2Mp71L0C2ljkobajNbdvNl5yrZslKUrPM_s31k8MUhdzrDC3QcxSN9XfsG3jDiEEPMM/s400/IMAG0421.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-54520980734136369052010-10-02T21:54:00.000-07:002010-11-23T09:36:24.697-08:00Studio Journal: An Abstract World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJX92LouaWmTkS-4FItYVkP0sQ4qE-mB9nNrGHl6ovpUwPbKRva7STkIA_w4kQvtBy7zAQEyt9UYCKuiS9hzDjoqt827lfz24Nhh5QEYzXKCbe6wbVCDz3qC3K90o1TWDv3o4S3yWFHxgh/s1600/first+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJX92LouaWmTkS-4FItYVkP0sQ4qE-mB9nNrGHl6ovpUwPbKRva7STkIA_w4kQvtBy7zAQEyt9UYCKuiS9hzDjoqt827lfz24Nhh5QEYzXKCbe6wbVCDz3qC3K90o1TWDv3o4S3yWFHxgh/s320/first+painting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This first painting started off the new series of the semester.<br />
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Over the course of 6-8 hours, I began to layer paint on the surface of a blank canvas. Each successive layer did not feel adequate; I was constantly struggling with ideas of space, composition, mark, and color. Many intuitive comments on my work from other people as well as myself, created a layering of paintings that ultimately became a rather flat surface.<br />
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At the moment of complete clarity, the moment of recognition with the painting's surface, the colors, the composition, the space and the mark, I was alone in the studio, with no sound and no distraction. Within 20 minutes I had created and finished this final layer of the painting. My mind and body had arrived at a complete meditative state, understanding completely and wholly what my purpose was. This is the same state I seek to reach in my other successive paintings, working layer by layer until my mind settles and releases the tension of the surrounding world.<br />
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I am thinking also about time and the human concept of living. I apply paint, thin in some areas and thick in others, suggesting a dichotomy within life, within painting. Often, the thinner surface has a blended quality, reminding myself of the essence of a blurry photograph-referencing time, space, and movement. The thicker paint applied on top is heavy with presence. Scratched marks back into the canvas reference a primitive, intuitive gesture, unearthed by my unconscious. A feeling of immense energy exudes the slashes, the strong curves, and the harsh vibrating cross-hatching, fence-like motif. Light emerges from behind the colors, deep back in space, peaking out with hesitant force. <br />
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Influenced greatly by Pat Steir.www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-59351011702746401912010-09-20T20:59:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:59:52.849-07:00The WLCM BCK Show<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"></div><style>
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</style> <div class="MsoNormal">Review:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Mason Gross’ WLCMBCK Show transported me to a welcoming space as an art student returning for her final year of undergraduate education. With a multitude of works from faculty/staff, graduate students, and others, I was reminded of the place I call my college. I became aware that I was training to become an artist, training to make work that will be shown in a gallery space, revealed in an exhibition, chosen by a curator. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">At times I felt quite overwhelmed by the amount of work in the show, by the different types of mediums, and by the almost overcrowded stuffed in nature of some rooms. Everywhere I turned a new piece would be and some pieced I never noticed. On another note, however, I felt a sense of relief, seeing so many ways in which an artist can convey an idea, a message, a story. Each work possessed its own quality, its own touch, its own hand, and its own purpose. Without a certain theme, the show did not beg me to question just one subject, but instead many, about the nature of art, creating art, and the artist themselves. What does art do? What does it create in a gallery space? How does each piece communicate with the others around it? As I watched other students walk through the gallery I heard bits of conversations that seemed to spill out from the artwork, commenting and questioning what was really happening. Surprises also found their way into the exhibition space, lurking behind seemingly simple installations. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSlraqOBIVigd4QoIwphzS9LWA_RQMfn6qCSXBsiCiMIoVNxur8L5hi1nyk1os6ixkIPS7myX60F6AW5NB6ghiZiS9llEI9T0Ul5vvMKlb-HLqY_pR-UgPDpyQBNAc57FQENqzmS3VET-/s200/JIm+Toia+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jim Toia, <i>Dissolving Gardens</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETQyzRektmZB_MdrAugn0cS6iZZ5nmtWeiy1Mkl-nx_Mkpm6XwgEhbgHTL0Y0HnSQm4LV8B8zKf48FM2MsgJK-tXMgXqB31KW8dC62ARa9Qo_uYuamqVPmdBytRsJa7sirs9GHIvPMvWT/s200/Jim+Toia+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jim Toia</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbZVLKtLVwhS79N-YrSIgp9JVw4Y3vYAZJ2yeTIgwfR7_KefiJbMmasCMD-xwxl7APM-eQwe5ufKIHhFXRaNEMMM18coutaY8nojSB9car6ZGzncBk9MKM6ZDWSqzD9VXDXAeg7i5lXm3/s200/Lyda+Craig.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lyda Craig, <i>Untitled (Thinker)</i>, 1997</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbZVLKtLVwhS79N-YrSIgp9JVw4Y3vYAZJ2yeTIgwfR7_KefiJbMmasCMD-xwxl7APM-eQwe5ufKIHhFXRaNEMMM18coutaY8nojSB9car6ZGzncBk9MKM6ZDWSqzD9VXDXAeg7i5lXm3/s1600/Lyda+Craig.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETQyzRektmZB_MdrAugn0cS6iZZ5nmtWeiy1Mkl-nx_Mkpm6XwgEhbgHTL0Y0HnSQm4LV8B8zKf48FM2MsgJK-tXMgXqB31KW8dC62ARa9Qo_uYuamqVPmdBytRsJa7sirs9GHIvPMvWT/s1600/Jim+Toia+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSlraqOBIVigd4QoIwphzS9LWA_RQMfn6qCSXBsiCiMIoVNxur8L5hi1nyk1os6ixkIPS7myX60F6AW5NB6ghiZiS9llEI9T0Ul5vvMKlb-HLqY_pR-UgPDpyQBNAc57FQENqzmS3VET-/s1600/JIm+Toia+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Due to the number of works on the walls and the number of sculptures in the center, I had a hard time concentrating in the first, largest room; I found myself gravitating towards the walls, but only the left wall in particular. Even then, I could not seem to focus on all of the works, but only the ones in which I recognized the artist. This room became the least appealing to me as I continued around the gallery space. I felt beleaguered and somewhat disconnected from the work and the room. I could not find the intimacy I so desired. However, some rooms were particularly different. The first room on the left, though not a part of the WLCMBCK Mason Gross show, containing work by Jim Toia: <i>Dissolving Gardens</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, begged me to sit, listen, watch, and wonder. As I heard the noises of the piece, watched the video screen, searched the space behind the screen, covered only by a transparent sheet, and inspected the wall of fungus, pinned and planned, I was struck by the surrounding nature of the work. I felt submerged in a living landscape. Both walls were monumental to my small stature, engulfing the room and submersing my senses. Sitting in the space, I felt an atmosphere created by controlled lighting, sounds that permeated the room, and a conversation that developed between the fungi and the video. The giant wall of mushrooms and other aspects of mycelium created a tangible ground, as if the wall was the floor on which life sprouted; the placement of each pin seemed organized, but not mechanical, speaking to the nature of the natural world instead of the manmade universe. Meeting the video, as it projected onto the space behind fungi, the two worlds combined into one—the gallery space and the space of the world around us. The second room on the left, dedicated to Lyda Craig brought forth new ideas, about a space in which power grew exponentially from one piece to the next. There was a sense of creation, passion, being, and excitement. Each painting, collage, sculpture, drawing, conveyed a sense of purpose, as if each brush stroke, each line mattered. Both Jim Toia and Lyda Craig’s work paved the way for the rest of the show, the welcoming back of students, artists, teachers, and a new year to learn, grow, and progress. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdzBuQuxGRDjx6jO0Tg1-fFg9XvkynEFLziSi_mh_uiQDAXZDQchf01uOAJ9IT7qPeopnjfTlNPrFf5rHRNlZhi4oqh4lSQQDui3Tx3W5OsX2alsrGvNPt5EnwdbACFTVLibKaiQigvdP/s1600/liv+aanrud.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdzBuQuxGRDjx6jO0Tg1-fFg9XvkynEFLziSi_mh_uiQDAXZDQchf01uOAJ9IT7qPeopnjfTlNPrFf5rHRNlZhi4oqh4lSQQDui3Tx3W5OsX2alsrGvNPt5EnwdbACFTVLibKaiQigvdP/s200/liv+aanrud.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="150" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Liv Aanrud, <i>Hanging on the</i> </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container"><tbody>
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</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Mystic Whispers of the Supernatural Cave Shadows</i>, 2010<br />
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Moving through the rooms, Liv Aanrud’s <i>Hanging on Mystic Whispers of the Supernatural</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><i>Cave Shadows</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, connected me with both classroom learning and a contemporary movement that was happening outside of Rutgers University. With a flat layer of tan and yellow ochre in big bold shapes across the top of the painting, the colors trickle down as if a river flowing to the bottom of the painting surrounded by bright red on either side. The top part of the painting reminded me in a way of ancient symbols that were discussed in the paintings of Adolph Gottlieb in the 1940s. Though the bottom of the painting took me to a place of art in the now, thick, bright, textured, and almost random in nature. Many of the pieces in the show seemed to speak this similar language: a textured illogical assemblage of art. In Aanrud’s work, the compliment between the flatness of the top half of the canvas and the juicy chunkiness of the bottom half lends itself to a shift between the past and the present, was once was, and what is. Where the two colors meet the thick red seems to push against the flat tan colors, forcing paint to build up and form “v” like marks, ridges, and crevices. The painting is interrupted by marks of other colors, blues, greens, and darker variations, creating an abrupt but subtle disconnect from a two to three color piece. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENp4g303ESytiMfNjrPKlOwCHaxlrtHHPtJyV9A_TDI_zjgThlavypRdZ4cUlKffRiykY9z3-IICKzmKxjvDFx3toI7Im_YRIZgemYiQRkf3YXD-ol0VEU7rPaP7Tn2qpi5N8EpH01UrK/s1600/Marketa+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81bjdWXx9R-AKcnt2u8okLg72rkSfcpWXlMtposAAv9Q-suZmJhwXllLhLe598m-zrJ5Fbc16-8gHQ1vROAEAzYHGSa2EiN62gNWVfmy5k1AAY8teoGutWujEPdMYvRLdIYzIPhUJT0hb/s1600/Marketa+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81bjdWXx9R-AKcnt2u8okLg72rkSfcpWXlMtposAAv9Q-suZmJhwXllLhLe598m-zrJ5Fbc16-8gHQ1vROAEAzYHGSa2EiN62gNWVfmy5k1AAY8teoGutWujEPdMYvRLdIYzIPhUJT0hb/s200/Marketa+1.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Marketa Klicova, <i>I did not write about the fact...</i>, 2010</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENp4g303ESytiMfNjrPKlOwCHaxlrtHHPtJyV9A_TDI_zjgThlavypRdZ4cUlKffRiykY9z3-IICKzmKxjvDFx3toI7Im_YRIZgemYiQRkf3YXD-ol0VEU7rPaP7Tn2qpi5N8EpH01UrK/s200/Marketa+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Marketa Klicova</span>,<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 2010</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Marketa Klicova’s installation: <i>I did not write about the fact that for example it is not an even process and that I know the future declines punctually</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, stood out as it commanded the presence of the center of one room. Many people walked around it and questioned what meaning it was trying to illustrate. Using wood, paper, painted Plexiglas, wire, and a drawing instrument, a space is created, protruding into the areas around which it is situated. It drew me to the Liv Aanrud painting because of the installation’s movement around the room. A dialogue occurs between both the piece morphed out of the pedestal and the pieces of wood, paper, and glass cup of water, which seemed to make some viewers uncomfortable. I found it to be an explorative adventure, watching people interact and discovering unknown sections of the piece. Every aspect looked as though it came from the mind, as if an exercise in revealing what lies beneath these objects, what their interaction creates and how the space around them is affected. </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6w7oh99nHvQF4vBQhffopGImlBtnoRnnJvVUw52QC69cZvk-n2O5jesZW3OtOdga2W1RBxRUL7F7xVhtVWXk7PhowaDSRosqwvP1m9XEjJIe6qffEzgA-YNWYXfL0us35Ktpjf8CCMV3/s1600/Catherine+Huggart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6w7oh99nHvQF4vBQhffopGImlBtnoRnnJvVUw52QC69cZvk-n2O5jesZW3OtOdga2W1RBxRUL7F7xVhtVWXk7PhowaDSRosqwvP1m9XEjJIe6qffEzgA-YNWYXfL0us35Ktpjf8CCMV3/s200/Catherine+Huggart.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Catherine Huggarty, <i>Untitled</i>, 2010</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The entirety of the room interested me, connecting with all of my senses on multiple levels. Another piece, directly across from Klicova’s and adjacent to Aanrud’s painting, was Catherine Haggarty’s <i>Untitled</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, in a way a more simple pen and gouache drawing of what looked like stacked paper, yet it drew me closer just as the other two pieces had. This work stood out in its own write because of the line work and quality and the complex simplicity of the image. A centered stack of paper lay on a flat plane, but yet, the crinkles and creases of the paper as it folded and fluttered together allowed for a moment of clarity. The piece struck me as straightforward, but quite masterful, similar to my experience with a Vija Celmins’ work. With a limited palette of a tan, yellowish hue flatly painted as a background and a lighter color for the paper, the black pen anchors the piece, outlining and shaping the paper as it ripples and creases. All of the pieces I took note of in the show had a confidence about them, and I think the show as a whole benefited from the solidarity and purposefulness of each piece. Especially in this room, I felt the presence of the artist, lurking beneath drawings, paintings, and installations, exposing art as a mode of exploration and experimentation, while still exuding confidence and power. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmkM21ErRqktum7wRdqyOoKn1jh_KcVMTATGvnQGK3X1_BhnKKeDrKwvRjvYVS9uAAzmSzDfdN6ljr5BVXxo2JF3uRw_CHfxNCDuLTK5_IvVyGjbij1OkVb1f6yizDSYf7aoyPhp4IVLA/s1600/Erin+Dunn+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmkM21ErRqktum7wRdqyOoKn1jh_KcVMTATGvnQGK3X1_BhnKKeDrKwvRjvYVS9uAAzmSzDfdN6ljr5BVXxo2JF3uRw_CHfxNCDuLTK5_IvVyGjbij1OkVb1f6yizDSYf7aoyPhp4IVLA/s1600/Erin+Dunn+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmkM21ErRqktum7wRdqyOoKn1jh_KcVMTATGvnQGK3X1_BhnKKeDrKwvRjvYVS9uAAzmSzDfdN6ljr5BVXxo2JF3uRw_CHfxNCDuLTK5_IvVyGjbij1OkVb1f6yizDSYf7aoyPhp4IVLA/s320/Erin+Dunn+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Erin Dunn, <i>Whoops</i>, 2010</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The final piece I chose impacted me in ways I have only now been able to comprehend. When I originally saw the two paintings, I recognized the artist, the artist’s hand and style, gesture and technique, but what I did not notice was that the handling of canvases and their placement in the space brought me back to thinking about my work as a student. Erin Dunn’s <i>Whoops</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, 2010, occurred to me as a flowing of artistic confidence, presence, and power. The mixed media paintings create abstract alternate realities, in a sense suspended in time, yet they feel as if they morph every second. As I think back to my own work I feel as though I often do not let ideas or techniques flow from me. I want to go back to that place where I can prolifically create works that speak to something I am constantly discovering, what I wish to experiment with and what I am interested in, and in the moment how I am experiencing the life around me. Making what seem like very conscious decisions with how to treat the sides and backs of canvases, how to apply the media to the surface and how to place the paintings in the gallery space, Dunn powerfully asserts her creative touch, opening up avenues in my work that I have not delved into. Passing her studio at times I have seen the sheer amount of work she creates, which ultimately leads to a confident defining and dynamic style. This year I will be working towards this goal. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Though the show had no organized theme, I found that the artists who submitted their work chose thoughtfully and passionately. The works conveyed a sense of the artist as a creator of a world, entirely their own. The more I write about the show the more I become enthralled in the experience of seeing work from so many people all at once, some that are just beginning their careers and others that have been working for much longer. At times I was overwhelmed, but ultimately I found myself in the work. I welcomed back the true and free artist in me. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-45689168152326957342010-09-15T20:39:00.000-07:002010-09-19T09:23:30.655-07:00Interview with Nicole Sardone<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj7nQnVTaq2B50DmyDrRmzYg3FD6JDpLbI283D7PcKc64ZxwVoDxral2RRgP7JEuXI3lOp_cBYlM4b4OZvIn9IWJJIeWidlp1c94I7FKJDhPzgF8gt27evdTmPyaXvsp7VkJtigMYdVHY/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZj7nQnVTaq2B50DmyDrRmzYg3FD6JDpLbI283D7PcKc64ZxwVoDxral2RRgP7JEuXI3lOp_cBYlM4b4OZvIn9IWJJIeWidlp1c94I7FKJDhPzgF8gt27evdTmPyaXvsp7VkJtigMYdVHY/s200/3.jpg" width="171" /></a>Nicole Sardone began her undergraduate studies unsure of what she wanted to focus on. Taking many courses in fine arts she ultimately discovered painting was her mode of expression. She is a figurative painter: looking to highlight the shapes of the figure and bring the parts of the body to a new realm. As the focal point of her paintings, they speak on their own, apart from the entirety of the figure.<br />
<br />
Ilana Cloud: You grew up not knowing you were interested in art, so how did you begin to see that painting might really be a place you wanted to go, and that being an artist would be a path for you where you could really grow and develop? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole Sardone: I have tried so many different areas of the arts, like graphic design, drawing, sculpture, etc. But something with painting just stuck. With graphic design I felt like there was a middleman that I did not want and that led me more towards drawing and painting. When I really started drawing and painting I realized I was very interested in, not necessarily the figure, I was not drawn to the full figure by beauty or anything like that, but more so the interesting shapes of the body. The forms, and the possibilities of just your hand alone, such a small part of the body, are endless. So that is what I have begun to really focus on in my work. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: What have you taken in terms of classes in your undergraduate studies so far? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I have spent about three years at Middlesex County College before coming to Rutgers, studying part time at Middlesex, taking classes such as graphic design, figure drawing, sculpture, a bunch of different painting classes. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: When you took these art classes early on in college, you found something that really interested you? Leading you towards art? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I found that I enjoyed making art in those classes, before that I was very confused about what I was going to do. I did not have many hobbies; I did not have any particular subjects I enjoyed in school. I was really relieved to know that there was something I was truly interested in, something I wanted to do, wanted to continue to do. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: From the work of yours that I have seen and from our discussion it seems you are very interested in the body. Are you looking at all areas, are there some parts of the body that draw you in more? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I have not found a part of the body I do not enjoy painting. However, I have found that I am really drawn to feet. Something about a person’s feet, they are just so interesting, the shapes, the angles. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Do you often like to portray female or males in your paintings? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I have not thought about genders too much in my work up until this point, but I think I prefer a male. Women seem a little too dainty in some regards. I like the broadness of males, the rigidity and structure. I have been doing a lot of torsos, as you can see in my work, and many backs. I really wanted to find someone with substance, someone like a three hundred pound person, but that turned out to be quite hard to find as a model. I like things to be bigger, bigger is better; this is what I want to continue to search for, for my paintings. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I often look at Jenny Seville; I find her work to be so gorgeous, so compelling. Many times her paintings can look grotesque in nature, but I find it to really be beautiful. I don’t see my work as looking similar to hers in any way, but she is definitely someone that has greatly influenced me as a painter. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Do you see anything similar in her work that you identify with, something that she is saying with her paintings that relate to why you paint the body or have an interest in it? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: Well, I started painting the body before I even looked deeply into her work, but I found a connection there; she does show a lot of different sides of people, people undergoing plastic surgery, transvestites and some bloodied figures. There is, it seems, an element of drama, a sort of creepiness in her work, but at the same time there is so much beauty. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0yscjxT7nZwtRrr-beEWOMYT5kJmv-7AuwRhtTbFpnjUohCI00gOI5WaLUReJSwpE4EC_6ir4Dvd1FNWAfCLjIsq2hWACaizCL2daCAd2tadlSrCrdGy2JuF0l4Zcoin7qMnehfogJ8X/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0yscjxT7nZwtRrr-beEWOMYT5kJmv-7AuwRhtTbFpnjUohCI00gOI5WaLUReJSwpE4EC_6ir4Dvd1FNWAfCLjIsq2hWACaizCL2daCAd2tadlSrCrdGy2JuF0l4Zcoin7qMnehfogJ8X/s200/12.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Is that something you are looking to grasp in your own art? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: Yes, I definitely want to bring the viewer to a similar place. There is some work that I definitely feel has a creep appeal and those are the pieces I am most happy with, most engaged in. Though I am not really sure why, I can’t really pinpoint or describe what draws me to them. I think it has a lot to do with the way I want to use paint to describe the body and aspects of it. I look for a more expressive way to engage the figure in my paintings. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Is there any theme, or idea about our world that you are bringing to the surface with your art? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I could say something about our world but it is not really my driving force. I have some thoughts in the back of my head, but I am not quite sure what they are. A lot of what I envision has a lot to do with my personal experiences, personal interests. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: From a lot of your works, it sees that you crop the parts of the body in interesting ways, offsetting at times, not including the whole figure, but making the figures anonymous in a way because heads are not included in paintings with other parts of the body, and often you chose only one aspect of the body to represent. Is this intentional, what are you trying to create for the viewer? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I never start off a painting by thinking about where the figures are placed. I don’t do a lot of planning, and I enjoy bringing things really close to the picture plane. Break the barrier between the viewer and the painting; I want to get it in your face. I don’t want too much information there. I really like to separate the body, take it out of context—take a part of the body out of context of the whole thing. I think that connects with the second aspect of your question about figures or bodies being anonymous. Its not a figure in a space, it becomes an object on a picture plane. A quote that I really think describes my work or my process well is one by Lucian Freud: “the longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and ironically, the more real.” The idea that the figures becomes anonymous I find to be a large part of my work because I am looking at the shapes the body creates, in a sense, dissecting parts of the human figure, depicting them on their own and disassociating them from the human being. I want the bodies to become something else, to change inside the mind of the observer, losing their sense of humanity, and in a way becoming abstract objects. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: A lot of the paintings do not really show what the figure is doing, or they are cropped in a way that does not allow the viewer to see exactly what space they are in. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqUOH6c7EuLxl45BsEq3r-ptML5bmAAiKfIm796p312tBa-jT3U5Uy6RDNfNmsB1isGsCXFin6uss3HcP1OxksOClkUCH2nhytp4oDsVcGpuMQv7JIh1N9RIZ5j7BBBHEO30m0TBGhSrX/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqUOH6c7EuLxl45BsEq3r-ptML5bmAAiKfIm796p312tBa-jT3U5Uy6RDNfNmsB1isGsCXFin6uss3HcP1OxksOClkUCH2nhytp4oDsVcGpuMQv7JIh1N9RIZ5j7BBBHEO30m0TBGhSrX/s200/16.jpg" width="158" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I am really not interested in the backgrounds or what is going on around the figure. I do not like to have it be distracting, or having any other type of objects in the background. I also like the flatness of a background juxtaposed with a three-dimensional rendering of the body part. In my paintings there is different types of representations, such as line, two-dimensionality, turning into three-dimensionality, and then a difference in texture between thick or thinner paint, rough or smoother paint, transparent or opaque paint and color. I really enjoy opposing styles and contradictions in the paint. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Does this pull towards contrast influence what materials you use, what surface you use to paint on? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: Yes, definitely; I work on wood panels. I feel that it allows me to build layers, dig in deep, and have a hard structure to begin with. At some points I’m pushing the paint around with a palette knife like a sort of sculpture with paint, sculpting the paint. I have experimented with many different types of wood and even so I do not seek out a particular type when I go to buy supplies. I sense whether I want them based on the way they feel, something with a decent amount of texture, but not enough that it is going to overpower the work or draw the viewers attention to the wood of the support. I feel that wood works perfectly with the image I am looking to create. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Do you feel that this is the direction you will go with for thesis this semester and spring semester? Any ideas on what the work will look like? Whether it will change or not? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: Yes, I feel that this is the direction I want to take, to keep exploring the body and the aspects that strike me most. Also though, I want to try and create for thesis a way in which the paintings I make can intertwine, or communicate to one another, in a sculptural sense. I want to arrange the paintings into their own sculpture that relates them, allows them to connect with one another and impact the viewer in a certain way. I am trying to avoid it looking or resembling the figure, or referencing the figure in the obvious sense, but I want my paintings to occupy space. I really want them to take on the space around them, not just be hung on a wall. I want the to have a presence, bring them into the viewer’s world. I am looking into creating a three-dimensional painting in a sense, comprised of many paintings together. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Are there areas you want to explore further for thesis that you feel you have not had a chance to so far? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: Yes I would really like to work on the face. The face can do so many interesting things, and though this will anchor the paintings back to a more human sensibility, I feel that I will obscure the facial expressions and the placement of the head in order to create the same desensitization and fragmentation. I plan to look at and experiment shapes inside of the face, such as lips and noses, and not look at the face as a whole necessarily. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Is there something in your own life, an experience or a way that you live your life that you feel people have in some way missed these parts of the body or have become so distant from the shapes of the human form? Have you thought about why you want to really bring the features so close to the viewer? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: It seems like a very unconscious choice, it is mostly just how I work and have been working for some time. I work based a lot on feeling and initial reaction. I am really not sure why I am so interested in placing the parts of the body so close to the picture plane. Even when I started figure drawing I never though for one second that I had to draw the whole figure. I immediately zoomed in and worked on only one part. It just felt like the right thing to do. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: What is the size of your work normally? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I was working primarily last semester on 2x2 feet panels, but towards the end of the semester I started working on larger paintings, upwards of four feet to even larger. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: Do you have a technique that you start with to begin? To you draw out in pencil, in paint? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDWm6SMevgcs_QcaQBTp5ncOMvXGN3vBk7hsfg4ttDwD111SN0vsBjHf7riK0cZ5l4ZxcyXlAJeBP7l_8px98-7LmtF9roip4dCHYw-8D2g6vUBxGWe1jR-krtQjFp1mv2oASZTAbSAij/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDWm6SMevgcs_QcaQBTp5ncOMvXGN3vBk7hsfg4ttDwD111SN0vsBjHf7riK0cZ5l4ZxcyXlAJeBP7l_8px98-7LmtF9roip4dCHYw-8D2g6vUBxGWe1jR-krtQjFp1mv2oASZTAbSAij/s200/2.jpg" width="200" /></a>Nicole: I draw out in the beginning with paint and I am very interested in also leaving a lot of those initial drawing lines in my finished paintings. I have looked often at Degas’ work where he leaves the lines from previous renditions of the figure and I feel it gives the painting and the figure a real sense of movement. The artist Jim Peters also influences me; though he has a lot more space, a lot more of an environment for the figures, but when I saw his style it definitely influenced me in the way I paint. I look at his work for the way he handles paint on the canvas. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ilana: As a final question, do you make fast paintings? Slow paintings? Do you make a conscious decision about what you will use to create the painting? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nicole: I do often chose a method before I start a painting, such as doing a fast painting, a dry brush painting, using a palette knife or other type of method. I feel like this creates not only a dialogue between the paintings but also adds an experimental aspect to the paintings, a gestural mark that becomes part of each painting. I really want to learn from each painting that I do and have it inform the next piece.<br />
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Closing remarks: Combining experimentation with her desire for a zoomed in view, Nicole Sardone subjects the viewer to the body as part, not as whole. Her work asks the observer to question the role of the figure in painting and whether the entire figure needs to be seen in order for the painting to be complete. These paintings illuminate aspects of the body that are otherwise not seen as one in themselves, creating their own atmosphere and presence. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5999193917384962552.post-69029134859377137022010-09-12T12:54:00.000-07:002010-09-12T13:18:09.702-07:00Water Exhibition, Zimmerli Art Museum, Review<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Water</i></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The <i>Water</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> exhibition at the Zimmerli Art Museum exudes a presence that enlivens itself throughout the works of the show. The pieces invite the observer to ask questions about the purpose of water, the use of water, and the power of water. Encompassing prints, paintings, video, photography, sculptures and installation work, </span><i>Water</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> brings to life water; a basic need for humanity and for the planet. The show not only highlights the serine, calming nature of water, but also the way water shapes the human understanding of the world. Layers of meaning lurk beneath the surface of each piece of art, contrasting and complementing the works around it. Art of previous generations and centuries are brought to the present moment by work of the contemporary era. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-indent: 0.5in;">Water surrounds onlookers as they walk throughout the exhibition, through small rooms, and big openings; weaving in and out of the walls, the pieces come alive as if the show itself is underwater—strong, peaceful, and thought provoking. Inquiries are made into ideas about water, such as, “who does water belong to?”, “is the use of water a human right?”, “what power does water have?”, and “how does water’s nature relate to human nature or the nature of the universe?” One video projection in particular, <i>Always New, Always Familiar</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, 2000, created by Janine Antoni and Paul Ramirez Jonas, shines light on the character of water and what it brings to the human identity and journey. One large video projection of water moving as a boat moves forward through it, with a small video projection of water moving behind the boat, signifies a process, a part of life that every person on the planet experiences, the process of moving forward in life towards the future and leaving behind the past. The video creates a sensory experience that involves the mind into the waves and evokes the uncertainty, fear, excitement, and ferocity of change. Communicating the vision of the curator, Donna Gustafson, </span><i>Water</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, takes the viewer to a new realm of possibility: changing the gallery space with color, placement, and lighting, as well as, bringing to life the exploration of the artist’s call to “earth’s most precious resource” (</span><i>Water </i><span style="font-style: normal;">program 1). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Through curator Donna Gustafson’s talk about the creation of the <i>Water</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> show, one can begin grasp the magnitude of forming such a complex and thought-provoking exhibition. It takes time to make choices about the number of artworks, about the color, mood, volume, medium, placement, and the span of centuries/cultures. Comprising works from all around the world (Haiti, America, Asia, France, and Russia, etc.), the curator embodied the nature of water’s presence all over the planet. Every place on earth relates to water in some way, as does each human. If I were to curate such a show, choosing four or five pieces, I would focus on a part of water’s nature that was not fully explored at the Zimmerli. The theme would be of the destruction of water by human means and the destructive power of water to humans and the world. Employing Atul Bhalla’s installation of water, glass cases, cast sand, and silt, called </span><i>Immersions</i><span style="font-style: normal;">; Geoffrey Hendricks’, </span><i>Waiting</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, with two scores, two class dishes and water; Ross Cisneros’ </span><i>Ice and Ark </i><span style="font-style: normal;">installation of plastic water bottles, water, and fishing nets; Sally Gall’s gelatin silver print, </span><i>Evidence of Wind</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, from the series </span><i>Between Worlds</i><span style="font-style: normal;">; and Nikolai Nikanorovich Dubovskoi’s oil on canvas, called </span><i>Calm Before the Storm</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. All of these works speak to the power of water and the profound effect it can have on society, culture, habitat, and livelihood. The dissolving of the silt and sand that was cast in Atul Bhalla’s installation as well as the scores slowly breaking down in Geoffrey Hendricks’ work create a contrast, but also a comparison to Ross Cisneros’ </span><i>Ice and Ark</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, illuminating humanity’s part in dissolving a dwindling resource. The two final pieces, a photograph and a painting, ground the rest of the artwork, evoking the movement, power, and awe of water through a two-dimensional field. I found at times </span><i>Water</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> at the Zimmerli became a bit overwhelming, with the multitude of work in often enclosed spaces, but this great amount of work also allowed for artists to relate to one another, ideas to bounce between rooms, and themes to trickle like water beneath the surface, exposing humanity’s deep relationship to water in a passionate, serious, and peaceful note.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95DNkGXuomWChewRZwSStzw6DDF30jGUryZaAphfCJFwETFz0rDGCBZDzwtq1irl0cI8g6rIlXo0wDt_xhOfASQOT3nFIyQLp590Go1MHmgcDeZvu-7Hbaq4X8BD6n2vt9iR9FqFojWFz/s1600/geoff+hendricks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95DNkGXuomWChewRZwSStzw6DDF30jGUryZaAphfCJFwETFz0rDGCBZDzwtq1irl0cI8g6rIlXo0wDt_xhOfASQOT3nFIyQLp590Go1MHmgcDeZvu-7Hbaq4X8BD6n2vt9iR9FqFojWFz/s200/geoff+hendricks.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Geoffrey Hendricks <i>Waiting</i>, 2010</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwfEtH9efAQEGE4rrTsIZ_VjXPqXutLER7QSilWdSFUdvMM4UR_9PkWYsa1DzABotnK4nShG93DDyvem17CQWTYDUZJTKzBQz4ZIBVePJSuqEv_TQYDmUPcz5tVNSMHjePnWNm7tEau59/s1600/Atul+Bhalla.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwfEtH9efAQEGE4rrTsIZ_VjXPqXutLER7QSilWdSFUdvMM4UR_9PkWYsa1DzABotnK4nShG93DDyvem17CQWTYDUZJTKzBQz4ZIBVePJSuqEv_TQYDmUPcz5tVNSMHjePnWNm7tEau59/s200/Atul+Bhalla.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Atul Bhalla <i>Immersions</i>, 2008</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnCv7hOxqBkviJxK3Vlw59QRuu2F6H3nQUBKq35ug2oEsyHfNotM4LOzbin1jmfmTCdsx80qF_m-6oVteMGbdVVgO0oYtGSYpaQFEOr_7soqFTHXCrejrvHh5_aiRSw_8OgzSJ5DIZlMj/s1600/%C2%A9+Sally+Gall+Evidence+of+Wind.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnCv7hOxqBkviJxK3Vlw59QRuu2F6H3nQUBKq35ug2oEsyHfNotM4LOzbin1jmfmTCdsx80qF_m-6oVteMGbdVVgO0oYtGSYpaQFEOr_7soqFTHXCrejrvHh5_aiRSw_8OgzSJ5DIZlMj/s200/%C2%A9+Sally+Gall+Evidence+of+Wind.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sally Gall <i>Evidence of wind</i>,1997</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yJVKl_Iwg2-7WSV-Old6fZNqm1jJdR9JC9fVd4jfgHw2dbavsWrr1cyjS21Eq71sGIdXQBv2SeHRyW9Ywi9zPedSRwTPL1hIYk6oOoBnpBgZ_wjsgxfK-vivpz5CZ7nFKXkhpR1zYN1b/s1600/Ross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yJVKl_Iwg2-7WSV-Old6fZNqm1jJdR9JC9fVd4jfgHw2dbavsWrr1cyjS21Eq71sGIdXQBv2SeHRyW9Ywi9zPedSRwTPL1hIYk6oOoBnpBgZ_wjsgxfK-vivpz5CZ7nFKXkhpR1zYN1b/s200/Ross.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ross Cisneros<i> Ice and Ark, 2009</i><i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGO4etkRW3hZwSKIrTZ_p5pXMVJrGewpht7GNTD_qw6bCJwGdkGxyGg5f_0erZlHwdr6fRhdZz5Le9-tHgwk73meh985S0LjThdr2kNyhizNgeSzFBhOokrW851YeMPwCfl2TGroVJsnnX/s1600/Russian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGO4etkRW3hZwSKIrTZ_p5pXMVJrGewpht7GNTD_qw6bCJwGdkGxyGg5f_0erZlHwdr6fRhdZz5Le9-tHgwk73meh985S0LjThdr2kNyhizNgeSzFBhOokrW851YeMPwCfl2TGroVJsnnX/s200/Russian.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nikoli Nikanorovich Dubovskoi</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <i>Calm Before the Storm</i>, 1889-1890</span> </td></tr>
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</div>www.fertile-crescent.orghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08750184720461159767noreply@blogger.com0