Although this semester was a busy one for me, it has been a great semester for new developments in my work. This fall along with my ceramics, I have been working on some painting. Being a ceramics concentration, I like to try and connect my ceramics with other mediums that I am working in and this semester I have been working on, what I call, clay paintings. The piece pictured above is one of the first pieces I created. I use the minerals that I normally mix with water to make clay, with acrylic medium and a gel molding paste. Through many experiments with the new material, I have learned the best ratio of clay to medium, which gives me what I want when the paint finally dries.
These paintings are a play on special relations as well as an expression of chaotic emotions. Looking at them, a viewer can get lost in the series of small cracks and extreme textures that sometimes you forget how small the painting actually is. Being painted on small 10x10 squares also causes tension because the material seems as though it should expand beyond the edge of the actual painting. The 10x10 square form of the painting helps create tension, but also contains the chaos.
I believe that my best learning moment of the semester was participating in directing the shows that have been in the Beard Gallery on Main Street. Being president of the art club for the first time this semester, I have learned a lot, but most of it has taken place in patching and painting walls, hanging artwork and vinyl, and writing press releases. I think all of what I have learned from working with the Beard Gallery has been extremely important and beneficial for my future and myself as an artist.
I have attended the Girl and FAX exhibitions in the Dowd Gallery, along with FLASHBACK, the Dingle show, in the Beard Gallery and Tara Evens BFA thesis show Down to a Science at the Corset Factory.
The most inspiring artist that I found this semester is Barbara Nanning. She works with a lot of different mediums, but it is her ceramic work that I am most drawn too. She works with extremely abstract and organic forms, and in relation to the wall hangings I am working on with clay; I believe she is a great reference for me to be looking at. I accidentally found her when I was surfing the web for people who do paintings with clay. When I saw a picture of one of her ceramic works, I followed it to her website.
I love being in the studio with friends and other classmates. My peers are the best people to ask advice and gain support from. I am lucky that there are a lot of good artists in the ceramic department, and I believe the best part about it is that we all come in everyday with totally different ideas. It is so nice to have people to bounce ideas off of and work with to develop your own ideas.
My best moment in critiques this semester was during the first BFA critique we had. Bryan Thomas made a comment that he was excited and happy to hear me talk about the importance of form in my ceramic wall hangings. In the same crit, I was also really happy with the response I received from my clay paintings. It was very encouraging.
As for my perspective on art, I am always really open to new and interesting ideas. As well as learning my history, I have also been looking at more modern artists work and really trying to open my eyes to what is out there and what is being made now.
In the next semester, I would love to continue my clay paintings as well as my ceramic wall pieces. I have an idea to connect the two, and also I would like to work on making my own molds to throw my ceramic work at. I finally feel like my ceramic work is where I want it to be right now and I am really excited to mix the paintings and the ceramics together.
No comments:
Post a Comment