Foundry Returns!

I am pleased to report that I am taking Foundry for the third time in my undergrad career!  Taught once again by the adorable Farron Allen!  I am so in love with this class and I cannot contain my excitement for the pieces I am working on.  I feel like the past two classes projects I made have been preparation for this final semester and will bring my best work forth!

Wax bird skull
(in progress)

My pieces are built off of my thesis of illusions of the human figure.  A male and a female bust made of aluminum with part of their faces "torn away" to show a bird skull (male) and a deer skull (female) made of bronze.  I plan to use patinas in the natural shadows of the figures and to buff and polish the metals in the natural highlights.

Wax bird skull venting system
Prep for investment

Up to this point, I have the bronze skulls and am working on the wax parts for the aluminum pour.  I have never done a project with both metals before.  Due to aluminum being at a lower melting point then bronze, it is possible to pour aluminum on top of bronze, thus creating a two metaled work of art.  I observed a friend do this my sophomore year with some of this pieces.  I chose to make the skin of the figures out of aluminum because it is less expensive and is a lighter material.  Overall, both of these pieces will be rather heavy due to the size and the bronze that will be encased inside (each of the skulls weigh about 8 lbs currently).

Wax deer skull venting system
Prep for investment

I was very pleased with how successful my pieces turn out because if the skulls didn't come through then my whole project would be scrapped.  Fortunately, after a very messy class of breaking open the molds, I was able to see my hard work come to fruition.  I swear, on the day we open our molds after the aluminum pour, I am going to be like a parent watching their kid drive for the first time... a total nervous wreck.  

I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but my eyelashes were white with investment dust.  Every time I moved, white particles would fall off of me like snow. 

Cleaned up (some) and ready to be installed in some wax!

The wax busts look pretty awful at the moment so that is why there are no pictures of my progress.  But since the next pour process begins this coming Tuesday, the wait won't be long.  This is a true test of my skills as an artist and craftswoman in foundry.

Because I Felt Like It...

Today, after dealing with a high level of stress due to choices about the future, applying to grad schools, keeping up with school, working, and being social I had no patience for conceptual art.  I went to my studio to work on a sculpture that I am currently struggling with and felt numb.  I often get so worried about the reasoning behind my work that I forget about what I'm making and why I'm making it in the first place.  But today was an inspiring day; I went to a show at the 840 Gallery at DAAP, visited the painting studios at DAAP and had positive conversations about art with my peers. In the end, I came up with a fantastic idea for a photo shoot that will occur next Tuesday evening. AND! Once I returned to my studio, I grabbed a piece of wood from the discard pile, made some plaster and made art JUST BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT. There was no message, concept or connection to an audience that I was aiming for.... just making art for art's sake. For my sake. I cannot express how lifeless I would feel if I could not make something on a regular basis. The piece is not done and there is no title but I know that the next step will be to add color.  

In Progress

     

In Progress (close up)

My friends and I call this process plaster painting.  I mixed thick plaster and painted it on plywood with my hand.  As it hardened, I was able to sculpt the plaster more to a better shape.  My sculptures, except my foundry work, typically lacks color.  I hope to see where my inspiration takes me and if I can successfully color this impressionistic piece.  All of this was completed on a spur of the moment "grab-random-materials-and-make-something-awesome" feeling and in less than an hour.  This is why I love art. Anything is possible.

Special thanks and shout outs to Max, Sarah, Andi, Mamie, Farron and Abby!

Artist of the Month #5

I have been long over due for an artist of the month, my apologies.

This month, I present to you an artist who became a coincidental source of inspiration for my current project Aves is Petah Coyne.  Coyne is an American sculptor who is known for her organic, large-scale sculptures.  I have begun dipping my paper cranes in candle wax and one of my peers asked me if I had seen any of Coyne's work.  I told him that I was not familiar with her and he said that my project reminded him of her work.  So I did some research and the similarities are quite uncanny.

Untitled #810
Mixed Media
Coyne, 1995

Above is an example of here earlier work, fabricated birds dipped in special wax attached with ribbons, chicken wire and meshed together with other objects and materials.

Untitled #1336
Mixed Media
Coyne, '09-'10

Above is an idea of Coyne's newer sculptures.  I enjoy the whimsy of her work and the elegant, dark beauty of the creations.  The following is a portion of a review of her work by Sebastian Smee at the MASS MoCA,

"Unlike many contemporary artists who focus on social or media-related issues, Petah Coyne imbues her work with a magical quality to evoke intensely personal associations. Her sculptures convey an inherent tension between vulnerability and aggression, innocence and seduction, beauty and decadence, and, ultimately, life and death. Coyne's work seems Victorian in its combination of an overloaded refinement with a distinctly decadent and morbid undercurrent. Her innovative use of materials includes dead fish, mud, sticks, black sand, old car parts, wax, satin ribbons, artificial flowers and birds, birdcages, and most recently, taxidermy animals, Madonna statues, and horsehair."

I am very happy and thankful to have found such a unique contemporary artist.  As I look at her work, I find myself pushing my thesis farther towards the characters of the imagination rather than the human figure on its own.  I feel like Coyne's sculptures belong in Grimms' fairytales.  For more of Petah Coyne's fantastic sculptures, here is a link to her website.

www.petahcoyne.org

Lost In No-Thesis-Land/The Start of Something New

I am still searching for my thesis.  I am lost in the valley that exists between theatre makeup and fine art sculpture.  I cannot decide whether to focus on sculptures of the human body, examining how the human figure is represented and portrayed through context and mediums in art history or explore the creative and transformative properties of makeup in the context of fine art.  My sculpture professor suggested that I combine makeup with my sculptures but I find myself at a complete loss to find the means of how to do so.
As I thought about my future in the theater world, I came to think about why makeup is used in the first place.  Makeup is used to create and enhance the characters on stage and build upon the allusion of their existence to the audience.  Ultimately, makeup is for a character. There are artists who create characters that are accepted as a valid form of art.  Local artist Abby Langdon, also known as abbydid, creates plush characters and creatures.  She recently was part of a show in the Reed Gallery at DAAP.
 My favorite piece of hers was Stompy McThumperton.

Me with Stompy.
(I was quite excited.)

You can see more of Langdon's work at www.abbydid.com

Thus came the inspiration for my most recent piece.  I wanted to create a character from my imagination that retained human figure traits.  Over a month ago, I found the skeleton of a baby bird on campus.  I kept in because I wanted to use it in an art piece because I have a strong fascination with skeletons.  Now I have the perfect art piece to include the skeleton.  I have been folding paper cranes for several days now, working towards my goal of 999.  I will use these cranes to construct a birdlike creature to act as the mother of this dead baby bird. The baby bird will rest in a hollow of the mother bird's pelvis.   Since this project is still in the developing stages and I cannot move on to construction until all the cranes are folded, I am unsure if I will be using actual makeup.  For now, I will refer to this project as Aves, which is the scientific name for birds.

In progress - Sketches and paper cranes

Baby Bird skeleton

I see this piece as a further exploration of the ties between theater and fine art, two of my greatest loves.   I will be posting in progress photos as soon as I finish the remaining 500+ cranes and am able to move on in sculpting this character.

Foundry: In Progress

 I took Foundry in the Spring Quarter of 2012 and I have the privilege to take it a second time at DAAP.  This course teaches how to create bronze and aluminum sculptures. We learn how to vent our wax pieces, create the molds, assist in the pour, grind the metal pieces and use patinas.  I will be posting   a "How To" guide for the ways of the Foundry because I often get so many questions about the process when I tell people I'm in the class.  But before I post the full guide, I wanted to share my first piece that will soon become bronze! I have several narrative concepts for my art in this class. The first is the story of the iconic super hero and the child who looks up to him.

Here is the wax sculpture, which is the first step in Foundry. 

For over a year, I have been fascinated by society's obsession with superheroes.  The super hero character seems ultimately flawless in skills, intelligence and resources. Unlike every single person on this planet.  There is no real super hero in the way that Superman, Batman and the like are depicted. Like boys grow up reading and watching superhero comics, wear the underwear with the superheroes emblems and play with the action figures.  These heroes are depicted as flawless to children.  As an adult, I read a comic that took place many years after the typical Batman and Superman scenarios and both protagonists were older, with grey hairs and imperfect morals.  It was shocking to see these infamous heroes with traits of mortality and humanity about them.  This piece is my tribute to this idea of imperfect heroes.  When this piece is finished, the "superhero" will be wearing a blindfold as well as a cape.  I am unsure about what colored patinas I will use but I am very excited to begin this process and will be sharing with you very soon.

Artist of the Month #3

This month's artist is the world renowned photographer, Mary Ellen Mark.  Mark began her career as a unit photographer, taking pictures of film stills on movie sets.  In her profession, Mark has documented over 100 movies and has published eighteen books of photography.  In 1962, Mark received her BFA in Painting and Art History from the University of Pennsylvania and then earned her MFA in Photojournalism at Annenburg School for Communication.  Since then, Mark has earned several honorary degrees form various Fine Art Schools and has shown in countless solo exhibitions and belongs to scores of collections. 

Mary Ellen Mark

Within her body of work and beyond the movie sets, Mark focuses on social issues: the homeless, prostitutes, loneliness, drug addiction and mental illness.  Mark has traveled around the world to capture human existence in its every form.  For example, Mark recently traveled to India to document Mother Theresa portrayals, brothels in Bombay and Indian circuses.  She is always dedicated to her subjects and often returns to them later in life to continue her archive. 

Mary Ellen Mark

Mark’s techniques are so irritatingly simple that they become complex.  Each of her shots pulls her audience in with intrigue and wonder through her choice of subject and angle.  When asked in an interview about what she looks for when taking a photograph, Mark stated this, “That's a hard question. I'm looking for something that makes sense to me, something that I can share with others. I think photography is closest to writing, not painting. It's closest to writing because you are using this machine to convey an idea. The image shouldn't need a caption; it should already convey an idea.”  This is what makes Mark so brilliant; none of her photos need captions because she always conveys her idea without fail.

Mary Ellen Mark

I find myself enamored with each print Mark creates.  The imagery and tonality of each frame is breath taking.  I feel a connection to her subjects and the raw visuals they create.  I am currently in a film photography class and after learning and digesting all of the factors that go into making a perfect print I have a great respect for Mary Ellen Mark as an artist.

Mary Ellen Mark

The photos included in the post are my favorites of Mary Ellen Mark's that I draw inspiration from when I take photos of my own.  With my own work in film photography, I focus on the person's face as my main focus as the subject of work.  I am still learning a great deal about lighting, angles, composition, and the developing process.  I hope that one day, my work will be in the same league as Mark's.

Here is an example of a couple prints from an in progress film photography project that I am currently working on.