Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Installation ...BA portfolio show
I crocheted 9663 feet of yarn and fishing line. This is one foot for every day that I have been alive up to tonight's show. I chose colors that are reminiscent of the ocean. I spent my entire life around the ocean. I am a Florida native and the ocean has been a huge part of my life. Along with my parents taking me to the beach, the bays, and the Florida keys my mother taught me various crafts as a child and crocheting was one of those. This installation is nostalgic for my childhood and my life to its present moment.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Walk the line....
I had a lot of fun with this project and the setting and atmosphere were great. In the video that is dirt blowing from the farm fields near the tracks creating this serene set for the video.
Draw 3
During the past semester of drawing three i was faced with a series of challenges. These challenges forced me to think outside of the box and look a mark making in a whole new light. Among them some of my favorite solutions were: Making a mark with gravity. I got the crazy idea to belly flop in the swimming pool creating red marks on my body using gravity. I even surprised myself with that one. Another favorite was transparency. I attended class wearing fishnets and lace (transparent clothing). Overall I had fun with the challenges. even the less extreme ones like my sculpture balls out of fabric. I found the sewing and fabric challenges though still different they were very close which made the second one assigned (fabric) a little more difficult. I had fun with the cardboard creating small playful moments. The sandpaper i kind of hit a wall on but still appreciated my solutions. I found the tape one also fun and slightly out there. I wove cassette tape into a pouch and glued vhs tape to a shower cap creating a wig. These were more on the funny side. With water i shot my customers with a water gun while filming it. these performance style pieces opened myself up to a whole new aspect of art that i have not previously explored. Overall i found this course one of my most valuable in my degree because it not only opened my mind up to a whole new way of thinking about art but also introduced myself to a whole new area of my own art to pursue that i didn't realize existed.
I was amazed with my drawing three final and what the semester had brought together for me. I am a huge fan of installations and this was a grand opportunity to experience that. I received a lot of positive feedback from this project. I put my work on plates along with cupcakes on plates. Next to this were more cupcakes for eating and i wasd touching base on the idea that art consumes an artists life. I wanted the viewer to have an opportunity to consume art while viewing art. if you look further down my blog you will see some of my inspirations for this project.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Found object... step 2... written response
When I see corn I think a variety of thoughts. One of those is grits. Not the acronym of girls raised in the south but yet the popular southern food served with breakfast or as a side item with seafood. Grits is ground up corn. My most memorable moment of grits is back in 2007 I worked for a seafood restaurant that served grits. My roommate wanted to go to Ruby Tuesdays for drinks; she was friends with the bartender. It was a Saturday night in a college town and we were typical college students. So we ride together to Ruby Tuesdays sit at the bar and each order a margarita. Beings the bartender was her friend the margaritas were stronger than usual. We spent an hour or so socializing with the bartender and one another. We were consuming several shots, most of which were bartenders choice and on the house. But being a restaurant bar it closed early so we headed home. Altered logic when we got home we decided to do some shots and go to a house party we were previously invited to. We arrive at home, each down 4 consecutive shots of Bacardi superior, which we probably didn’t need, and head to the party. I was wearing boyshort underwear, which covers more than my swimsuit, jeans and a tank top (which will be important shortly). We arrive at the party of about 15- 20 people most of whom we previously knew. They had beerpong going so we signed up to play. When our turn came around me and one of my roommates Monica was on a team. Drunken logic she looks at me and says “we need to distract them.” At that moment she takes off her shirt and I take off my pants. Both of us were drunk beyond aim and of course lost. We continued drinking anyway! At this time I had this weird habit or routine, especially when drunk, of picking people up and spinning them around. So after we lost being funny I picked up this older guy and spun him around. After setting him back down I was introduced to him, he was our friends Zach and Russ’ dad. He just looked at me and then looked at his son and said “your friends are going to get me in trouble.” Mind you at this moment I am only wearing boyshort underwear and a tank top. Shortly afterwards I ended up getting sick. I spent the night on their couch with my head next to a trashcan and my other roommate Lauren taking care of me. I wake up suddenly at 7am disoriented and realize I am still at the party. I wake Lauren up hurriedly, “Where’s my keys? Where’s Monica? She had my keys. ” Monica had hooked my keys to her belt loop so we wouldn’t lose them. After repeatedly calling her and texting her she answers. She had left with some guy after I passed out. I beg her to wake him up and come back with my keys, I had to be at work at 10am and still needed to go home shower and get my uniform. She arrives back and we all go home and I frantically get ready and rush to work. I was extremely hungover and serving seafood was the last thing I wanted to be doing or smelling for that matter. I thought maybe I should eat to settle my stomach but what could I eat that was mild and soft. That’s when I decided to eat grits. Plain grits should be fine. Wrong! Shortly after eating I got sick. Most of you probably have not experienced getting sick after eating grits but it is not pleasant. They stick in your throat; it feels as if you have swallowed sand, thick grained sand. But sometimes when I see field corn I think grits, and sometimes when I think grits I think of this fun but rough weekend.
After looking at these gourds my very first thought was
maracas. My mom had been to Mexico before I was born and brought back a
sombrero and a set of maracas. I remember playing with them as a child. They
were emerald green with metallic flake. They had some little Mexican design hand
painted with acrylic. They were so much fun and I’m sure I drove my mom crazy
with the noise but I loved them. I asked her how they were made and she
explained they were made out of gourds. So anytime Halloween rolled around and
you would see aside from the pumpkins decorative gourds. I remember always
wanting to make maracas every time I saw them.
This horse bit brings my niece to mind. Her name is Kristin
and she is 12 years old. I grew up and randomly encountered horses and
opportunities to ride them. I was always so nervous, which is part of a weird feeling,
which I don’t like; I get around animals bigger than me. My niece on the other
hand has always loved horses and has taken to them naturally. Since she was old
enough to ride she has been. Also since she was old enough to ride I would and
will only ride on the back and let her control the horse. This is one of the
few situations I, at 26 years old, feel safer in the hands of my 12 year old
niece than my own. She doesn’t mind one bit, in fact she enjoys it. She
recently saved up and bought her own horse with her own money that she did not
have to share with her brothers. She completely takes care of him and used her Christmas
and birthday money to pay to have him gilded, which I just happen to
unknowingly show up in time to witness. Kristin and I are close. We have a
pretty strong relationship and she resembles me both in looks and personality more
than my sister, her mother. Anytime I see or think of anything to do with
horses I think of her.
These antique Gulf signs make me think of the actual Gulf of
Mexico off the coast of Florida. The fact that it says “good” and it was a gas
sign is kind of ironic. It makes me think of the oil spill by BP in the Gulf of
Mexico back in 2010. A disaster that killed 11 people, injured 17, dumped 4.9
million barrels of crude oil into the gulf, and had an 80 square mile “kill
zone”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill)
One thing I noticed about this tag was its sticker, which
revealed that it is older than me. The other thing it brought to my attention
is the amount I drive. My friends and family say I always have to be “ass in
the road.” I commute 100 miles roundtrip three times a week to work. In
addition to this I take random short term roadtrips such as driving to the keys
once or twice a year. I have had my car 3 years and 3 months and am about to
reach the 100,000 mile mark. My car had 19 miles on it when I bought it. I am
not sure if this is common or not but I feel like it’s a lot. On top of the
amount I drive I hate driving. I would gladly be passenger all day long but
hate to drive. Driving puts me to sleep. Something about driving in the day
when the sun hits my face it’s a fight to keep my eyes open sometimes. I’ve
been in two accidents falling asleep at the wheel. Luckily both only damaged my
vehicle and not me. It’s not something I’m happy about Its just a thought that
came to mind when I see this tag that has so much history that I know nothing
about.
Red glass is a rare thing. If you think about it your most
common glass is brown, clear, or green. Then there’s blue or cobalt, then red.
I was walking down the beach with my mom one day and found a piece of glass
that was still sharp and had not yet became seaglass. Part of me wanted to
leave it so it could finish becoming seaglass but this was overridden by the
part of me that hates littering and I picked it up and added it to my bag of
trash that I had picked up. As my mom and I were walking I explained my fascination
of seaglass to her and how it made me want to make things with it. I’m not even
positive what I would make, but jewelry was one of my ideas, which I had gotten
from an art walk I attended in Jax beach where an artist had made earrings and
pendants with it. During this conversation I asked my mom if she thought it was
possible to make my own seaglass by putting ocean water, sand, and glass in a
jar and shaking it every day when I come home and randomly when I’m bored. She
agreed it was possible but probably would take a very long time. I told her I wasn’t
in a hurry. After our walk on the beach we returned to my apartment and I
thought no more about the conversation. Evidently she did. A month or so later
my dad gives me a call and explains my mom had told him about the conversation
and he had an idea. He wanted to (and is in the process of) make a contraption
out of a drum and sand and a motor that would constantly stir mass amounts of
sand, water, and glass to produce a lot of seaglass. He then goes on to tell me
he has been collecting glass to put in it. A week or so goes by and my dad
calls me again all excited. He had gone on a walk while he was in Alabama and
came across an area that was previously an old junkyard. At first he found a
couple pieces of red glass so he began to specifically look for it. The
junkyard had been there a long time ago (no longer there) back when vehicles
had glass taillights. So he found a lot of broken pieces of red glass. He ended
up picking up a gallon bucket of red glass, just to make seaglass for me to
make stuff with. When he got back to Florida he called me to come visit, the
first thing he did was show me all the red glass he had found.
The feathers obviously make me think of birds. But not just
bird=feather, but of freedom, flight, and beauty. I have always loved birds,
although at times they can be very annoying. But as I write about them I think
I love the idea behind them. I remember having parrots when I was really young
and cockatiels when I was a little older. But the biggest thing I remember is
the messes they made. They pooped everywhere, and slung seeds everywhere. They
are as messy as having a kid. My grandfather stayed a couple months with us and
would always wake up early. Being the only one awake he would go talk to the
bird and whistle with it. By the time he had left the bird was on a schedule of
at approximately 7am every morning it would begin whistling the theme song to
the Andy Grifith show, which my grandfather had taught it. I found this super
annoying especially because I am not, nor have I ever been, a morning person.
So I started thinking maybe it’s a caged bird that hits my nerves until I remembered
a different bird situation. An even later instance was when I lived in
Casselberry in 2009. We lived in a neighborhood that had free roaming neighborhood
peacocks. At first I was in awe at their beauty. They really are amazingly
beautiful. After living there a short amount of time I began noticing all their
annoying habits. Aside from the fact that they would get on top of my car and
scratch up the roof, and poop everywhere, they would get on the roof of the
house above the bedroom and constantly make their calls. Usually early in the
morning when I was sleeping around sunrise. They have a very distinct sound
that you cannot sleep through.
These Soda bottles raise several thoughts in my head. These
thoughts range and stray. One of these thoughts makes me aware of my own soda
consumption and consumption of beverages from bottles. I noticed I drink soda
mostly when I work, I guess for the caffeine and because it is readily
available. I rarely drink soda out of bottles, not even plastic. I drink a lot of
bottled water, more than I should because of the impact of its plastic on the
environment. I consume a lot of bottled beer especially at home however I do
recycle which doesn’t fix things but it helps not to make them worse.
Port crit...external view 3
After talking with several people during our third in class critique I found Catherine McFarland the most helpful. She pointed out that my work is all nature based weather I meant it or not. That even the forms of my welded cut nails are somewhat organic and resemble molecule structures and natural forms. After talking with her I began noticing even more relationships in my art. She did point out that everything I do needs to have a reason and thought put into it. I feel my work has this but her statement of it makes me think I should be more aware of some of my decisions.
Monday, March 26, 2012
port...crit 2 ...External view...
I spoke with various people about my work and found them all helpful. The idea arose with almost every person I spoke with, including my past conversation with Russell, that I have a great attraction for space. This reinforced ideas that Russell had already leaned toward. This was helpful but I related to my conversation with Angela Varga. We discussed not only my work but some of hers which related. This not only gave me new ideas but also a lot of inspiration. Angela noted that my use of materials could expand and intertwine with other materials. She also suggested if I wanted more structure in my work I could use organic shapes to give the viewer an idea of something that already exists. Like picking shapes out of the clouds. Or even more concrete, simple, or complex shapes like a tree or a sphere. She also suggested working on a large scale to obscure the use of material with the shape and also play with my sense of space. This conversation was very helpful, but sent my mind in a thousand directions (which is not a bad thing).
port...crit 1...External view...
After speaking with Russell about my work I began noticing things I'm good at and patterns I make in my work. We discussed my use of materials and sense of shape. After this conversation I realized I was being a little closed minded with my materials that I could achieve the same goals with various materials which broaden my options. We discussed my love for hands on work, and my passion to create a sense of space. I found this conversation very helpful for my current and future work.
Draw3 final
With a growing knowledge of my interest in space I find myself fascinated, lured, and overwhelmed by installations. The sense of space and engagement of the viewer entices me. Coupled with installations I find myself interested in mobiles and hanging sculptures which also create a great sense of space.
With this awareness of great fascination I would like to create an installation of display and hanging sculpture. I would like to serve up little moments on plates resting on columns or boxes. Along with this display of moments I want to suspend some of my pieces or moments above the display. To add a sense of playfulness some of the suspended pieces will be slightly camouflaged by placing them in semi-transparent globes.
In creating this piece I hope to be inspiring and stir feelings and emotions of my viewers such as happiness, curiosity, wonder, and playfulness. I would like to translate some of the things I feel while viewing an installation.
Inspirations/Research:
Inspirations/Research:
Fred Sandback
Surasi Kusolwong
Darren Bader
Alexander Calder
Felix Gonzalez- Torres
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
LTLYM #31.....spend time with a dying person
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