Oil Clay Portraits

Clay Portraits

In class we were assigned a small, two-day portrait project. Using our oil clay and a mirror we were to make a small bust of ourselves, making sure to include identifying details. My finished clay portrait was satisfactory in my opinion. Although I had enough time to complete the work, I feel like there was still some work needed to be done to push the likeness of me. I haven't worked much with clay portraits so I actually was somewhat surprised with how well I did on the portrait. Overall I am slightly critical because faces are so hard to accurately portray, especially when it is your own face that you see just about everyday.
 

 

Speed Project: Domino Effect

Speed Project

This project was a bit more abstract than the previous ones we did this semester. It required us to think about speed and use that idea to create a meaningful art piece. Our limitations were very few and we were left up to our own creativity to extrapolate the idea of speed. 

At first I had very little idea what to do, just like with most of these projects. It didn't take long though for me to decide on using dominos as a way of representing speed or rate. Initially I just wanted to use different patterns and spacing to create fluctuations in the speed of the domino run. But realizing that was too simple I added some features to the idea. Because we are in sculpture class I figured I would utilize materials we have already worked with to create a piece that had more interest or more reason for the viewer to continue watching. So I decided I would create one final domino at the end of the run out of plaster. This domino would fall at the very end of the run, off of a ledge, causing it to shatter on the ground below.

Still I thought that the domino run lacked enough thoughtfulness or relation to speed. That's when I decided I could compare the process of creating the domino run to the process of the dominos falling, in relation to speed or rate. So while I set up the dominos in the art studio, I filmed myself doing so on my laptop. When it was completed I filmed the dominos falling down on my phone, following it along as it went. Unfortunately, even after the hour or so it took to set up the dominos, the run had to be started again by my hand about three times, not including the final domino which didn't fall after being hit by six or seven little dominos. Overall the whole process worked out the way I wanted without the actual success of the domino run. 

With the final two videos I placed them side by side, having the domino fall video on a loop to show how fast the dominos fall compared to how fast they are set up. With the two videos next to each other, the viewer can really see the comparison between rates and speed. It was also mentioned that the two videos could be a comparison of effort or work, showing the amount of work it takes to set up such a short lived event.

Final Project Proposal

Final Project Proposal

For our final projects you wanted us to choose something that we wanted to do. Ideally you wanted us to work on an area that maybe we didn’t get to work on as much during the semester or on something that we were hoping to make, coming into the class. After taking awhile to think about what we have done so far and what I was expecting before the semester, I decided I wanted to work on a series of subtractive or additive sculptures that push realism and accuracy. 

You mentioned for our final project we didn’t have to spend all of our time working towards one big piece, but rather we could work on several smaller works. I think this would be the way to go for what I want to do. My idea right now is to create a series of sculptures of various subjects and various media that are detailed and are clear what they represent. I’m not too sure what subjects I would like to create yet but I know I will probably want to work with plaster, wax and maybe a new medium that I haven’t used yet. 

Carving Project: Graphite Tree

Carving Project

For this project our goal was to take some object or material, carve it and manipulate it in order to make it appear like another material or object. Rather than making something that was clearly wooden or clearly wax, for example, the idea was to fool the viewer's eyes. 

At first I had very little idea what I wanted to make. I remembered during the mold projects how much I enjoyed working with the wax so initially my idea was to carve candlesticks. I didn't want to make a series of just random shapes or objects so I decided that combining them in some way could be interesting. I decided a tree could be simple yet different enough from the original candlestick. After talking with Eric, he suggested that I use a wire frame for the tree and drip the wax onto that. Although I liked the idea of having exposed wicks on the tree limbs, the problem remained that they still looked like candles.

Next I decided to abandon the whole candlestick idea and move onto the brown wax. After dripping wax onto my wire frame I was left with a large tree that very much looked like it was made of wax. I have to admit thought that leaving it in this way would have looked very interesting, but wouldn't have followed the guidelines well enough. So I carved the drops and blobs away from my tree to smooth it out and make it have a little more natural and organic surface. Finally to transform the object's look further I added graphite powder to every inch of the tree's surface. This produced a really shiny, silver gloss that contrasted the original wax texture very nicely. I then used the heat gun and let the graphite sink into the wax a little deeper which allowed that silver color to mesh even better, but retain its sheen as well.

Artist Research #7: John Newman (Painter, Sculptor, Printmaker)

John Newman

This week's artist research was another student's choice. Since this class is focused on sculpture, I wanted to choose an artist who had some unique and interesting 3D works. John Newman is an artist who works with paint and prints but is mostly known for his 3D crafts. During the beginning of his career he was primarily interested in creating grand sculptures and installations that used size as a dramatic effect. Later in his career he took a trip to Africa which influenced his perspective on the scale of art, causing him to shift towards smaller, table-top sculptures of equal aesthetic value. Overall, throughout his career he created several works which embody many different moods and tones, but almsot all of them are a complex arrangement of mixed media that is placed in ways the viewer would not expect. 

All of his works, whether they be 3D, paintings, or prints use a variety of elements to keep the viewer asking questions. He seems to be interested in abnormal lines that twist, turn, thicken and thin for example. He also isn't afraid to use bright and contrasting colors. The abstract nature of each work shows how much effort he puts into the geometrical shape of each object or image as well as they symbology behind it. The titles of his sculptures provoke further inquiry and speculation, with each element meant to bring the viewer closer—as close, the artist says, as one gets to "food, babies, a lover, or a book." 

Newman has had over 40 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions in galleries and museums through out the United States, Europe and Asia. He is represented in many public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Albertina in Vienna. He has received grants and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rome Prize, the Pollack-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as other organizations.

Rebecca Solnit (Art Author)

Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit is a writer based out of San Francisco who has written several books on a variety of topics including the environment, politics, place and most importantly, art. She grew up in Novato, California where she attained her GED from an alternative junior high and eventually enrolled in junior college. A study trip to Paris interrupted her college education, but upon return she finished what she started at San Francisco State College. Following SFSC, she attained her Masters Degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley.

Solnit has published thirteen books total as well as a huge collection of essays for museums and catalogs. Although she is most widely known for her critiques and literary works on art, she clearly has an interest in humanitarian and environmental efforts as well. One of her more well known books titled Savage Dreams for example spoke out against the war during the Bush era. Another popular book by Solnit titled A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster began as an essay but was later reworked into a full book detailing issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

Collection Project

When assigned this project I wasn't quite sure what kind of collection I would want to arrange or organize in a new way. Since I live in an apartment I don't have a whole lot of space to store collections of physical things. But after I thought about the project for a little while I realized I have a decently sized music collection on my laptop. Since I don't spend a lot of time looking at my album covers or making sure that they are accurate I decided it might be interesting to pick out a handful that caught my eye. After picking out about 35, I arranged them in a specific way and narrowed it down to 35 covers.

My initial idea was to have a progression or gradient from most color to least. But as I began organizing them in this fashion, I noticed that some of the columns had their own characteristics as well. For example the middle column tends to have covers that contain geometric patterns and shapes. The far left column also tends to have organic features.