Happy Holidays!

The holiday season is finally upon us, and I have LOTS of new projects to share, so be on the look out.  Today, I am posting a project that I completed about a week ago.  It is another mold-making project, but it involved some pretty interesting casting materials.  I took molds of a couple different shaped pipes, and cast them in a mixture of paraffin wax, sawdust, sand, rocks, charcoal, and human hair.  The purpose of this project was an experiment in seeing how much of the sawdust-sand-hair mixture the cast pieces would pick up, and also what would happen if I modified the molds by carving into them.  Even though I took this kind of a weird way, it was fun experimenting with unusual materials.

What's Left of Us, 2015, paraffin wax, sawdust, sand, rocks, charcoal, hair

More posts to come really soon, so stay tuned!!!

Wood bent sculpture

A couple of years ago, I first tried making a sculpture out of steam bent wood.  I just recently finished another attempt at a steam bent wood sculpture.  Even though many things went wrong, and plans changed, ultimately I am happy with this sculpture.  I do not have a name for it yet, and I probably will not end up giving it one.  I think this sculpture can be seen many different ways and it resembles many different objects.  Instead of telling the viewer "what it is", they interpret for themselves, and enjoy the form and the shadow.

Untitled, 2015, wood (cherry)

"This Is Not About You"

"This Is Not About You", was a half-year long project, that I completed last Spring.  With this project, I explored issues of body ownership, relying heavily on the portrayal of female bodies within the media and in cases of sexual violence.  In order to do this project, I needed women to volunteer to have their breasts cast.  I took the initial mold using Alginate, and then made a mother mold using plaster gauze.  During this process, I had an open conversation about the volunteer's relationship to their bodies, and/or any incidents that made them feel as though they lost ownership over their bodies, etc.  I recorded and then transcribed these conversations, in order to create a booklet of anonymous quotes to accompany the sculptures.  After the mold was made, I filled the Alginate and plaster gauze mold with plaster.  From there, I would reshape the form of the mold, making it reminiscent of ancient Greek or Roman sculpture.  It is a hard project to explain in a short paragraph, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.  Also, I must apologize for the photographs.  The person that took them did not capture the work from multiple angles or do close-ups on individual pieces.  Hopefully, better photos to come soon!

These are direct quotations from my conversations with the volunteers.  Some are very intense, and could act as a trigger for anyone who has been sexually assaulted.

 



This project was really special to me.  The women I worked with are incredibly brave for trusting me with their bodies and their stories.  I can only hope that this project makes us remember that our bodies belong to us, and only us.

Sorry for the break!

Hey there! It has been quite a while - oops! So I wanted to come back with a new sculpture that I just made.  Recently, I've been looking into Process Art and soft sculpture, so I had a lot of fun mixing a traditional craft with non-traditional materials.  More sculptures to come soon, and maybe some drawings too!

  Woven Wire, 2015, copper wire, coated wire, foam strips, screen mesh, paper string, rubber tubing

These drawings were made in response to the woven wire piece.  They were created by making impressions, of the materials used in the woven piece, in a block of clay.  I then made an oil and charcoal powder mixture, which I painted on the blocks, and then stamps on the cardboard pieces.

Enjoy!

John Hunting Hansen

John Hansen is a sculptor who I have the pleasure of working with on a day to day basis.  He is an Assisting Professor and the Shop Technician for The College of Wooster, but he is also a mentor for me.  John has a ton of knowledge about materials and tools, he is a fantastic problem solver, and assists anyone who needs help in the classroom.  Outside the classroom, he is an extremely talented artist.  He uses materials like wood and metal frequently, but he does not look for the best looking pieces of wood or metal.  In John's artist statement, he talks about his desire not to waste anything.  Art can be a pretty wasteful area of study, occupation, and lifestyle.  Many artists waste tons of perfectly good materials because the wood grain looks wonky, or the metal is rusting or discolored.  John uses it all, and I think the imperfections further the emotional impact of his work.  John will be leaving us at the College after this year, and I will miss him so much!  This post is for John, and please look him up, because his art is really awesome. These are my favorites!!

Worn Out

The Day is Almost Done

Here is his website

http://www.johnhuntinghansen.com/2012/07/10/gravity/