These tiny dances are a sporadic attempt at claymation. With polymer clay, I have choreographed this tiny dancer to two different songs by my favorite composer. Each video is 57 frames played at different speeds. This was meant to be just fun, but now I want to keep going.
"A Part Apart" at The Dairy Arts Center
One of the most surprising moments of this year was when curator, Drew Austin of the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, approached me for a studio visit. He was curating a 4-person show called “Presentiment” in which 4 artists who focus on creating spirituality through art. Needless to say, deeply pertinent to me. Drew’s statement is absolutely stunning so I won’t do it the dishonor of attempting to summarize it here. Instead, you can view the entire virtual exhibition by heading to the Dairy’s website.
https://thedairy.org/presentiment-virtual-exhibition/
For my installation, I built my first large scale sculptural piece and hung many of my small, wall-hanging works. The resulting show felt really honest to my sense of logic in space and got me excited to continue on with installation work.
One of the best parts of this show was working with Drew. We connected very quickly and realized a lot of similar interests. Therefor, he was really encouraging and trusting in letting me experiment with how the work would be read. For the wall-hanging part of the installation, I created a map of consciousness that ties each work to one another. Each line connects the visual of the piece to the greater way I think about making artwork.
Perception Shift at Union Hall, January 2022
I was fortunate enough to be included in Perception Shift, curated by Amy Hoagland as part of Union Hall’s annual Rough Gems call-for-curation. After understanding Amy’s mission for the show, I wanted to make work that questioned its own making. So each of the three 2D works I included involve several overlapping processes—making stickers of old drawings, making a large painting and obscuring it in resin, drawing atop a large photo-copied version of an old piece. It allowed my work to collapse into itself, blurring “old” and “new,” which has become more important in the work I’m currently making.
Included Works:
Light Center (2021), 9 X 1in, custom stickers, cosplay fabric, and colored pencil on paper
Idol Aura (2022), 36 x 36 in, mixed media on panel
Light Center III (2021), 48 x 48 mixed media on panel
Installation Images
Newest Ontology
Animation, 3/22. After King Soopers.
New Coloring Page :)
Downloadable coloring page made using the outlines of my ceramic forms. I imagine this as a diptych.
Animation
I’m hoping to have my Drawing for Non-Majors students make an animation for their final project. Basically as an excuse to learn to do it myself. Started today with these silly, stop-animations. They’re clunky, but I had a blast.
Chart Update 2/15
Lenticular Prints
I’ve had a lenticular print of a wolf howling at the moon in my studio for years. I’ve never found it as cheesy as it ought to be, especially given its gas station origins. As I continue considering my personal epistemology and ontology, the idea of ever-shifting image seemed appropriate. I’m really please with how these small tests came out. I made my first ever .gifs so I could apply to a show with them. Unfortunately, .gifs ruin image quality… but… they’re easy to post. Enjoy.
Attempts at Belief (2021), lenticular print, 5 x 5 inches
Infinitely Divisible (2021), lenticular print, 5 x 5 inches
Study of Quantum Veil (2021), lenticular print, 5 x 5 inches.
Coloring Book from "Exclamation Point."
Printable PDF, make sure you use 1-sided printing.
The Chart/The Door
My ontology chart continues to develop. It’s often in spurts when I’m in a more negative capable state. This happened recently and I luckily had a copy to mark up. It lives on my studio door along with some bits and bobs that are running around in my mind (plus, of course, my astronomy calendar).
Curating "Exclamation Point."
I recently curated a show at Union Hall in Denver for their Rough Gems program. You can find all the information at unionhalldenver.org and under the curation page here, but I wanted to keep a few installation shots on the blog for posterity.
This was an incredible experience overall. Experiencing curation from start to finish in such a professional space (with money behind it), allowed me to really understand what that process looks like. Additionally, I got to work with some artists I couldn’t afford to ship the work of or who wouldn’t want to show in my garage. Big plus for me.
Blank Ontology
For my ceramics seminar, we collaborated on an Aspen box. We all contributed a piece of studio ephemera to each box and we’ll each end with a tiny collection to take home. For my ephemera, I created a blank Ontology Chart. Very interested in the way others approach it.
Personal Ontology VIII
Since I began trying to visually describe my personal ontology (yesterday), I’ve gone through many revisions. There comes a point where I think “Ok, that’s it for now” and save/export the document. Inevitably, I’ve been returning to those versions almost immediately. Here’s the version I’m ending the day with.
I also finished a first draft of my Key, which I won’t share yet. I’ve found it to be considerably harder to conceive than the chart itself.
Finally, I’ve considered renaming or subtitling the Ontological Categories as The Known, The Assumed, The Imagined, however, their definitions remain largely unchanged.
The Real (The Known)- Observable entities which can exert themselves on other entities; can range from concrete to transcendent.
The Mysterious (The Assumed)- Entities which could fall under The Real but about which much is to be learned as well as entities which are likely to exist in the universe, but which have not been proven; can range from concrete to transcendent.
The Imagined- Things which likely exist only as the mental constructs of humans; transcendent only.
Personal Ontology VI
The Real- Observable entities which can exert themselves on other entities; can range from concrete to transcendent.
The Mysterious- Entities which could fall under The Real but about which much is to be learned as well as entities which are likely to exist in the universe, but which have not been proven; can range from concrete to transcendent.
The Imagined- Things which likely exist only as the mental constructs of humans; transcendent only.