A Natural History of the Senses Relief Sculpture

 

Mirrors

Large Mirror, Mirror Shards, Foam board

14" x 14" x 1"

    This sculpture is inspired by a very specific passage in A Natural History of the Senses. The passage talks about mermaids and their history. This passage got me thinking about cryptids and urban legends in general, which gave me the idea of the mirrors- seeing as cryptids exist in a sort of limbo between what we know is real and what we know is not- just as a mirror is a line between reality and simply a reflection of reality. I initially wanted to do something more representational, but eventually went non-objective. The goal in the end of the project was to make something that was a bit disorienting and confusing to look at, as I feel though some artwork is difficult to understand, it is rare for artwork to be difficult to see.

Vladimir Shelest

Tonya Hart

Jan Albers

Memento

Beetlejuice Ball

Polyfil, Black Fabric, White Fabric

3.5" x 3.5" x 6"

    This sculpture is about the first time I saw and truly enjoyed a broadway musical- Beetlejuice (The Musical, The Musical, The Musical). It was the first time I truly enjoyed and understood the interest and fun of theatre- specifically musical theatre. The soft interior of the sculpture reflects the fondness of the memory, and the use of black and white fabric and the striped pattern is a direct reference to the show and it's style.

Kate Barker

Mason Mushinski

Michelle Henning

Visual Symbols

 

Comfort Cat

White Air-Dry Clay, Emerald Green Ink, Sky Blue Ink, White Ink, Scarlett Ink

4.5" x 3" x 2.75"

Technoblade Never Dies

White Air-Dry Clay, Various Ink

5" x 3.5" x 2.75"

The ceramic sculpture entitled Comfort Cat was inspired by my own experience with cats. My intent is to visually communicate a feeling of comfort and safety. I wanted to focus on feelings of comfort because cats bring me a huge sense of comfort and I wanted to share that with the viewers. I decided to include a quilt pattern known as the cabin which historically represented home and safety. I wanted to use light blue and green as the surrounding colors to invoke a feeling of peace. I felt the work was not producing the results I wanted due to the ink being too dark and thin, so I added white ink to the mix which successfully thickened the ink and gave it a nice pastel color. I want to keep exploring using patterens in a repeated manner. I want to learn more about symbols with specific historical meanings. This piece allowed me to explore working with air-dry clay for the first time. The making of this work exposed new ideas such as the possibility of using sandpaper on other materials than wood- a technique that I used to smooth out the surface of the sculpture.

The second sculpture entitled Technoblade Never Dies was inspired conceptually by the death of the Youtuber Technoblade, and visually by an artist named Anastassia Zamaraeva. My intent is to visually communicate the concept of life after death, eternal life, and rebirth. I wanted to focus on life after death because since the death of Technoblade, the idea of a second death when a person is forgotten is something that had been on my mind and sounded like an interesting concept for a project. I decided to include symbols both relating to the person Technoblade was in life, as well as those relating to the concept of rebirth such as the ouroboros. I want to keep exploring pieces that are presented as one but have multiple removeable parts. I want to learn more about mythological stories and symbols relating to life after death. This piece allowed me to experience the difficulties of working on a piece that has several technical difficulties. Finally, the making of this work exposed new ideas such as the concept that not all parts of a piece have to be completely visible for them to matter.

Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

    This website goes over several historical quilt blocks, including the Log Cabin, which was used by early American settlers and pioneers who were traveling west.

Ouroboros

    This link talks about the history and meaning of the Ouroboros. It is a snake-like creature eating it's own tail, and is a symbol of the life cycle, and occasionally of eternal life.

Tau

    This article talks about the many meanings of the Tau- the seventh letter of the greek alphabet. In the symbolism section, the first bullet point reads, "In ancient times, tau was used as a symbol for life or resurrection, whereas the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, theta, was considered the symbol of death."

Anastassia Zamaraeva

Carlos Cabo

Mono Cieza

Cardboard Replica

 

Cardboard Coffee Maker

Cardboard, Black Duct tape, Silver Duct tape

10" x 8" x 7.5"

Artist Talk

 

On Longing

"The Body is the primary mode of perceiving scale"

I chose this photo as without the presence of my hand, it would be tough (but not impossible) to tell how big the bat plushie is.

"The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing, for it is not an object arising out of need or use value"

Although at the time, the playbill was useful as it gave us information about the show we were going to watch, it is no longer useful today. Despite this, the playbill remains on my bookshelf.

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body"

This ring was bought during one of the first times my whole family came to spend a weekend with me after I moved to college. Even when I am not in my college town, I still have a reminder of it that I can keep on my body.

"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy"

When my family and I went to Pompeii, I took a rock off of the ground as a souvenir. I unfortunately do not have a photo of me holding the rock, but I am fairly certain that I was looking for one when this photo was taken.

"The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for desire to be generated"

This photo was taken during the RIP Tour of Halloween Horror Nights that my family and I went on- something we will likely never do again. Although this photo may not be of a souvenir itself, I do still have the VIP pass from this night.