Hungry Ghosts

Hello dedicated readers, another week has passed in my wonderful IP journey. This week I focused on my presentation and building my two newer sculptures. I am feeling much better about my presentation after giving it today and only have a few things to fix before our reviews next week. Although the presentation was a hassle to put together (I HATE Powerpoint), I think it has allowed me to define my project in its current stage.

I have been building up two sculptures simultaneously , one of which has a HUGE base that I am really excited about. I don't think it will be as tall as my tallest piece, but probably more like my shorter and fatter one. I plan on breaking off midway up the structure and creating two different arm-like structures that have orifices. I think doing this will allow for some physical interaction between the pieces, not just visual and spacial. I am still doing glaze experiments, although I really need to get my mock up pieces in this next bisque firing so I have test tiles to work with. In addition to the two bigger sculptures I made a large bulbous form that has different surface textures that I will be doing more targeted glaze experiments on. I think that I need to see glazes on larger surfaces than what my mock up's provide.

For this weekend I plan on building more and getting my next round of glazes in the kiln while polishing up my presentation.

Yay for break soon, I'm going to NYC for the first time on the 16th, right after reviews!!

Do the Astral Plane

This week in IP i did not get as much work done as I would have liked. I worked on my presentation during most of my spare time, or was in the ceramic studio building. Mostly I didn't get as much done because I became really sick on Wednesday and am still feeling under the weather today. All I can say is.. thank god for Penicillin. I'm hoping that this weekend I can work on building my forms some more while creating more mini and large glaze/surface test tiles.

Working on the structure of the presentation has really helped me define where my project is at this point. I was feeling kind of lost in my mind about what direction I'm going in. I'm not intirly sure still, but I think that I have a loose idea planned out.

I found a new artist whose work I really dig, her name is Bean Finneran. Finneran actually studied at U of M during some point in her early education. She creates these bushes, bundles, or piles if you will of brightly colored ceramic tubes. They have this fuzzy illusion about them created b y

the repititon and placement of the hard ceramic tubes. I really admire the fact that she is taking ceramics, an incredibly fragile and solid medium and producing a delicate yet bouncy form. Here are

images of her work.

Turkey Break

Thanksgiving break was wonderful. Lots of food, family, rest, and as much work as I could handle. I took Wednesday and Thursday off to recuperate and have been working since. This week/weekend I spent my time mostly in the ceramics studio. I slowed down with my building, especially since I had my conversation with Kate Tremel (the RC ceramics professor) about my work. After speaking with her I basically realized that I had no idea what I was really going for in terms of surface. Did I want it to be fuzzy, smooth, chunky,colorful, muted? She gave me a great list of artists to look up along with some suggestions about glazing. From this point on glazing should be experimented with as I am making my sculptures, or even before. I also need to do a crap ton of glaze and material tests to figure out what my own aesthetic is.The pictures I have on this post

show 6 glaze tests that I did (low fire) none

of which I really love. The washes (which I originally thought I was going to use on the large pieces) look very stark and graphic, not very inviting. I like some small parts

of other pieces, but not so much. I do like how the underglazes turned out inside the mouth. I think the contrast between a bright yellow or red will be exciting.

I want these pieces to ask the viewers to touch them. IN FACT, I think that I'm going to let the audience touch my pieces. Touch is so important to me as an artist, regardless of what material I'm working with, so why not let others? Kate mentioned that even through I was using ceramics I could use many other materials (possibly fibers) to achieve the surface I desired. THIS got my brain going... I didn't want to throw fibers out altogether and this may be a good way to incorporate it. An artists I was suggested, Jason Heckenwerth

(http://www.jasonhackenwerth.com/) creates these AMAZING, large, colorful balloon organisms. His scale, and more importantly his material choice is so friendly and inviting. He sometimes has his audience help create his pieces, or even wear them. His work is incredibly inspiring for me, especially the forms he creates. They look like they're right off the ocean floor. At this point I think my project may be shifting in tone... My proposal was very much based around the ideas of genetic mutation, speciation, ambiguity, and the cultural/site context of my installation.

I think those ideas along with adapting my forms and surfaces from biological organisms are still important, but that maybe interaction between myself and the pieces and the audience may take a larger role. Idea- the impulse to touch, what makes us want to feel something, to create something? What if the surfaces I was creating looked one way yet felt another. My work is physical and figurative and I want others to be able to experience it physically, not just visually. It's also a rarity to be able to touch artwork, especially in the context of a gallery. Most work is off limits, I sometimes even find myself nervous that I might break or touch a piece accidentally. I think it would be refreshing to produce a body of work that allows viewers to interact with it.

Other pictures I have on this post are of some mock up sculptures I did. They are about 6-7 inches at the tallest, so not as large of a commitment as my other pieces. Kate suggested that I make these to work my ideas/logistics out, and after bisquing them they can be mini test tiles. I also made some press stamps to create line and diatom like repetitions.

On a different note, someone asked me yesterday why I do art. My immediate response was that because it feels good and right, and that for the first time in my life (this year really) I am proud of what I do and want to engage others around it. This project is just as much about figuring out my process and expressing myself, as it is about creating a basic skill set in a medium that I barely know anything about.

Yams

This week I completely finished up my larger sculptures by cleaning up the texture and adding an orifice to the taller of the two sculptures. I also took care of some material logistics by teaming up with Lauren Sopher and making a 200 pound batch of clay that we bagged up to use in the future. I also started a new piece on Monday. Right now I have three different larger bulbous forms going and I'm not sure if I'm going to connect them to make a ground piece or use one (or more) as bases for new sculptures. I will probably decide by how I feel when I get up to the studio today/this weekend. Thanks to Janie/Erica I will be meeting with Kate Tremel today or sometime soon to talk about sculptural surfaces and glazing. At this point it really seems like I just need to do a lot of experimenting and really decide what my intent is for these forms because at this point I have plenty of ideas for new sculptural pieces.

I'm feeling good about the pieces I have completed so far. In the critique yesterday I received a lot of comments about my taller piece looking like an elephant trunk, which is ok but

I'm hoping that

when the piece is glazed and

not gray that people won't automatically think of elephant. I did decide to use the linear m

arks as the surface texture

of my pieces and I am very happy with the way that they turned out. People really liked the scale of my pieces which makes me want to continue making larger and some medium sized pieces, and maybe some smaller ones. We'll see.

As of right now I would like to hopefully get two more pumped out by the end of this semester and experiment the hell of some glazes and surfaces.

Looking forward to Turkey Day :)

Pictures are of my taller sculpture finished up, my sculpture eating a girl, and a sweet potato that really reminded me of my pieces. I thought it was hilarious so I bought it and made some yummy yam fries the other night.

Gold Panda

Dis Week:

I spent all of my studio time in ceramics plugging away at my sculptures. The fatter and shorter piece is practically done and the taller blub will be done this weekend. On Monday I will recruit some strong friends of mine to help me move the pieces into the 7 foot kiln. There they will chill for a week wrapped up and then I will begin to slowly dry them out for about a week and a half aft

er that. Ideally I'd like to have them fired sometime in the beginning of December so I know whether

I need to build another tall one again or not (pray to god not). I have been making some mini mock ups pieces to do glaze tests on and today I will begin

another sculpture once the TMP kids leave the ceramics studio, which is my favorite time to be there. From this point one I will be teaming up with my friend Lauren who is also working

in clay (but for a different class) and we will be makin

g clay and firing together. This is good for

me because I need to know how to do these things

and I also don't want to fire any of my pieces with the TMP kids because I don't want it

to blow up on my stuff or vice-versa.

At this point I'm just ready to start something new and keep producing. I had a g

ood interaction with Janie and Amanda yesterday with my work which encourages me in many ways. Now it's time to grind. Here are some images of the pieces thus far as well as my little mock tests.

Oh yeah and the taller piece..... is taller than me!!! It's about five and a half feet. Hell yeah.

Momentum

This week in IP studio.... Ceramics wahooo!

Yes so I spent my studio time in ceramics this week. I'm slowly but surely coming to the conclusion of these larger pieces. They are quite tall at the moment, so much so that I need to stand on a stool to work on them. In many ways the pieces are beginning to grow on me but I think I'm losing momentum at this point. I've been working on them for four weeks now and I think it's about time to start working on some new medium/ smaller sized pieces. I've done a few sketches (images above) but I want to continue drawing because it is helping me visualize the gestures or situations I want to create. I also spoke with John about the sketches and how to address the length and extension of the organisms and an easy solution is to make the pieces in parts and glue them together in the end. Because of this particular clay body I can do everything I am imaging with virtually no issues (knock on wood). I've also discussed the drying time of the bigger pieces with John and he has suggested that immediately after I'm done we load them into the 7 ft kiln, just in case anything breaks I will have the ability to fix it, then slowly dry it out in there for about two weeks (much less time than I originally thought).

I met with Erica yesterday for a while and it was very helpful. I determined aspects that were working and those that were not, along with a good plan of action. I am losing momentum and some interest in the larger pieces which means that I need to move on. Something I am considering doing (thank you Erica) is leaving the fatter of the two pieces at the stage it is in now, a little shorter with a big fat mouth. If I were to leave it where it is now it could incite more interaction. It looks like a huge mouth opening, and viewers can look inside and see the inners of the organism. I would contrast the glazes and/or textures on the inside of the piece. I knew there was some other reason to create these pieces hallow besides the obvious fact.

Above right is a picture of the texture that I have pretty much decided on for these large pieces. It's an all over texture that is grainy and has horizontal lines sweeping around the forms. I chose this because it felt natural to me, also it is referencing all of the stratified rocks I have seen in Turkey and on the way to DC. I think I will use washes on these pieces, probably deeper colors, burgundy and ocher colors, although I am not set on these (upper left image). I'm am not sure about my glazes at all really, which is why I am making mock sculptures and some cone 6 glazes and washes that I want to test. That is my goal along with hopefully finishing these tall pieces this weekend.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I had broken off the top piece of my first sculpture, I went back this week and remade the mouth/snout piece. I really loved how it completed the gesture and it was a very important part so I recreated it and will glue it on at the end.

Lots to do, not enough time, but as long as it doesn't snow in Ann Arbor just quite yet I'll be happy.

DC

Hello friends. This week my blog is a little late due to the fact that I am in Washington DC (we drove 10 hours to get here). We are here for the Rally to Restore Sanity and the March to Keep Fear Alive. After having a long conversation with my friend about taking the weekend off to travel, I've decided that it's good to get away, clear my head, and look at my work on Monday with fresh eyes.

I was in the ceramics studio for 6 hours this week for studio time working on my large ceramic sculptures. I will upload new pictures of them (they've grown) on Monday when I get home. I wasn't feeling very happy with the direction the pieces have taken, mostly due to the scale and loss of control I've experienced while working on these bigger pieces. They are looking more like pillars than gestural organisms. I am going with the flow because I've been working on them for so long but I cannot wait to start working on smaller/medium size pieces.

After driving in the car for over nineteen hours this week I have become enthralled with the colors of the changing trees and deteriorating rocks of Pennsylvania... the burgundy, deep yellow ochre, pale gray, and and burnt umber of lifeless branches.. driving along the turnpike (although a pain in the butt) was a beautiful sight, one that I would like to experiment with and possible incorporate into the color of my pieces.

I am getting closer to finishing my large pieces, hopefully by the end of the week if all goes well. I've been doing some sketching/thinking about the nest pieces I want to begin. They will be around the same size as the fist one, maybe a little larger. I have come up with different ideas that address the placement of the pieces on the ground, the wall, and maybe even suspension. I may be a little ahead of myself but I've been imaging some interesting forms. I want to try and play with the idea of gravity and extension in the pieces. i.e. extending the neck of the form so that it seem unreal in the the length and balance of the overall organism.

The texture for the large pieces is simple and generally covers the entire piece. These look more Rock-like in my minds eye, a drake gray, maybe even stratified sections signified by a slight color change. I'm not a 100% on the color change because I don't know if horizontal bands help or hurt the form. I don't wan to to take much attention away but the fact that these pieces are so big and lack a large gesture it may be okay to have slight color change.

These are the things I am pondering now. All looks well, I am just excited to start working on new pieces.

PS the RALLY WAS SO FING COOOOL! So many people, great performances, hilarious signs. A great trip overall and nice to get a little break

Picture Update

Yo here are the pictures of the in progress work. They're both just over two feet tall and growing.

Going Big

This week in Studio:
Ceramics Studio: 3 hours

Over the break I worked mostly on the two larger sculptures. One has a base size of 54 inches and the other of 34 inches. They are about two feet tall at this point with a lot more growing to do. I hope for the largest sculpture to be the size of myself (around 5 feet) and the other one to be around 4 feet or so. They both could end up larger depending on how the form plays out. They have both been fun to make but at the same time very challenging. I go back and forth from feeling like I have complete control of the medium, to none at all. Working large is physically demanding which I enjoy, yet it can be difficult to perpetually push your mind and body at the same time.

I've looked into textures, sampling from nature (the veins of leaves and how they break up space, and the cracking of rock I saw in the Hagia Sophia, pics right and left) as well as from my own work I completed sophomore year. I think for one of the sculptures (since I will be using washes on them) I will use the texture, although not exactly the same, from my piece shown below and to the right. I will keep the piece matte and either simplify or make the lines more complex depending on how it looks. This texture makes me think of root vegetables or objects originating from beneath the ground.

I am drawn to these rock textures and patterns because of their spontaneity, but also by the fact that they have been altered or placed in their space by a human. In some ways that is what I am doing, taking these natural ideas/objects/forms, meddling with them and the placing them in a new context. On the other hand I do enjoy the textures from the leaves or the moss/rock growth because they have been untouched and formed because of of their environment.

At this point I really want to concentrate on building these sculptures and getting the general gesture established. I think because the clay at this scale is so difficult for me to control that these will not necessarily look how I've planned them to. I'm very excited to see what happens when i take my original form and enlarge it on a mass scale. I think the initial response will vary quite a bit from the first two pieces.

This weekend I would like to do more research (image finding, artist searching) on segmentation and rocks/fossils. I would also like to continue building these pieces up and see where they go. Also maybe do some planing on starting and other line of forms to evolve.

I will post in progress photos of the sculptures later today or tomorrow once I get images of them yay.

Turkish Coffee

This week in Studio
Ceramics studio work: 6 hours
Talk with people: 30 mins

This week flew by in my book. I feel like I didn't get much done, but at least it's fall break and I have a lot of time to work. This week I started two new sculptures, with one's circumference size at 34 inches and the other at 54. They are going to be big. I have a love hate relationship with working big in clay because of the technical difficulties. So far I've been having some trouble with the building but I am continuously figuring out ways to fix the problems/ prevent them in the first place. I am a complete idiot and broke the top part off of my first sculpture and then broke it AGAIN. Ahh it is very frustrating but I'm trying to fix it to the best of my ability.

Over this weekend I want to continue working on these sculptures but I would like to have more intention. More intention with everything that I'm doing, from the concept to the construction. I feel good about my proposal. I really enjoyed writing it, especially after I read a particular review about a piece of John Grade's work by Stefano Catalani. I was only able to view the first part of the article, nonetheless it was insightful. Catalani cites the opening paragraph of Kenneth Clark's literature "Landscape Into Art" and discusses the relationship that humans have developed with nature. He speaks about our intentions in applying significance within natural objects determined by our own specific cultural context. He states that " the cultural context and systems of beliefs we are part of cannot avoid meeting the pool of visual images, symbols, and modes of representation the artist used in creating the artwork in order to make it legible." I want to exploit this idea and sway the viewers associations by what information I choose to include in my sculptures. I have enjoyed showing people my work in progress so much because every time a new person sees them they visualize something completely different from the last person. I've heard spider legs, antenna, plants, and even polyps. I relish in this idea of imaginative interpretation and want to continue playing with that.

Next I will work on research and texture, in addition to building my sculptures. As I said before I want to work with more intention. I've started looking for spaces to display at the end of the year. No luck so far but I have some contacts I'm about to hit up. I'm going to attach my proposal just in case you want to read it. Here is an image of an installation by Yayoi Kusama which is similar to how I would want to display my work.

Yay for fall break!








Mid-term Integrative Project Proposal
Katharine Drake
Section 003
October 14th 2010

I am simply looking to find meaning within myself, to better understand my existence within this landscape, those I have traveled to, and to those I have never seen. I want to create ceramic sculptural ‘families’ originating from biological organisms and their environments. I am responding to various living organisms that in no way can verbally communicate with me. With this investigation into the formal elements of clay in conjunction with the concepts of change, mutation, and ambiguity, I hope to find answers for myself and allow others to question and visualize their relationship to nature. I want my audience to reflect about the sculptures as objects, as well as their immediate associations or relationships to the forms. By referencing biological ideas of evolution or speciation I want to engage the viewers by altering the size, color, texture, and form of my work. The rest of my progression will result by responding to my initial sculpture’s gesture, shape, and size. I would like to investigate the idea of family in relation to biological classifications and genetic mutation, while reflecting my own personal emotions of anxiety and interaction demonstrated by the shapes and touching of the sculptures.
I visualize my work resulting in an installation piece. I see twenty or more ceramic creatures growing from the floor, possibly the walls of a white gallery space. The forms will interact with each other and contain strong individual character and emotions. I will pay for the materials with grant money or out of my own pocket. Clay will be a maximum amount of 250 dollars for two semesters use. I want to find my own space to exhibit with other IP students, in which case we will fundraise. I will create my work within my space in the ceramics studio.

References

Yayoi Kusama
The Moment of Regeneration 2004

Sadashi Inuzuka
Mizu, Series 2003

Tara Donovan
Mylar, 2008

John Grade
Ring, 2006

Jason Briggs
Flirt

Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Student Study Guide for Biology. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.

Catalani, Stefano. “The Natural Course of Things,” Dis/integration exhibition catalog, Bellevue, WA: Bellevue Arts Museum, 2008.
Excerpt: “Once the natural world is tamed through the agency of light and color, or material and plastic values, we look at its representation- or rather presentations- as reflections of our hopes and expectation, fears and capitulations: we look to see ourselves”

Getting Jiggy with It

What I did this week in studio!Work in Ceramics studio: 5 hours
Talk with lovely GSI's/Mingle/Read: 1 hour

This past weekend/week I worked on my second sculpture which is a pair to the first one I finished. I am really digging how these forms are interacting with each other and the negative space between the two. I think the segmentation and gesture of the forms portray a humorous character. I would like this, as Amanda said, "dumpy" or clumsy form to continue pressing the limits of extension. I've had some technical difficulties while building, most pertaining to the weight of the upper half of the sculpture causing the clay to break in half. I am working through it though because I want the smaller sculpture to reach and extend it's body under the first. These pieces should flow into each other by utilizing the space and structure. (This is a totally random side note but it would be totally awesome if I could have water coming from the larger sculpture's mouth flowing into the smaller ones, as if it were a fountain. Not for real though). With the second piece I attempted to build a melting or more bulbous shape, which happened in the bottom of the piece but not so much in the top.

Overall I am really happy with the direction these are going in. I did some glaze testing yesterday and are being fired today so by Sunday I should have a better idea of what some of my coloring options will be...... Glazing has always been tough for me because when I plan or think about my sculptures half of the time I only picture them as leather hard ( what they are in the photos) and the other half I choose to not think about because it scares me. I'm trying to see glazing as an opportunity to get my point across even more so and not as a burden. I was talking with Saree about the pieces the other day and came to the conclusion that if I use cooler colors I will convey a more ocean or sea creature organism but if I use warmer colors (which are harder to retain through the firing process) I will be referencing more land organisms. At this point I'm not really quite sure what to do. I want my sculptures to pop, which would mean using bright colors, but at the same time I could go the other direction and uses washes to make them seem as if they're growing up, or originating from the earth. Could go wither way. Also because there is no texture on the pieces I could use a glaze called Terra Sig which would emphasize and maybe even shine the smooth surface of the clay. It's hard when there are so many options. I just need to buckle down on what I'm trying to say and then it won't be so difficult to decide.

I am a lucky woman this week. There is a small studio space in the ceramics studio and I asked John for it and he said yes! Yayyy. There's a picture of it below. It's great because
I can have all of my images up and around me while I'm working and also creates my own personal working/storage space.

This weekend/week I plan on making some smaller mock up sculptures due to many suggestions. I will play around with the space and shape of the forms. I also want to start working on a larger sculpture and continue looking into textures of different sea creatures to possible emulate on a larger scale. I also want to write about families and my experience in Turkey, I feel that they may become a part of my project. The picture's I've uploaded are taken from many angles, especially looking down, so I can see what the viewers will seeing while walking around or from a distance.

Pretty groovy.

Here are images of the
sculpture