Tara Donovan is the Truth

What I did this week:
Draw/sketch: 1 1/2 hours
Research/look up artists/read/ponder: 3 hours
Set up space in ceramics studio, got some clay, signed some papers, talked with John: 1 hour
Write in my notebook :45 mins


IP was interesting this week for me, I wasn't feeling right, as if I was forcing myself to do things I didn't really want to be doing. And well, I was right. The conversation I had with Seth and Erica yesterday, although short, was probably the most productive one I've had this year.


For some odd reason I was forcing my self into thinking I needed this grand concept to do IP and that's not necessarily the case. I didn't need to start something new... IP is more of a continuation or as they said, a culmination. I began talking about my old sculptural works their how their personification is demonstrated by the overall motion or touching of their tentacles and how I really just enjoyed making them. Seth asked me if I could make anything right now what would I make? I told him and then he said 'why not?'. That's a good freaking question-- so this weekend I'm going to lock myself in the clay studio (my sanctuary) and get busy.


All of the drawing and research I did this week is important, especially when it comes to the structure and patterning of the diatoms and radiolarian, but for now I'm going to put it on the side. I think I will revisit it at some point because of my strong connection to the patterning and flow of these organisms. In the past my attention to surface has not been as intentional as I would have liked, so I hope to work more on that aspect of my work.



This is a picture of a sculptural work in progress that I worked on my sophomore year, and coming back to it now makes perfect sense. The wrapping was used for structural support, but it also feels like rope/chains...something to help the pushing and shoving of the tentacles (or ventricles maybe?).. This was one of my favorite pieces I've done over the years, it culminated my sophomore year ceramics class.
This is what I'm trying to do.


The artwork seen throughout this post is that of Tara Donovan (Amanda introduced me to her the other day) and I totally dig her work. I like hows she uses everyday objects to create this man-made landscape. She uses everyday mundane objects as materials such as styrofoam cups, pencils, buttons, Elmer's glue, or paper plates. The patterning, layering and movement of her pieces allow me to get lost, not to mention how well executed they are. She is referencing many natural or biomophic forms which I also enjoy looking at. The surface texture she is able to create (or lack thereof) is something I again want to look into with my own artwork.

Bottom line: She is the jam

And this is totally random but I can't figure out how to fix the posting date or time on my blog, because today is Friday when I'm posting and for some odd reason it says Wednesday. I tried figuring it out by going to the setting page, but I can't because I am totally incompetent when it comes to computers. Wahoo

Touch

I chose to write about the artist named Jason Briggs. I’ve been looking at the work of Jason for the past two years, ever since he came and gave a presentation for my ceramics class and the Ann Arbor community. Never before had I seen sculptures like his, for me it was completely original. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Jason and see him working up close and personal. It was a valuable experience to be able to speak with a fresh face about my work, especially someone who knew nothing about my previous artwork.

Briggs is a contemporary artist living in Watertown, Tennessee and currently teaching at Belmont University in Nashville. His sculptures, shown below, are sexually charged, yet he is more concerned with the tactile nature of his work. I enjoy how his forms are mysterious and suggestive, between the folds, hairs, and holes one can get lost in his thought provoking works.

Briggs recalls his first experience viewing playboy and the inclination to touch the flesh and relates that to his viewer’s curiosity and desire to touch. He strives to “create an object that I’ve never quite seen before - one whose inherent mystery and intrigue quietly insists upon viewer interaction” (Briggs Artist Statement). Briggs wants the viewer to be intrigued enough to consider touching the work. I respond to how individual each of his pieces are, especially since most of them have to do with the same topic of exploration. I am able to look at the same form over and over again and still find unique protrusions and spherical balls popping out from nowhere. I am fascinated by his surface textures and question whether they are flesh or synthetic-like. The close attention to detail and the titles of his work (suggestive terms such as ‘squirt’, ‘pinch’ or crème’) come together and create tantalizing images for the mind.

His process begins with loose ideas of forms that he associates specific adjectives with and starts throwing multiple versions of those ideas. He plays around with them and eventually they come together to create one object. Briggs emphasizes that the forms “just happen”. He then starts to add surface textures and different motifs. He works on one piece for a pretty long time, up to a year or so I believe.

This is how I feel when I am creating my ceramic pieces. In many ways I have no real idea where my forms will end up because it is just as much about the process of making and experimenting as the final intentions. I like to see what’s working with the clay and what needs to be readjusted. I think about the qualities and characteristics of my inspirations while I sculpt.

Briggs doesn’t do much sketching (which I do) but his inspirations are coming from his personal environment, such as the fold of an elbow or the crease between a pair of lips. His vision is a reflection of an internal decision making process. I also approach my work by looking at objects in my natural surrounding and imagine these fantastical forms, or what I sometimes consider creatures that have never been seen before. Looking at the complex and intricate forms within nature is something that I have addressed multiple times before, but I would now like a little more direction and purpose with my thoughts.

The idea of touch is vital to Briggs but actual touch is important to me, whether it’s the physical touch of another person, or the touch while I’m creating a sculpture. This is something I realized when I went abroad and had no friends or people I could touch or simply give a hug. I struggled with the lack of human interaction. All I had was the sanity of my ceramics class where I could touch something that I was familiar with and knew how to manipulate. Touching and feeling the clay is as therapeutic for me as the next person, but there is something different about creating a piece and allowing your emotions to enter into it, and exist therein forever. I am able to look at work from my sophomore year and remember exactly how I was feeling by the manipulations and gestures of the material…

Now I am rambling, but I do really enjoy the work of Jason and Briggs and whenever I look at his work I am also inspired to create something that people have never seen before.

What I did this week:
Drawing/sketching: 2 1/2 hours
Research at the Duderstadt/online and checking books out: 2 hour
Conversations with Joe Trumpey, John Leyland, Amanda: 1 1/2 hour
Jazzed up my studio: 45 mins


At the end of last week I felt a little lost and didn't know what direction to go in with my IP. I had so many interests and methods I wanted to address, but I knew that I couldn't do them all. I started browsing through some of the images I had collected over the summer and stopped on this particular one (below) of microalgae that researchers are now discovering can be used to create a diesel-like fuel. I have always been atracted to organic and biomorhpic looking photos, with the twisting, turning, and repitition.

My mind immediatly went to photosynthesis after seeing this image.PHotosynthesis is an incredibly important process, yet I had not though about it since my highschool science class. Why? Well, probably because I cannot see it happening around me and because of the micro level that it's happeneing at. The idea of continual enery transfer between the the elements and the autotrophs struck a chord and I began looking at a specicic type of organisms that photosynethesize called phytoplankton. This is where I began to find images of diatoms and green algae that I eventually sketched and painted for our "make something" asignment.

I decided to draw for the assignment instead of create mock-up sculptures of the organisms because I feel that I discover aspects of the objects that I may have not noticed origionally. For instance, I realized that in the particular Diatom I was drawing that there was one hole surrounded by six othere holes that formed this connecting pattern with the rest of the holes in the structure. This was facinating to me and I really would like to look into how these organisms grow and multiply. Here is a picture of one of the Diatoms I drew.

After looking through lots of images and text about how these different organisms function and feed themselves I started looking for artists who delt with this kind of subject matter. I was looking into different Bio artists and then my friend suggested I look ino this woman named Belma Kapetanovic. She is an artist who recently completed her masters and is based in London. She is a textiles and fabric designer and most of her Masters work takes inspiration from nature. In her own words " The designs are based on deconstructing elements of the natural enviornment inorder to develop unfimilar abstract motifs that posses a fantastical, otherworldly quality, thus inspiring new perceptions of the natural world in the audience". She refrences many organisms from barnacles to tree stumps. I cannot post any of her images here but here is the website address: http://www.designbybelma.com/.

Her work is bright and imaginative and takes refrence from some of the same things I had been researching already. As she states above, she takes familiar structures and objects from nature and creates new unfamiliar objects that allow you to look and percieve nature in a new way. In many ways I want to bring a some 'wonder' back into this world for other people.

I have been thinking alot about material lately and decided that I want to use clay for sure, but I also want to use/explore more into fibers.

After having my meeting with Janie I am feeling better about my project and process, and I really just want to focus myself on what I'm interested in now. So, as suggested by Janie to continue drawing, I would like to do 4 to 8 quick sketches a day, maybe less if I spend more time on a particular one. I want to not only sketch the organisms I'm seeing (in a 2 and 3 dimensional form) but I also want to start creating my own organisms based off of forms or ideas I'm observing through my research. I also wan tot see if I can get in contact with the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences here at the University and try to get in the labs and look at these diatoms close up!

And so it begins...

Hello there! My IP marks my last at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design and hopefully the best. I'm very excited to start working on my project and explore some new ideas. In the end I want to create something that I am passionate about, proud of, and can talk about. Stay tuned for more posts!