HANNAH ROBARDS Art399 Portfolio

Author/Artist Name

Hannah RobardsFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Junior

Date of Creation

Spring 5-9-2023

Artist Statement

I am primarily a ceramicist that creates sculptural work with terracotta clay. Additionally, fibers play a role in my art and I have been working towards combining these two in an interesting way. Ceramics as a whole interests me because it is a very tactile and malleable art form that has endless opportunities of what can be created with it. I am a person that thoroughly enjoys working with my hands and manipulating the material being used, so clay is an art medium that allows me to explore and experiment with my ideas. In terms of my artistic ideas, I enjoy exploring how imagination affects reality and the possibilities of what would be brought forth if the bridge between the two was blurred. Anatomical human features and environmental elements and textures are very influential to me, in addition to the natural world and our relationship with it. I try to connect my art pieces by incorporating similar textures and imagery, such as human lips, eyes, and patterns. Other than the natural world, fiber practices such as crochet and needle felt are other heavy influences that inspire artworks I create. Ceramic glazes can be very experimental, which is something I have begun to explore in order to observe how different glazes react when put on different ceramic surfaces, whether sculptural or smooth.

There are several artists whose works are very influential to my own, a couple of which are Cynthia Consentino and Mark Ryden. Cynthia is primarily a ceramicist that focuses on manipulating familiar objects in life and molds them into a completely new idea. Her work is inspired by mythology, religious imagery, and fairy tales along with similar ideals to these; she essentially makes collages of various forms in order to create her artwork. Mark works with a variety of mediums ranging from ceramics, sculpture, digital art, and traditional mark-making. His works consist of kitschy and mysterious figures that have a deeper psychic underlying meaning to them. The figures and imagery he creates are both realistic and unrealistic simultaneously, creating an interesting juxtaposition to his art. Both of these artists are very influential to me because they are both creating imagery that causes a strong, almost uncomfortable reaction from the viewers; this is something that I try to achieve when creating work of my own. In addition to this, both artists are influenced by ideas and themes similar to ones that I am drawn to, which causes their works to be beneficial inspiration for me in my artistic creations. They demonstrate the extent of how one could manipulate the medium being used to their advantage and discover new ways to do so.

Advisor/Mentor

John Utgaard; Mike Martin

Description

My work in this exhibition is primarily created through ceramics and woodworking. With ceramics as my emphasis, that is the art medium that I am most comfortable with, so it is present in the majority of my work. I like to experiment with odd imagery in order to invoke an uncomfortableness in my art. I also like to experiment with color palettes and textures in order to further exaggerate the unease in my work.

Photo Credit

Photo credit, Hannah Robards

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Robards, Hannah, "HANNAH ROBARDS Art399 Portfolio" (2023). Professional Practices (ART 399). 141.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/141