Follow

• 

  Professional Practices

  Sarah Guinn

  When people look at the work that I’ve done at Murray State so far, I want them to notice my passion for the field. In the works that I have done so far, a few of my favorite things to instill are alignment, typography and color. In graphic design, these elements are important attributes to create a successful piece.

  I typically try to imitate what attracts me to another person’s work. My art and design use a lot of contour lines, symmetrical balance, shape, and negative and positive space. Usually my mental process of starts with getting ideas in my head and I write them down. If I don’t get an idea right away it usually takes some time for me to finally come up with a project to do. If I do have an idea though, it usually starts as one thing and as I start to work on it, it begins morphing into many different ideas and my entire project becomes a much bigger concept. I have instilled some of these elements and principles of design, specifically into a logo project and travel ad layout project.

  The things that influence my work vary from my family to music to desserts to traveling. They are the things that excite me the most and I always have endless ideas of items to make when it comes to them. I also love making logos and the concept of brand naming. I am very interested in working on my hand lettering. This is a very big reason why I love Louise Fili and Marla Moore’s work so much. Fili does both branding and hand lettering and I recently have started to look at her work more often. Moore does everything that I aspire to do as well. Her aesthetic and her hand lettering inspire me to really give it my all. Overall, what I think I do the best in are the projects that interest me and go along with what I want to be successful at in life.

• 

  Casey Johnson: Professional Practices

  Casey Johnson

  My art comprises one unifying idea: my own life experiences, specifically those relating to my family and friends. By depicting highly specific visual cues—such as clothing, crows, and the color blue—I combine multiple facets and memories in an attempt to communicate my feelings and experiences. Sometimes these symbols are universal; a yellow raincoat, for example, calls to mind childhood. Others are encoded within my own memories—a bird skull relates to a dream my friend had one night. My art is about more than myself; it is about finding common ground between me and my audience and exploring that overlap.

  Through symbols, color, and texture, I reach out to the viewer. These symbols and colors appeal specifically to my own aesthetic and emotional sensibilities; it is for this reason that I am so interested in what the viewer can gain from my art. In order to interact with both my memories and the viewer, I use bold, dark lines, bright colors, and clearly visible—if not always decipherable—symbols. The interaction between these elements paves the way for the connection between myself, the piece, and the viewer.

  Among my contemporary influences are certain niche illustrators such as Greer Stothers, whose bold use of color to depict creatures—both extinct and imagined—has left an impression on me. Her colorful compositions are straightforward and full of character, and I strive for a similar impression within my own work.

  My experience with figure drawings, especially those done with pen and ink, was a major catalyst for my artistic choices thus far. In my figure drawings, I was able to explore unconventional color combinations. This exploration of color continues even in my more recent abstract drawings, in which I have depicted white bottles and other objects in hues of red and blue.

  Photography has proven to be an unexpected catalyst for the further development of my art. A photo is an instantaneous moment in time; in a way, it is the purest way for me to present a pure reflection of my own perception. In an inverse way, photography has honed my sense of my immediate, daily surroundings. There are countless moments in any given day where I wish I could have my camera to capture the beautiful subtleties of my world. The photos that I have taken so far are largely the result of chance: I saw something lovely and photographed it, such as sunlight filtered through window blinds or an animal carcass. Others are staged and in a way are more like my symbolic work of other media than my other photos.

  In my art I explore the psychological meaning of color; specifically, I use the colors red and blue as symbols for life. Both red and blue feel familiar and lively to me. At first, I subconsciously used these colors when producing life-based work. As time went on, I began to use the colors intentionally as a kind of code for organic life. In many cases, I also used green in much the same way, but the shade of green was frequently more of a teal color and was thus essentially another shade of blue. It is elements like color that my audience will connect to in their own way, and maybe this connection will be similar to the connections that I have with my own work.

  Casey Johnson

  2018

• 

  Hanna Kesty

  Hanna Kesty

  I am not one to make myself the center of attention, therefore self-portraits or any aspect of myself were never an obvious choice. My work is developed from a personal narrative through drawing and printmaking, and is an opportunity to have an open conversation about mental health as a complex form that has multiple parts and pieces. Innocent, metaphorical objects help illustrate a variety of internal disruptions of that form. During the production process of a drawing or print there is a conversation of acknowledgement and honesty happening between these objects and myself.

  These objects are depicted in minimalistic settings dominated by negative space forcing the viewer’s attention on the object. Due to the minimalistic settings there is a somber and desolate disposition that dominates the objects, such as a wooden chair, vintage TV, a hare and tree trunk mask. The pieces/objects are typically depicted distressed and covered with two-dimensional string to emphasize internal distress and chaos. Visual cues help the viewer in navigating the composition.

  Artistic influences stem from lithographer Kathryn Polk with her use of a realistic and imagined figure, as well as her muted color pallet, and from mixed-media artist Toba Khedoori and the solitary spaces she creates with minimal imagery. Other influences are words. Words are powerful; from poems such as milk and honey by Rupi Kaur, to music, or simply everyday conversations, words shape our day to day lives.

  Mental health is different from person to person, yet every person can relate to other people’s stories to a certain extent. It is something that should be openly discussed and not dismissed or suppressed. With this discussion I am connecting to others universally and possibly helping them figure out their own parts and pieces.

• 

  Graphic

  Xinyi Liu

  When I was young, I was attracted by Animate and Comics, started drawing childish colorful lines on blanket paper. I can easily draw those cartoon characters vividly, which has plant an art seed deeply inside of my heart. As I get older, I was being trained in school to draw much more professional ways. I work hard to invest in as many kinds of media as I can, but still focus on graphic design and digital drawing, especially for video games and movies, which brought me to art area.

  I want to do concept design mostly in the future, like design characters and environment. In the past several years, I tried a lot to practice my physical skills on digital drawings, but I noticed that, compared with brilliant concept designers like Martin Deschambault, I still lack ability on the “design” part, that I don’t have good enough feeling of “two-dimensional shape”, and creating atmosphere. However, I was trying to increase my weakness a little bit. In my recent editorial illustration work, I use blue-tone to create a peaceful atmosphere. There’s a skeleton sitting in a computer station, on the middle of the water surface inside of a cave. It’s indicates myself when I was a child, sitting in front of my computer during mid-night to do digital drawings. That’s my most productive time, and I’m always trying to find the feeling about that time. What’s more, for my final project in illustration class, I used two different shapes – triangle and circle, to design two different kinds of amour sets for male warrior. Because of the difference of shapes, they gave the audience totally different feelings. It was also a challenge for me to draw an elder man, since I drew young woman all the time while practice skills in the past.

  If “concept design” is my dream, then graphic design is my choice of reality. To get better sense of “shape”, I concentrated on graphic design a lot in college study as well. When I was in China, even though I was not an art major student, I was asked to help organizations in school to make posters or PowerPoint stuff all the time, which had practiced me a lot in the past few years. When I attended to Murray State University, during the study in graphic design class, I learnt many new, especially more professional skills about design. One of the most obvious change is, my taste of design became better. My final project of graphic design II class is a zoo poster, but the first version was ugly, just like what non-art student did in Chinese college. My last version is very graphic and neat, which I like a lot. Now, most of my graphic design project need me to make it several versions to get a relatively satisfying one, nevertheless, I believe this is the tough but necessary step to develop my skill and taste to create professional art work, and I’m on the right way to change my style.

  I’ll keep learning and practicing for my design and illustration skills, and the taste of my design style in the future, in order to make stuff that also amuse myself.

• 

  Range

  Aman Madan

  Artist Statement

  My work explores a range of subject matter and themes, but I try to make all of it with a simplistic approach so people could relate and understand it better. I usually produce two types of artworks, i.e., drawings and graphically designed stuff like posters, illustrations, covers, reports, etc. I frequently use pencil and charcoal for drawings and adobe photoshop, adobe illustrator for illustrations and logos and InDesign for designing posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, books.

  I choose graphic design because I feel it is a is a good way to communicate to public and be creative enough to grab their attention. It allows me to manipulate my drawing work and incorporate it in my Graphic design stuff. Graphic design helps me learn problem solving as I must work in certain parameters sometimes. I enjoy drawing because it gives me more freedom to express my ideas as well as I enjoy looking at things and replicate them on paper with my interpretation. I like the way charcoal can be manipulated to create a great range of values and mark making. I combine graphic design and drawing together for making certain artworks.

  I try to give an emotional touch to all of my drawings, and try to keep it subtle and simple in my Graphic design stuff.

• 

  Welcome to My World

  Sarah McCann

  My work revolves around two dimensional drawings on small 9”x12” smooth Bristol Paper. In a sense I’m more of a traditional artist; I prefer to use Prismacolor Pencils, Watercolors, Copic Markers, Micron Pens, and White Gel Pens in my art. Not only have I created lots of drawings, but I have also painted a bit; about a year ago I had a piece put up on display at an Art Center in my hometown called the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts. Quite recently I have been into Digital art; I like to use the free software known as GIMP to color over drawings I have scanned onto my computer. My thought process before I put my pencil to paper usually revolves around what I’ve recently watched, it’s pretty weird but when I watch a show my inspiration to draw starts to shine.

  I really want people to recognize my work, by noticing my style and knowing that I like to draw a lot of Fan Art. My personal Art Philosophy is to draw whatever you want, don’t let people tell you what to draw during this day in age. Art is Art, and with a lot of hard work it’s beautiful no matter what it is, because it’s yours. A couple of people who have inspired me are Katy Lipscomb, Aaron Blaise, and an artist on the Website DeviantArt known as WildSpiritWolf.

  WildSpiritWolf was the first artist who got me interested into drawing animals, and mainly wolves. Her FAQ (frequently asked questions) came in handy when I didn’t know where to start with my art, I was introduced to shading, micron pens, and prismacolor pencils from her. Katy Lipscomb was another artist on DeviantArt that I met a while back and is a friend of mine, her art is so vibrant and colorful, she introduced to me the idea of using watercolors as a base before coloring an entire drawing with Prismacolor Pencils. And Aaron Blaise gave me the push to draw more human figures and to add cartoon characteristics to them along with animals, and also to start drawing digitally.

• 

  Siany Riegger

  Siany Riegger

  What viewers should be able to see in my artwork revolves around the concepts of the sublime and of nature in general. I am inspired by wildlife and encountering new birds on trips and am curious about the idea of nature in my work. For example, a painting that was done for an art history class in Baroque, depicts a robin on a branch, which is supposed to represent humility and how humans can look to nature as something of reverence. In terms of sublime, I create artwork about monsters and use compositions with unsettling conceptual themes or aesthetics. As far as a specific medium goes, I work mostly with oil paint on canvas.

  My work Inner Demons was a response to The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters by Francisco Goya. It emulates the sublime and the idea that certain thoughts, or lack of, can create personal monsters within. Another work like this is a painting that incorporates the use of complex color schemes by having intense red and green artificial light with clashing same colored objects. The colors in the composition are what convey the idea of the sublime due to the eerie nature that is typically associated with red and green.

  Some of the paintings made more recently have been utilizing the sublime in nature by using the theme of predator and prey. One of these works in particular, depicts a display where 2-D painted versions of origami birds are placed in a naturalistic setting. Some of the prey birds are seen floating in the water, while others are hanging by strings to mimic flight. Meanwhile, a naturalistic representation of a hawk is in the process of swooping down to tear apart one of the inanimate birds in the water. By using the theme of “survival of the fittest” in my artwork, it bridges the gap between horror and nature to create the sublime, a more complex theme.

• 

  Pro Prac Bailey Roman

  Bailey Roman

  My preferred media is oil paint on varying objects and ink drawings. The subject matter is drawn from life or studied then imagined later in the studio to add a creative and unnatural feeling. Through the use of vibrant fractal shapes dissipating from the subject to captivate the viewer’s eye. I also take the liberty of using influences of pop artist, American Realists and Golden Age comic book art, I use the two periods and synthesize them into a more contemporary anatomy study. I really enjoy the dynamic and thick lines in both comic book illustrators and pop artists but crave to have a naturalistic sense of proportions that give my subject a unique personality. The use of color in my pieces are extremely saturated and draw a lot of inspiration from conceptual artists such as Tyler Lockett, Sun GuoLiang and Emmanuel Malin. In more recent works I have pushed myself to be more experimental with my use of media i.e. using coffee as a substitute for paint thinner or painting on the back side of a panel to force more layers and dimensions throughout the works. The messages in my work varies but are not limited to; social critiques on the view of intelligence, a discussion of domestic violence in relationships, the visual effects of stress and how one views the world, and an exploration of glyphs and how they can apply meaning in relatively mundane objects (such as billboards) and their catalytic nature in self evaluations.

• 

  Dialogue (Bridged)

  Anna Sohl

  Human beings thrive on communication and strive to connect with others in many ways. In spite of our desires or best efforts, communication and connection sometimes falls short of perfect clarity. Our interpretation of a person’s nonverbal cues may fail to match what they are saying, and words left unspoken can create voids and barriers. I find significance in our miscommunications, misinterpretations, and our difficulty connecting with one another. This work explores how domestic objects can influence the dynamics of a conversation and are witness to our communication with one another.

  My current body of work explores interpersonal communication and relationships represented through domestic objects. I seek to illustrate the way communication can change as it is transmitted from one person to another, and the voids created through the absence of words. This occurs most poignantly in our home lives, where clear communication is often most critical to our happiness.

  Furniture also directs us to interact with others in a certain manner. The spatial arrangement of furniture may determine the flow of a conversation. When a conversation between two people shifts, the individuals either gravitate closer together or stay at a reasonable distance. These objects are stand-ins for ourselves. We are individuals with unique characteristics, just as any handmade object. No piece is exactly alike and has its own personality.

• 

  Mind Collage

  Rebekah Nichole Thuline

  I illustrate images that dive into different ideas but roughly stay around a few basic themes i'm drawn to. These themes link to either play with color theory, phycology, or images that take on a certain topics such as food, animals, nature, that mix together to create either an unusual narrative or a simple image. I prefer to create illustrations with ink pens, but I will also work with other materials such as pastels, charcoal, graphic and even digital mediums.

  Some of the inspirations for these works go back to artists Salvador dali and Rene Magritte. Both surrealists that painted strange images that narrate a story or emotion or an idea from their mind with interesting color pallet choices. This alone has always interested me for years. When an image pops into my head I want to do my best to draw it out for everyone to see. I'm not ashamed by my imagination but proud to express the creative thinking process I go through and adding my own personal meanings to them. Just goes to show how the mind wanders.

• 

  Ana's Exhibition

  Ana Wahlers

  Artist Statement

  I make fantasy inspired scenes that are naturalistic. This means the scene itself isn’t realistic, just the bodies or individual forms. Everything else is just various things put together that you wouldn’t normally see together. That way the scene is comprehensible, but you also can’t say, “That’s not accurate”. Real everyday scenes are kind of boring because there’s nothing to invoke an emotion in me, so I like to bring things that can only exist from the human mind into the picture. For example, I’ve done a few scenes of monsters or figures in a house or room. The only thing out of place is the monster, but by adding a recognizable background it gives it context. And by using fantasy I’m able to not only convey a certain emotion, but also make it unmistakable by having it be somewhat of an extreme scene. These scenes are usually dark and desaturated, and while I try to stay true to the image in my head, I also make sure the image is balanced and has emphasis on the source of the emotion.

  Most of my drawings originated as passing images in my head with certain emotions tied to them. Overall, I'm just trying to enhance my ability to create atmospheric images. I try to be sure everything looks like they’re in the same place and aim for the work to make it easy for the viewer to imagine themselves in the picture. Another place I find inspiration is my dreams. I tend to feel things more strongly in them, so I try to see if it was just a feeling during the dream or the situation in the dream that gave me the emotion. I’ll recreate the scene on paper and see if it gives off the same reaction.

  I’ve been trying to figure out how to improve my style and found an artist named Bobby Chiu. I liked his style conceptually and visually. Especially how, despite the creature obviously not being real, the lighting and background makes it easy for you to imagine them in front of you. The only thing that stopped me from achieving something similar was the fact that I relied on outlines. I finally stopped focusing on them recently and photoshop helps a lot in this regard. It achieves visual affects you normally struggle to get with traditional media such as fog or blurs. I don’t really use all the tools in the program, I use it like a pencil or paintbrush, but more convenient and less messy. I do everything from scratch; it all starts as messy lines that progressively become a picture.

• 

  Glimpses

  Eriko Whittaker

  As a painter, I have always been intrigued by the relationship of color, shape, and composition. While my work mostly consists of oil paint on canvas, I also use acrylic paint, gesso, and wood stain. My work evolves with that of my immediate surroundings, taking daily, ordinary scenes of life and how light and color can affect the visual reading of a scene. My work shifts between a continuum of abstract and realistic work, a painting being either non-objective, abstract, or representational. I find great inspiration in ordinary, everyday scenes and objects, ranging from interiors, nature, social, and urban scenes. I often shift between abstract and representational work because while I greatly enjoy the freedom and spontaneity of abstract work, I equally enjoy the structure and study of representational work.

• 

  Fall 2018 Professional Practices

  Claire Wilson

  While still being a college student, I have used many different practices to create artwork, differing from woodworking to metalsmithing and my emphasis, graphic design. However; the voice of my work always calls back to the theme which I feel the most connected to not only in my art making process, but also throughout my life as well. I believe nature and being outdoors is one of the keys to creating a happy life for ourselves – and is the place I feel most heard, comforted, and accepted. A hike through the woods or a day paddle boarding across the lake always brings solace and is able to still and refocus my mind. The calming effect of nature then is what translates to all of my favorite works and reappears no matter the media I am employing.

  Some of my works that deal with this recurring theme include an embroidery series of photographs that include my favorite places I have travelled heat transferred and then stitched over to emphasize individual elements of the landscape. When presented, its ideal location would be hanging from tree branches so that the viewer must take a step into a serene, outdoor location to view them. Another piece that demonstrates this is one of my most recent works, a band saw box created in the shape of a tobacco leaf, which represents the landscape where I spent my entire childhood. This theme not only translates into 3D materials, but into my graphic design projects as well. Here I often use simple patterning that include natural elements such as hand drawn leaves and flowers.

  My overall vision for my work would be for viewers to see my pieces and it draw them back to their favorite moments they have had travelling, or where they played outside as a child. That the small moment they spend viewing my work would take them back to a time they felt they were less stressed and carefree – and hopefully demonstrate that I believe these feelings can be brought back by spending time quietly enjoying nature.

  I believe my work fits in with contemporary art by relating to the current crisis to stop global warming. While not directly speaking to this issue, my work showcases the beauty of the natural world and could encourage others to do their part in keeping it clean for the sake of humans and animals alike. My work also reflects on that of art throughout history. Ancient people believed parts of nature to be gods and would create entire ceremonies around natural events such as rain or a good crop season. The theme of the importance of nature has been demonstrated since the beginning of art being recorded and we should hold onto that standard to continue.

  To conclude, I believe spending nature is one of the most important factors for happiness in our lives and this for me continues into every medium of my work. If I am able to make viewers stop their hectic lives for one moment, and remember a calmer time or time they have enjoyed outdoors then we as a society would be able to come together again and create positive change not only for our environments, but for our own lives as well.

• 

  Yiyang Xie

  yiyang Xie

  Artist Statement

  Yiyang Xie

  In my freshman year, I studied photography, broadcasting, acting, sports and drawing. I discovered what I liked, and what I did not like. When I go to a fiction show. This show is you can use the artwork which made by this artist to create a photo which is not the same in the real. I saw a lot of people were happy at that time. I realized that an artist can bring happiness to people. After that, I decided to be an artist, because an artist is a magical being.

  Most of my artwork is made by using a pencil. I can easily use it to draw and using my hands is important in my artwork. I can immediately draw the whatever I want with it. First of all, I create the idea in my mind. And then, I will draw the idea’s draft. After the exploration of my draft drawings. I will choose the best one and start to draw my final piece.

  Currently, my art making includes Drawing, Metal, and Design. I use a variety of pencils to complete my drawing work. I learned basic metalsmithing skills this semester and I will continue to use these skills in my artwork. I also started computer based design this semester and can easily incorporate Photoshop and Illustrator into my practice now. I want to use different and cheerful color to create a happy world. I hope my work can show the beautiful world to the people who are unhappy and depressed. I hope they can know how beautiful and wonderful this world is! I this modern city, more and more people we meet. However, we have less and less friends. I feel the happiest time is my childhood. That is a colorful time in my life. Thus, I decided to create a colorful city for people who lose the color in their life.

• 

  Supernumerary

  Ethan Best

  For me, art is centered on shifting perspectives, the analysis of communication and the impact of art on our society. It is a reflection of a cultural collective consciousness; manifestations of a collection of beliefs and worldviews that function both as a time capsule and as a direct line into the world of ideas. I create work that is fundamentally founded in personal exploration and interpretation of the artwork at hand. Each piece is, in essence, a catalyst for discovery. For this reason I use a largely minimalist approach in creating objects that have a strong phenomenological presence and have any and all meaning compressed into openly-interpretable visual cues. Narrative is only determinable through heavy investigation of the piece, and even then is largely subjective. There is an emphasis on untranslatability; an inability to fully understand outside of personal experience and interpretation. While some preconceived meaning is inherited through the use of visual metaphor, the intuitive patterning of the metaphor is obscured due to its vagueness or the further layering of conflicting patterns. Furthermore, the context from which the iconography is drawn from varies greatly.

  Whether it be literary and philosophical references or from TV and internet culture, all imagery is of equal of importance. They blend together creating a sense of unsure, uncomfortable half-familiarity. While the art itself is confounded and is relative to the viewer, that does not mean that it is meaningless. Meaning is instead inscribed by the context of the work from the spectator's perspective. This oscillation between investigation of predetermined meaning and objective non-meaning is meant to give the work a sense of sublime absurdity. The spectator is fully free to investigate and form their own opinions on what the work is and what it means, and, therefore, are entirely responsible for those beliefs.

• 

  Thoughts and Rambles

  Leslie Buhrmester

  My work is rooted in the here and now of my mind. The emotions I am feeling, the shows I am watching and music I am listening to all play a large role in informing my artwork. In my “From Birth to Death” photographs, I thought about how quick a sun sets and in relation how quick our time on earth is. I wanted to put the two together to represent that idea. I enjoy playing out these ideas and whimsies.

• 

  Reflective Interactions

  Isabella Cardozo

  My paintings are concern the exploration of light and transparency as it interacts with the figure and objects. I am interested in the exploration of reflective surfaces as they interact with the figure and each other.

  By recreating the figure as it interfaces with the transparent surfaces and the light, i can examine the idea of breaking up or splitting the body as a way to understand and maybe communicate anxieties that concern the body.

  Formally, I am interested in the play of transparency and reflection and recreating the bright colors that these objects form as the light passes through them, and aim to depict them with as much detail as possible, varying my brushstroke thickness and the amount of paint applied.

• 

  Final Portfolio Assignment

  Shelby Clark

  - “Art, should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” (Banksy.)

  I feel the power of art is derived from its ability to allow otherness to be addressed, encouraging the viewer to engage with topics that are ignored or difficult for them. Art is the platform for my critique of society.

  My work focuses specifically on my personal experiences relating to the “F” word.

  Female.

  “1 a (1) : of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs

  • In a field of milkweed, I watched a female monarch butterfly deposit a single egg on the underside of a leaf. —Tom Tyning

  • A few months later, she became the highest paid female performer on the Great White Way. —Susannah McCorkle

  (2) : having or producing only pistils or pistillate flowers

  • a female holly

  • female inflorescences

  b : made up of usually adult members of the female sex : consisting of females

  • the female workforce

  c : characteristic of girls, women, or the female sex : exhibiting femaleness

  • composed for female voices

  • a female name

  d : designed for or typically used by girls or women

  • a female glove

  e : engaged in or exercised by girls or women

  • female suffrage

  2 : having some quality (such as small size or delicacy of sound) associated with the female sex

  • female castanets

  3 : designed with a hollow or groove into which a corresponding male part fits

  • the female coupling of a hose

  — femaleness noun`` (Webster.)

  Feeling bound to use the “F” word as my label, is a perfect example of the otherness that drives my work. I create wearable props that exaggerate and imprison my figure, drawing attention to the restrictions I feel placed on me for just being female. External stimuli like advertising images and day-to-day life interactions provide the inspiration for these objects. I look at artists like Nick Cave and how his soundsuits fuel the viewers senses without preconceived judgment, by eliminating identity.

  During this journey as a woodworker, I have been trying to push the preconceived notions that I have created about the material. It is my goal to attack the boundaries of wood through the incorporation of varying, unconventional materials, as well as the concept of what wood can be used for.

  There are endless possibilities to all things and what an artist may do. It is only now that I have begun to find what I’m passionate about, my mind has been opened to the possibilities of creating work that challenges me.

• 

  Final Portfolio/ Digital Commons Assignment ART 399-01 SP17

  Troian Cummings

  My body of work is based in nature; it deals with concepts of comfort, discomfort, and in shared human perception and emotion. The malleability and durability of metal reflects my desire for control while its unpredictability aids in my desire to emulate nature. I am drawn toward natural elements because of my upbringing in Yosemite National Park, where nature is life. It is inevitable, when you live in such a natural place, that you see nature as art. Also, I have always been very aware of my thoughts and feelings in comparison to others. I have a tendency to tell myself that everyone must share the same feelings and self criticism that I do, though I know now that it’s not true. Even so, there are some shared internal struggles that we as humans collectively experience go through and the root of my work comes from this locus... I begin with a fairly loose plan and let it evolve and mature as the project proceeds. In it’s own way, it is a natural growth process, almost meditative in nature. Through this method I aim to emulate the perfect imperfection of nature. I also want to create some of the feelings of human life and the struggles that come with it.

  Despite being attracted to the tranquility and peacefulness of botanical forms, I am also interested in pain, danger, and discomfort—the darker side of nature. I am interested in the tension between these two elements of experience; beauty and pain. I am drawn to these darker qualities in the Body Art of Vito Acconci and Chris Burden. Acconci’s Following Piece in which he followed a person around until they became uncomfortable as well as Burden’s dangerous and semi-masochistic pieces like Shoot, a performance during which he was shot by a friend in his arm, are two in particular that have influenced me. In my pieces, I want to evoke some of these same primal feelings, like heightened anxiety or the feeling of being overwhelmed. I emphasize these feelings by using colors that while naturally occurring are perceived to be acidic or poisonous.

  When people interact with my art, I want them to feel a sense of promnesia, comfort, and slight disturbance- all at once. In some small way I want my work to make people take pause to think about their connection to everyone and everything around them. I want my art to make people question their surroundings and feel the need to become more self and globally aware.

• 

  Pro-Prac Retrospective

  Matthew Hahnes

  In my own life, I find myself the most contemplative when surrounded by white noise, when I am in the shower or doing laundry; that constant audio static acts like a barrier and allows me to more easily recede into my mind. I imagine the inner mind like a cave, no two are similar, as caves twist and break through the underground landscape they secret away more than we can discover for ourselves, caves are naturally occurring yet are largely unexplored. I investigate this metaphor by generating my own cave openings and spaces to try and impose a feeling of contemplation and isolation on the viewer through visual clues, usually vestiges of human occupation.

  In my printmaking process, I create a composition that gives a sense of vastness or spaciousness within seemingly smaller objects to represent this mindscape and placing the figure or a symbol for it within to add to the sense of scale. I’m fascinated with combining a visual interpretation of the brain’s environment and activity within the context of daily activities or environments filled with background noise, the static moments of life. I want to invite the view to contemplate the small periods of dissociation where we cease to be ourselves doing the activity, be it laundry or waiting in the elevator, and exist solely within our minds, thinking, conversing, imagining but ultimately denying the social factor of our own humanity. In those small moments we all exist on the island inside our mind, alone.

  In my sculpture work I use the anonymity of constructive materials like sheet steel and treated lumber to pull away the visual noise of logos, design, and color to imbue objects with a brooding quiet. Through sculpture I want to focus on “lonely objects” that are representative of our globalized market and growing speed of international exchange, objects that exist “everywhere” in replicated form and what that means for our interactions with these objects. I think of “lonely objects” as objects that are tucked away in corners or left alone and vacant more of the time than not, such as a vending machine: it stays on always, available always to be interacted with whether that be a positive interaction or not yet that interaction is over in minutes and especially at night there are long hours of electricity and availability seemingly wasted for lack of people.

  Focusing on how our relationship to the internet and media affects our consumption of art is key to my process and relating to a larger audience of non-art makers and communicating more effectively. I use saturated flat colors to create a visually interesting composition that will draw the viewer into my piece anticipating something immediately happy or pleasant only to feel a creeping sense of foreboding from the cave or object. I think pushing these aspects of these two main structures can invite the viewer to think about how we interact with appliances and how we demand the constant availability of the internet and social media yet interactions are small and isolated over texts, posts and memes.

• 

  Final Portfolio/ Digital Commons Assignment ART 399-01 SP17

  Caitlin Hemenway

  Caitlin Hemenway

  Artist Statement

  BFA 2016-2018

  In my current work, I am composing delicate forms in expansive spaces. These forms are meant to have a figurative presence. The space, having a tangible quality, then also becomes a subject. I wish to communicate that both space and form have an equal weight. I give voice in my work to the inward emotions of the figurative presence, in a moment of vulnerability, in a space that is unfamiliar.

  When I choose the subject for my paintings and drawings, I pay attention to the textures as wellas the colors of the object. Currently, I look to Baroque paintings and sculpture for reference to texture. In those works, drapery is expressive in its gesture and the presence it possesses, depicted by the artist as existing in a given atmosphere. However, the spaces I create in my work are equally inspired from observed horizons, much like the work of Martin Johnson Heade. In resemblance to his work, I use soft edges to soften and unite the form with the space. I also establish hard edges for strong communication of lights and darks as well as scumbling to scatter shadows and light both within the space and form.

  The purpose of my work is to communicate the fascination of a space and its emotional effect on those that view it. As the spaces I create surround these delicate forms, I seek to create a feeling of solitude and mystery, expressed as the vulnerable forms are embraced by their surroundings.

• 

  Professional Practices (ART 399)

  Madison Henderson

  I’ve always had a passion for art and design as well as assisting those with mental and physical disabilities. When I was searching for a career in the arts and I discovered Art Therapy I knew I had found my calling. Art has always assisted me through my life experiences. I want to be able to help those with mental and physical disabilities do the same.

  The major inspiration for my work is being able to assist individuals with mental and physical disabilities and seeing their everyday struggles and how they overcome them, that your typical individual would take for granted. My art can be vague and mysterious with what I am trying to communicate. I want the viewers to be able to observe my work and discover their own meaning.

  I am more drawn to art where the meaning is not immediately clear. Abstract art has always interested me. With abstract art, you can find new and inventive ways to express things, those things could be very simple but made to look more complex and intriguing. Also with abstract art, the work must speak for itself and allow the viewer to decide.

  I try to find inspiration for my work in everything that I do and see. One artist that has always been an inspiration to me is Jackson Pollock. He put his whole self into all his work. If something of his fell out of his pocket or he had to stand on his piece to get at the correct angle, he would leave whatever fell out and he would even include his footprints. That’s how I want to be with my work, and all the individuals that I work with. I want to put everything I have and that I am into my work.

• 

  Final Portfolio/Digital Commons Assignment ART 399-01 SP17

  Shelby Horton

  My work is inspired by global warming, while focusing on the relationship between humans, nature, and honey bees. The relationship between humans and bees is complex and has been cultivated for centuries. Depending on the nature of the interaction, this can illustrate the potential destruction of the environment when the complexity of a relationship is taken for granted, or it can illustrate the potential for a symbiotic interaction between humans and bees that not only helps improve and maintain the health of the earth, but that also benefits humans in ways that transcend the collection of honey. By depicting the cooperation of humans and bees, it’s possible to begin breaking down attitudes and stereotypes that pit people against nature. In particular, pollinating insects that are considered dangerous, pests, or expendable. This offers people an opportunity to understand that it is possible to develop a relationship that meets the needs of humans, bees, and the ecosystem; and how symbiotic relationships can be cultivated in other contexts, rather than depleting resources and leaving behind damage.

  I combine printmaking with practical objects to come up with pieces that help prevent the collapse of our environment while reaching a large audience and capturing their attention. Nunzio Paci is an artist who focuses on the human condition; he makes his work on humans separating themselves from nature. He has inspired growth in my own work by showing me new ways of seeing how humans separate themselves and how he expresses those moments with his imagery. I express our own down fall with imagery of dead bees, barren environments, and human figures that are usually causing the destruction but I also show the symbiotic, healthy relationship that humans can have by supporting bee hives and growing wild flowers bees need to make their honey. I make this connection in my work by making wild flower seed packets, fit for our region, that people can take with them or making stickers with my e-mail so they can contact me for more information later. I hope that my work through its practicality and meaning will inspire others to advocate for a healthy Earth.

• 

  Shelby Horton

  Shelby Horton

  My work is inspired by global warming, while focusing on the relationship between humans, nature, and honey bees. The relationship between humans and bees is complex and has been cultivated for centuries. Depending on the nature of the interaction, this can illustrate the potential destruction of the environment when the complexity of a relationship is taken for granted, or it can illustrate the potential for a symbiotic interaction between humans and bees that not only helps improve and maintain the health of the earth, but that also benefits humans in ways that transcend the collection of honey. By depicting the cooperation of humans and bees, it’s possible to begin breaking down attitudes and stereotypes that pit people against nature. In particular, pollinating insects that are considered dangerous, pests, or expendable. This offers people an opportunity to understand that it is possible to develop a relationship that meets the needs of humans, bees, and the ecosystem; and how symbiotic relationships can be cultivated in other contexts, rather than depleting resources and leaving behind damage.

  I combine printmaking with practical objects to come up with pieces that help prevent the collapse of our environment while reaching a large audience and capturing their attention. Nunzio Paci is an artist who focuses on the human condition; he makes his work on humans separating themselves from nature. He has inspired growth in my own work by showing me new ways of seeing how humans separate themselves and how he expresses those moments with his imagery. I express our own down fall with imagery of dead bees, barren environments, and human figures that are usually causing the destruction but I also show the symbiotic, healthy relationship that humans can have by supporting bee hives and growing wild flowers bees need to make their honey. I make this connection in my work by making wild flower seed packets, fit for our region, that people can take with them or making stickers with my e-mail so they can contact me for more information later. I hope that my work through its practicality and meaning will inspire others to advocate for a healthy Earth.

• 

  Final Portfolio/Digital Commons

  wei hu

  Wei was Born in Zhejiang province, China in 1990. Wei started to learn drawing at 9 years old, he learned calligraphy and Chinese painting. During the drawing, Wei won a lot of awards. 2010-2012, Wei studied art design in Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics in China. In the university, Wei joined the Xiyu Work Studio, this an art design studio for student organizations. After 2012, Wei transfer to Murray State University and learn art/art studio, he chooses many interesting classes, like sculpture, woodmaking, ceramics, painting, photograph and so on. He got Clara M. Eagle Scholarship in 2014. Now, Wei mainly learn the contents of graphic design, he wanted to combine the Chinese design and American design to create. In printmaking, Wei tried to use Chinese countryside’s old house style; in graphic design, he often used Chinese elements, like the effect of Chinese painting, Chinese red, Chinese words and so on.