Posted in Artist Interviews, Paintings, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Susan Fitzsimmons, UTPA MFA on November 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Painting by Susan Fitzsimmons
This engaging painting is combined with text. The words are:
To become
an old seed
forced to look for warm
earth
When all the garden
is inhabited
by strangers more desirable …
Sculpture by Susan Fitzsimmons
Sculpture by Susan Fitzsimmons
and then the glowing sculptures!!
they speak for themselves …
Posted in Performing Arts, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Marriage as suppression of woman, Performing Arts, Sculpture, UTPA MFA on November 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »
In the sculpture class we were told to collaborate in a performance. Our concept was built around young women rejecting marriage with the idea that marriage is restrictive and kills any chance to succeed in a career. Jill wanted to be the bride.
Digging the Grave
D.L. dug a shallow grave in hard! hard! Texas soil. We rushed around to organize a cake, champagne, a bride/groom statuette for the top of the cake … got dressed … shined the truck lights on the night-time scene, rounded up the audience and were OFF!
It was a truly inspiring performance !
Drinking Champagne
After drinking champagne Jill plopped herself into the grave and Manuel, the bridegroom, began to shovel dirt over her gauzy, white, wedding dress.
The Groom Buries the Bride
As he stood there looking sad… a new development! The audience began to throw dirt on Jill with abandon. So much so that her mask was covered and dirt drifted into her eyes.
Audience Participation
So … up she jumped and the performance was over …
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, tagged Aerosol Art, Graffiti Art, Scupture, Steven Morin, Tagging on November 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Donning Safety Equipment
An interesting development in sculpture class … Dr. Pace introduces us to a “graffiti artist” , a young man who is now an undergraduate at South Texas College. His goal in going to art school is to learn to “come off the wall” … this means to leave 2D (painting on a flat surface) and move into the 3D world (painting or constructing objects which have 3 dimensions – called sculpture). To do this he devised a 3D version of his tagging name made by using wire and papier-mache fixed on a board. He has hung up his graffiti status and is now an “aerosol artist” but still a “tagger” (one who tags locations with his name).
Aerosol Can Tops
He showed us his fonts and the different tops he uses on top of the aerosol can. I could not decipher the letters of his tag name but he insists there is an “S” and an “A” on this board … and a “R”. His friends could read it instantly.
Steven Morin
Donning his safety gear he began a series of sweeping moves, waving his hand steadily back and forth, up and down, to cover the letters with paint from a few angles.
Steven Morin
He began with yellow spray …
Steven Morin
then red …
Steven Morin
and added blue.
Steven Morin and 3D Signature
Steven Morin "Sarin"
He has a “signature” out in the world of graffiti art which is not revealed. None of the guys who do this want to be known … except to other graffiti makers who recognize each other by signature. Steven said “I can go up and down railroad cars left on a side rail and tell you who did this one and who did that one even though they live thousands of miles away. It is a community and we judge each others work.”
Tagged Railroad Car, Fresno CA, 2099
Commissioned Wall featuring several Graffiti artists, including Steven Morin
Steven Morin "A Manifestation of Calligraphy"
Signature of an artist on commissioned wall
Posted in Art@Clarks Co-op, Artist Interviews, Sculpture, Texas Artists, tagged Clay Sculpture, Sculpture, Texas Artists, Wendy Gilbert on November 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Wendy Gilbert
In the Art@Clarks gallery are several whimsical clay sculptures created by Wendy Gilbert.
Wendy Gilbert Sculpture
When I asked her “What do you think is a successful piece of art ?” she answered “I think it is successful if I enjoyed the creation of it. I am focused on the process … from idea … to sketch … to a finished piece. The question is “does the finished piece match my initial vision?”
Wendy Gilbert Sculpture
When asked “What is a successful artist?” She replied, “A successful artist is someone who can take an internal idea and externalize it. I am trying to create a narrative and communicate with my viewer. I do multiple pieces, a series, trying to reach this goal.”
Wendy Gilbert Sculpture
Posted in My Sculptures UTPA MFA, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Found Art Sculpture, My UTPA MFA Sculptures, UTPA MFA on November 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Dr. Lorenzo Pace tells us to all “go to 2 or 3 flea markets, buy a few items, and make a sculpture out of them.”
Mary P Williams "Fragility vs. Hardness
So here is my piece, five feet tall, using three metal objects, and a blown egg, and tissue paper. The title is “Fragility vs Hardness”.
Mary P Williams "Fragility vs. Hardness" egg detail
Hopefully the egg, sandwiched between two metal plates,
Mary P Williams "Fragility vs. Hardness" bottom detail
and the tissue paper lying under another heavy metal plate, will convey the concept. Fragile, ephemeral, momentary,transitory, gauzy, or temporary as opposed to hardness, solidness, lasting, enduring, or heaviness. It had to be a freestanding sculpture (i.e. a person must be able to walk around it). Does it succeed?
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Altered Books, Erika Balogh, Found Object Sculpture, Sculpture, UTPA MFA on November 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Erika Balogh
Erika is a graduate student with a comprehensive understanding of social issues. She, and her husband, grew up in Hungary. The topic her art revolves around is Socialism and Capitalism. Having experienced both systems she has a unique grasp of the concepts.
Erika Balogh "Altered Book"
The “altered book” above conveys its message by having the viewer look at the selected passages which are still readable …in addition there is the foot on top of one half of the pages … a bit mysterious but it engages the viewer. Sitting next to the book is a shoe with fanciful decorations. This is Erika’s response to an assignment in 3D class to make an object which will reflect a renaissance woman.
Erika "3-D Robot"
The robot, made from discarded shoe boxes, toy boxes, and food containers is a bow to Erika’s teenage son. It is freestanding, as tall as she is, and made from “indigenous” material. Every bit of it is indigenous to the room of a teenage male!
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Daniel Flores, Exploring Line, Line Art, Line Sculpture, My UTPA MFA Sculptures, UTPA MFA on October 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Daniel Flores
Daniel Flores is working with the concept of line …
Daniel Flores "Blue String"
he has explored line in his studio with blue string, cleverly stretching it to form a shape across his studio, and with crayons …
Daniel Flores "Crayon Lines"
he lined the crayons up on a piece of board, glued them on, and then used a heat gun to melt them, thereby producing lines of each color …”I try to produce straight lines” he said. “It is not easy.” We all know what a line is … don’t we?? A straight line might be “a mark which lies evenly with points of itself. ” Once we try to define it … it becomes complicated!
Posted in My Sculptures UTPA MFA, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Found Object Sculpture, Jill Carpenter, Manuel Lince, Mary P Williams, My UTPA MFA Sculptures, UTPA MFA on October 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Here is the assignment in 3-D class: Make a free-standing sculpture, as tall as you are, and out of indigenous materials. In this case indigenous includes anything found around the studios.
Mary P Williams "3-D Palms"
For my person I did a representation of my painting with colorful “painters hands” using a mop, styrofoam, and paint.
Jill Carpenter "3-D Quinceanera"
Jill did a Quinceanera, or “Sweet Sixteen” figure, with all the Mexican symbols, as it is done here in the Rio Grande Valley.
Manuel Lince "3-D Torso"
Manuel surprised us all with a cast of a friend done in ground up corn husks which he mixed with glue, layered on her body, and sand-papered to finish it.(Sand-papered the white cast – not her body!)
Erika "3-D Robot"
Finally, Erika came up with an endearing Robot … out of items discarded by her teenage son … it was made of shoe boxes, cereal boxes, and old toy boxes. Very fanciful !
Posted in Artist Interviews, Paintings, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Alex Macias, Art featuring wolves, Artist Interviews, Painting, Paper Sculpture, UTPA MFA on October 26, 2011| 1 Comment »
Alex Macias
Here is Alex … He is good!
Macias Paper Sculptures
His paper fox figures are visually arresting … as are his wolf paintings.
Macias "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
One is titled “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” … a play on words … I asked him if he had ever seen a real wolf and he answered “No!” with a twinkle in his eye. He was busy texturing the canvas so it had a rough, raised surface which works well conveying the wolf fur he is working on.
Macias Wolf
A different way of telling the viewer “this is fur.”
Alex Macias drawing
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Artist Interviews, Green Sculpture, Sculpture, Styrofoam Sculpture, UTPA MFA on October 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Alex Coronado
The studio of Alex Coronado houses many sculptures. They range from recycled styrofoam, cleverly crafted together, to massive stone sculptures. He has lots of maquettes (small scale models) lined up to look at … a way of exploring a concept before executing a large scale model. One of them, which is 8 feet tall, deals with Green issues and use of recycled materials. I will certainly bring him all styrofoam objects which come my way … what he does with them has changed my mind about that material. Apparently, if heat is applied (using a heat gun), the tiny balls which styrofoam is made up of expand … change shape … Lots of possibilities!
Mary P Williams 