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Archive for the ‘UTPA MFA’ Category

My Latest Painting

Posted in My Paintings UTPA MFA, Paintings, UTPA MFA, tagged , on December 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

My latest painting is entitled “Kinetic.” I hope you like it.

Mary P Williams - "Kinetic"

Mary P Williams - "Kinetic"

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Meet Travis Trapp

Posted in Artist Interviews, Drawings, UTPA MFA, tagged , , on December 9, 2011| 1 Comment »

Travis Trapp has an intricate drawing style.  He begins on a small panel and adds and then adds again.

Travis Trapp

Travis Trapp

 

This drawing is 4 feet by 5 feet and growing.

Travis Trapp drawing close-up

Travis Trapp drawing close-up

Here is a detail of the big picture showing how the forms grow and expand.  He explains “it is a free drawing informed by looking at photographs taken using an electron microscope and then extrapolating from there.  It grows from my subconscious mind.”

Travis Trapp painting

Travis Trapp painting

Here is a delightful painting of a boy sitting on an island …unaware of what is behind him. The color is cheerful and in opposition to the content of the painting which is a bit ominous.

Drawing on the inside of Travis' door

Drawing on the inside of Travis' door

Here is a shot of the inside of Travis Trapp’s door… It is 3′ x 5′ … done with a Sharpie.

Travis Trapp "Portrait of Philip K. Dick"

Travis Trapp "Portrait of Philip K. Dick"

As an admirer Of Philip K. Dick, who wrote many science fiction books, Travis did a portrait of him using his own words.

Travis Trapp "Portrait of Philip K. Dick" detail

Travis Trapp "Portrait of Philip K. Dick" detail

The detail shows the words “a pharmacist on Mars”. Not only is the portrait arresting to look at, it is also thought provoking.  By carefully printing the words, (some of which are unreadable, others which are clearly readable) to create the contours of the face, Travis directs our attention to the content of these ground-breaking works.  Bravo!

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Meet Idalia Gonzales

Posted in Artist Interviews, Paintings, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , on December 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Idalia is a sparkling young woman with many ideas …

Idalia Gonzales

Idalia Gonzales

Here we see one of her paintings devoted to horns and trumpets. When asked what she considered a successful piece of art she replied “It is successful when I begin with an idea and make it happen outside of myself.”  When asked to describe a successful artist she thought a minute and said “It is someone who can wake up any day and say “I want to create and then DO IT.”

Idalia Gonzales with sculpture

Idalia Gonzales with sculpture

Her desire is to explore the “real art world in terms of being a professional artist … where an artist has a career and earns a living creating their vision of the world.” Idalia remarks that she has been exposed to regional and state galleries and museums and is ready to expand to other states and big art centers … go Idalia! … Grow!

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Meet Erum Javed

Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , , on December 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Erum arrived from Pakistan in 1993.  Her masters graduate show reflects her culture in many ways.

Erum Javed, bowl

Erum Javed, bowl

Erum Javed, bowl interior

Erum Javed, bowl interior

The delicate, white, bowls are inscribed with her native language.

Erum Javed, bowl with collar

Erum Javed, bowl with collar

Several sculptures incorporate egg-shaped forms wrapped in crocheted filaments.

Erum Javed

Erum Javed

Here, in the photo of Erum, she has a collar around her neck.  It is constructed from silver thread as are the “collars” around the sculptures.  Note the silvery dress which was made from stiff material which holds its form … the dress seems to be a sculpture in the same vein as her porcelain bowls.  Bravo!

Erum Javed drawing

Erum Javed drawing

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Susan Fitzsimmons

Posted in Artist Interviews, Paintings, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , on November 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Painting by Susan Fitzsimmons

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

Sculpture by Susan Fitzsimmons

Sculpture by Susan Fitzsimmons

and then the glowing sculptures!!
they speak for themselves …

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Sculpture Class Performance

Posted in Performing Arts, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , , , 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

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

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

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

Audience Participation

So … up she jumped and the performance was over …

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Visiting Performance Artist

Posted in Performing Arts, Texas, UTPA MFA, tagged , , , , , on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A visiting performance artist!  From Costa Rica! All the classes in the art dept. are alerted and it is arranged that we, the students, will participate in a performance.  A collaborative performance … there are approx 30 artists (or art students) involved in this project. The artist, Elia Arce, meets with us and we discuss what concepts we wish to convey to our audience.  Loneliness? Time? Death? Displacement?  We decide on Time and Displacement. Then the question of location … where shall we do the performance?  How to document? Our final decision is to go out to a lonely country road, with a group of people (and several babies to indicate generations) and take a photo on an empty field with a wide sky spread above us. We find one and take test shots.Here are photos of our first scouting trip to locate a road.

Lonely Texas Road and Artists

Lonely Texas Road and Artists

Professor Karen Sanders

Professor Karen Sanders

During the week Elia and Prof. Karen Sanders change the location to a Texas ranch where a friend, Betty, will allow us to use her empty field.  After several attempts we locate some babies, set a time, and go to the ranch. It is 5:00 pm so the evening light is excellent, the weather is clear, and the babies are mellow!  Prof. Sanders is a digital photographer and she arranges us all in the field and, with the help of two other photographers, does a triple-person exposure.  This means the three photographers line up, are assigned a section of the group of people to take a picture of, and on the count of “three” all snap the picture. This is going to be one BIG picture … it will be difficult to develop and print … and hard to line up the 3 photos so it appears seamless.  Hats off to Prof. Sanders!

Ranch House and Native Plants

Ranch House and Native Plants

The ranch house has native plants in pots lined up, ready for sale and shipment to various parks and reserves, where they will be used to reconstitute the landscape near the Rio Grande River.

Ranch Bird Houses

Ranch Bird Houses

There are also bird houses and bird feeders scattered around the garden and a chorus of songs, and cackles, and chirps coming from the trees.

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Flea Market Sculpture

Posted in My Sculptures UTPA MFA, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , , 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

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

Mary P Williams "Fragility vs. Hardness" egg detail

Hopefully the egg, sandwiched between two metal plates,

Mary P Williams "Fragility vs. Hardness" bottom detail

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?

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Meet Erika Balogh

Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , , , , on November 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Erika Balogh

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"

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"

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!

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Meet Daniel Flores

Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged , , , , , on October 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Daniel Flores

Daniel Flores

Daniel Flores is working with the concept of line …

Daniel Flores "Blue String"

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"

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!

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