HD in gallery 100 show Review. Connor McShane

I recently went to an art opening for graduating intermedia students, the show, named HD, consisted of a very wide spectrum of different styles, mediums, and concepts of art. The show, although very interesting and visually stimulating, it seemed to be all over the page and together as a whole the works didn't communicate with each other in any way. As for the 3D works within the show, there were two small sculptures. Made from foam and epoxy the two three dimensional works somewhat stood alone from the rest of the works. The artist which made the sculptures worked primarily in printmaking foam and epoxy, throughout the artists prints and sculptures the subject matter seemed to only be small characters and an obsession with rollerblading. Which to me seemed to be her personal interests and her visual representation of them. Upon reading the the artists statement for the show, I only became more confused, she tried to explain that she wanted a connection which represented a triangle, which in lamest terms was a connection between the artist, the work, and the viewer. She continued to explain that she portrayed emotion through bold thick lines, and her use of stroke. I was able to see the emotion portrayed within the works, but was unable to feel any connection to the artist herself. This I felt was ineffective on her part, and I was unable to bridge the gap between me and the artist through her works.

Besides the feeling of disorganization, and no connection between the multiple works within the gallery, alone each piece was very successful and altogether the show left an impression within my mind.

A trip to the Phoenix Art Museum

Over at the P.A.M there were so many options for me to chose. But the one that stood out the most to me was one that seems to get overlooked the most. Down the hall leading to the Arcadia Farms restaurant (next to the Museum store) I saw a piece by artist Louise Nevelson. At first it wasn't at all what I expected because typically what most people (myself included) know most from this artist are his large scaled pieces that appear as multiple shadow boxes filled with various items and then painted one solid color. In fact, P.A.M does have one example of such works.
But this sculpture Untitled was the opposite. It was small, and austere. There was nothing that would make a viewer get that instant "Wow" moment as most of Nevelsons other works would, yet something about it held my interest. Its title I felt was fitting because the subject matter itself was uncertain so how could a person give it a full title. It appears to be a representation of a human figure. But is he resting, or ready to get up and go some where? I think that is what I like most about this piece. It is mysterious and I (the viewer) am able to continue the story of this figure.
- Tina O.

Bisque Without Borders

I went to the Ceramics Research Center and saw the Bisque Without Borders exhibit. It was incredible because of all the detailed pieces involved. The intricate detailing drew you into the pieces individually and as a whole. They really made you look at each piece carefully. I loved that each thing had so much to offer when looking at it. It made me think about many different things. I constantly thought about what the artist was thinking when he made the pieces. I would highly recommend that everyone check this out.

Shining CIty

I also went to the Shining City MFA show. I found it a very intriguing collection. The point I felt the artist was trying to make was very obvious as to how it relates to real life. The artist talked about how the government keeps telling people to support the US by continuing to buy stuff in order to help the economy. His point was that as people are doing this, they neglect to see the monster that is ravaging their cities. He showed this through a "window" in the back wall through which you could see a monster made up of commercial businesses attacking the city on the hill. I really enjoyed the message and the way the artist created the way to portray it.

ShiningCity: An MFA Thesis Exhibition by Sebastian Wittig

I decided to visit Sebastian Wittig's ShiningCity exhibition for this weeks review. It was a lot different than most exhibitions I've seen in the Harry Wood Gallery and it deals with propaganda that is being used as distractions to cover up social issues that go on in the world. It is set up just like a convenient store with items for sale. Each item represents a "distraction" and the price is a date related to that social issue. I grabbed a product guide that explained every product in the store. For example, one of the products was called MeXoBlamin. The product guide description states:

"We are in the news with one of the biggest distractions of the year. When an unelected governor has no track-record and stands for election, there's an easy way out: it's the Mexican's fault, those illegal invaders who take our jobs, steal our stuff, and... mow our lawns.

The amount of verbiage that we were bombarded with was amazing. Illegal Canadians were to be targeted as well, we were told. Navajos, on the other hand, were exempt.

The governor was elected. For the first time."

The price is listed as $10.70 which relates to SB1070.

Elise Deringer: Perception and Passage

For this week's art exhibition review, I am writing about Elise Deringer's show in the Harry Wood Gallery on ASU campus. Elise is a graduate student studying fibers, and this was her thesis show. I took some time before the class visited her show to view her work on my own. She joined the use of silk fabric and various combination's of salt, sand, concrete, and spices to create individual pieces that cohesively fit into the entire show. Elise elaborates on what her thought process was behind her work in her artist statement. She says her work is "... a record of a few small steps on a long path, and left open for understanding.".

Structurally, the pieces evoke a soft and ethereal tone. They are hung in various ways. Her piece titled "Metamorphosis" forms a wave pattern that creates an intriguing three dimensional movement. This was also my favorite piece of hers, as she created cyanotypes (using sunlight to develop an image on a surface) on the silk. Her pieces, as a collection, make up various forms of nets, containers, and filters. Her use of silk in order to construct these forms is very impressive, as silk is a soft, delicate fabric. I like how this quality contrasts with the sturdy, supportive forms they make up.

Ceramics Research Center

I decided to visit the Ceramics Research Center for this week's blog post. It was my first time visiting it. Although the place was a bit smaller than I thought, the works there did not disappoint. There were so many work displayed around the place that it almost felt overwhelming. One work that caught my eye immediately was a work by Robert Arneson, titled, "In Pursuit of the Asian Gilda" (1981). It is basically a giant head of an Asian woman. Her hair is done in a style that a Geisha would typically wear (I uploaded a picture to help visualize. It isn't the actual piece of work). Her skin is yellow, which is often associated with people of Asian descent, and her eyes are squinty. One thing I found odd about this piece was that there is one finger attached to each end of her eyes. There is no hand, so it looks as though the fingers are just floating there. The first word that popped in my head was creepy. The head was a very large mass. It looked heavy. Her eyes are not filled in. They're empty holes, so you literally stare into her eyes, which gave me the shivers after I did that. One thing I liked about it was that the artist did not try and make her skin smooth and perfect. There are lines, cracks, spots, and other marks all over her skin which adds a sense of texture. Overall, I thought it was very well rendered.

Once upon a time...

Art, for me, has always been about stories.  These stories may be true or make-believe, moralistic or pure fluff, about me or one of my many creations, it doesn't matter.  The essential thing is that the story exists.  This is what gives my art meaning, purpose, life. I create to share the stories, and to make them my own.

Longing for the Butterflies
pen and ink and watercolor

Sometimes I think I've only been telling my own story over and over again through my art...

World Agent Propaganda
acrylic and sharpie
Need an explanation for this one? When my siblings and I were kids, the World Agents  was the agency that protected the Earth from evil aliens, the Arachnids. I was the lieutenant. =]

Other times I look and see the stories of people I didn't know until I made them...

There is No Magic

Every once in a while, the pictures only hint at the beginning, or possibly the middle of stories.

Monster Money
pen and ink and watercolor

 In my sketches, there are lots of different stories, all trying to escape and be told.

Character Sketches
charcoal and eraser

 Though it may not be in a comprehensible state, the story always exists. It is what makes the art mine, what gives me the ability to create it. The characters are there in the materials. I just let them out, bring them to life, tell their stories.

...and they live happily ever after.

Five Creations

"The Mighty Pen and His Assistants" 2010

Bic Pen on Illustration Board 2.5'x3.5'

(The hands spell out "create")

"Human Metamorphosis" January 2011

Graphite on Photo back drop paper

(The picture quality of this one was very poor)

"Inside a Man's Mind" 2010

Found Object Sculpture 2.5'x2.5'x3.5'

(Yes, those are soda cans)

"Uncontainable Creation" 2010

Found Object Sculpture 3.5'x3'x6'

"Muneca (Doll)" 2010

Found Object Sculpture 16" high

"Buddhist Christ" March 2011
Acrylic and Sumi Ink on Illustration Board

My name is Esmeralda and I am an art education major. I would like to get a masters in art therapy in the future. I am interested in all sorts of artworks. Last year and the beginning half of 2011 I was really interested in creating art with the cheapest material possible and seeing how complex it could get on a budget. It was a fun obsession. I am looking forward to what assignments lay ahead as I do have an interest in sculpture.

Examples of My Art

I tend to not

Examples of My Art VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

take photos of any of my art (I was lucky that my phone automatically saves photos I’ve taken to a private folder on my Windows Live SkyDrive, so I didn’t have to do much of anything [Yay laziness!]). That statement is a little odd since I do love taking photos (especially using the macro setting on my Windows Phone like the photo of the mango lobster rolls from Ra Sushi). Most of the time I do graphic design, mainly using Photoshop, but lately I have been doing a lot of work wowing people with PowerPoint slide decks. The other four pieces were done last semester between my Color and 2D Design classes. My favorite is my “iProphet” print followed by my self portrait.

-For those wondering, I used Windows Live Writer to write this post as well as create the album above. If you have any questions, ask me in class and I can show you.

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These two pictures were done for my life drawing class at my old school. The first is pastel and charcoal, the second charcoal and white pencil; both on tinted charcoal paper.

This one was a final for the portrait class I took, also at my previous college. I used pastel and some colored pencil, again on tinted charcoal paper.

These two are both drawings that I did for fun on my own free time. They were both done digitally on Paint Tool SAI using a Wacom Intuos4 tablet.

Connor McShane

 Gouache and Ink.  Done 1 1/2 years ago in a design class.

 Marker on Vellum. Also done 1 1/2 years ago in a design class.

 Acrylic on Linen. Done 3 years ago. Just for fun.

Digital photo-montage, creating space and time with a 2 dimensional plane. done this year.

Graphite on Paper. Done 1 year ago. A rock formation that resembles...

Hello Everyone!

Here are my a couple of my previous works. The reason I chose these two are because they give a great example in my strengths with both drawing and painting. At times I may seem from two different planets. I can either be super focused on keeping things simplistic and clean or I like to have a lot of fun colors and different forms of line. My artistic influences are from various background and I believe it is because of that variety I am able to freely learn and experiment new styles and techniques with my work.

The black and white image was inspired by my trip to NYC (first time I ever ventured out of the state of AZ!) and I wanted to have the piece be as busy but fun to see as the city felt to me the first time I saw it. The next is a broke color portrait of my cat Rufus, who I love dearly. He is my 22lb Maincoon Tuxedo cat. My entire Color Theory portfolio was all portraits of him. This one was picked because it is simply fun to look at.

I hope you enjoyed.

Thanks, Tina O.

Architecture can say so much about our history. This Holocaust memorial in Berlin is what started my interest in architectual photography.

There was something so simple about this small Italian village. The simplicity of the moment caught on camera that I loved when I saw this little old lady. She reminds me of the "true" essence of Italy.

I love to travel to as many exotic places as I possibly can. I took this image while visiting Volterra, Italy. I am not into the whole conceptual side of photography. I love photographing architecture and landscape.

(1) This particular art piece never received a title, but it has remained one that I've felt most proud over. The story behind this piece is just as insignificant as the picture itself. Basically, it was a random Friday summer night and I was bored and felt like drawing something. So I went looking for a pencil and found a princess pencil in my little sisters room. Then I found a picture from an Alternative Press magazine and went to work. I drew all through the weekend. I was really impressed with myself when I was done because I have never drawn a human figure so realistically before, so this was a huge break for me!!!

- Pencil Drawing

(2) This next piece is also one that I'm very fond of. If you haven't already realized, the hands spell out "love" in sign language format. I did this for my Drawing II class last year as one of the projects for the semester. I'm a big believer in love and I think it's a very powerful thing. Also, another reason I chose to do hands was because I've always had a hard time drawing them, so I decided to challenge myself with piece. I do feel that I could have done some more shading but overall I was happy with the way it turned out!

- Ink & Water

I love to write stories. Most of the art I do is based off of the stories I am currently writing or plan to write. These are all from different stories. I find that with pieces like these I like to try to capture the emotion of an event by showing what was left behind, in particular the prison bars picture. For the most part I just like experimenting with different mediums and techniques to find out different ways of doing things. I usually don't create things with full backgrounds. I like to doodle more that create fully completed pieces. I have also noticed that I tend to really like to create pieces that can change and develop as they are completed. I guess overall what I am trying to say is that stories are what tend to inspire me the most and I find it helpful to draw things out to help increase my inspiration.

A pastel collage I did in my drawing II class. This same unicorn appears in a lot of my drawings.
A picture of a giraffe that I drew during my Drawing II class last semester using colored pencil. I drew this picture for my friend in a similar style that she paints in.

This is my first painting that I entered into the Amazing Ink art show last year and was shown in an article for the Phoenix New Times.
This was my first charcoal drawing of a still life that I did about a year ago in my Drawing I class.