Final Critique: Artist Statement

So to start my final critique, which I have decided to display on here as opposed to in person, I will begin with my artist statement, really more of a foreword.

Throughout the creation of this work my starting place was in constant flux. Few things were able to hold my interest strongly enough for me to carry them through the Fall and into the Spring. I was really interested in finding new materials for myself to work on in the fall (printing on wood, mod podge sheets, and plexi-glass). This opened up the world of papers to me and allowed me a little more agility with the way I could work that really propelled me into silk screen. What I'm getting at is that my "final project" is this blog. It is allowing me to reflect upon the past work and to translate it into a narrative of my junior year. The works are displayed in a semi-chronological order, with an overall emphasis on the Spring semester. Where needed some works are sequenced based upon my growth.

First Semester

So I have decided to start by showing a small selection of prints from last semester to start. I want to really focus reflecting and connecting where I was and where I am. Before my Junior review I felt like my work wasn't going in a direction, but sort of jumping tracks with out any real linear connection. However after looking at my work and discussing it, I saw a narrative, or the beginning and end of one. So I want to show you all my start this year and go from there.

(click images to enlarge)

From top to bottom
- Bench I, xerox transfer on paper
- Bench II, Xerox transfer and watercolor on paper
- Bench III, Xerox transfer and acrylic on canvas

I feel like this work helped spark my insatiable appetite to for working and showed me that I could be ok with making pointless work, so long as I got something out of it. I began to explore material and what certain materials do to certain images. Particularly the next group of Images, starting with the diptic, the way the print sits in the canvas seemed really beautiful to me, and I really like the image paired with the canvas as the ground.

- Untitled, Lithography on Canvas,

This print stood out from the series it was in because of the canvas and the way the ink reacted to the canvas and vise versa.

This reaction to the materials was something that was still developing for me as pushed through and start to appreciate the way ink sits in or on the material. This was helpful to me because I began to appreciate paper and see that there was a potential of there being something worth searching out in the Spring.

Spring Semester 1.1

This semester, my work became very modular and segmented. Most of that was due to stresses I was putting on myself. Pointless stresses really. So the overall ebb and flow of this semester was dictated by many deadlines. Between the Ireland exchange, Mongolia exchange, and Zine workshop, my first semester really became much more about meeting those deadlines. At the same time it was a relief to have the themes set out and to be able to purely focus on my reaction to them.

So to start, here is my Ireland exchange print, the theme was "Winners and Losers".

Top to bottom
- Loser written all over him (first layer) silk screen.
- Loser written all over him, silk screen.

I used this project as a proof of my ability to register silkscreen and to maintain a consistent result for the Mongolia exchange.

This is my idea of one day, or this is what I did one day.







- Untitled, Silk Screen

All the while these deadlines were looming there was a zine workshop on a Thursday and Friday that I was really looking forward to participating in so I had to make a deadline for myself on that project so that it wouldn't drag out and interfere with the two exchange editions. So, lacking any sleep at all, I pumped out twenty zines by sunday. I think the theme of "love for sale" really motivated because to be frank fuck love. Here it is in a more formal sort of book layout format.





- Love Re-Sold, Silk Screen

So once these deadlines were gone I just wanted to start making for myself.

Spring Semester 1.2

For the first time in the semester I now had a chance to really focus on my work. I felt like I was in a rut, so I decided to start making some fluff work. That has always been the key to me keeping me making, sometimes taking a break of a undetermined length from my body of work, and just start making stuff with no intent.

Here is where I spent the bulk of my time while printing. Just trying different things like drawing with India ink and alcohol, or woodblock etching, I just wanted to try stuff and really feel satisfied no matter the product that came from it.
















































































Top to Bottom
- Ink Slab print I
- Woodblock Etching I
- Ink Film IV
- IFiv Epson Run 1
- IFiv Epson Run 2
- IFiv Silk Screen Run 1
- IFiv Silk Screen Run 2
- Ink Head Film
- IHF Epson Run 1

Spring Semester 1.3

Now I want to show how this fluff work directed me towards a goal that I had been lazily moving towards. Printing the electric chair again but in a different aesthetic than I had previously. I had altered it by overlapping them, changing the scale, and added color to the environment, or by placing a figure in the chair. Up to this point I had not altered the actual chair itself. So I changed its aesthetic to a sort of anti-line drawing.







Beaming with Guilt, silkscreen




I was excited to see just how forgiving using transparent ink layers is, yet is very affective for creating that sort of clean line, even with light misprinting. I decided to throw in a few examples to show where my electric chair has been.

From Top to Bottom (bottom half only)
- Sit up straight, damnit!, silkscreen and spray paint stencil
- Untitled, Xerox transfer on chipboard
- As we approached I ______.(Vertical Triptic), Mixed Media