Feb. 18, 2008

ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on paper - 2/17/08

I've been working hard on my shadow puppet movie, which I've named "Superhero". I think it is finished although I will probably have a few tweaks here and there. It is only 4 minutes long but involved making 15+ puppets, most of the main character with different articulated parts. I was going to post it here but have decided to save the premier showing for the June residency.

I have my first mentor meeting on Wednesday. I look forward to getting feedback and suggestions from Alvin.

Next up, another shadow puppet movie? Artist books? More photography? We'll see.

Puppet as image

I've been photographing puppets and silhouettes on my puppet stage and like the results. Many of the images are appropriated from paper doll books and silhouette books, and most have been altered (some minimally, some significantly) to create a narrative element. I like the shallow depth of field and soft shadowy murkiness. This visual ambiguity makes the images harder to decipher, encouraging the viewer to struggle with possible meanings. To see more CLICK HERE.

Testing ... testing

This is a "study" of sorts. I'm testing various techniques for shadow puppet videos.

Jan. 21, 2008

Residency #2 is over and I'm ready to get to work. The time spent in Boston was among the most eye opening 10 days of my life. Too bad life can't be that intense all the time. On second thought, if it were I would have probably croaked a long time ago.

I learned a great deal from critiques with faculty and fellow students. I was lucky to have a great crit group - I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Christopher, Brooke, Cheryl, Vera and Aimee.

Some quick highlights:
- Crits with Hannah Berrett, Laurel Sparks, Tony Apesos, Deborah Davidson and Sunanda Sanyal
- Deborah Davidson's bookmaking class including a visit to the Houghton Gallery
- Adam's McEwen's artist talk
- Mark and RJ's performance in "Cyborg at the Front Desk".

I'm very excited to be working with my new mentor, Alvin Gregorio . Alvin is a very talented artist who works at CU, Boulder. I look forward to our first meeting in the coming weeks.

I'll close by listing some new directions for my work this semester:
- Shadow puppet videos
- Artist books
- Paper-doll books
- Stereoscope photographic images

To see my newly constructed shadow puppet stage click here.

Week 22

This is my final blog entree for the semester. I've been working franticaly on my artwork. To see samples CLICK HERE.

A snippet from my most recent artist statement:

We are all intellectual animals lost in the wilderness, desperate to establish meaning – even if none exists. My greatest fear is that life is meaningless, that our existence is nothing but a random burst of energy whose trajectory is unrecorded and ultimately inconsequential. These feelings compel me to create works that often appear random, nonsensical and absurd. By creating these works I am generating a reflection of the world as I fear it.

In these images I am using visual language to suggesting memory, narrative and drama. I am encouraging the viewer to empathize and participate in the narrative. I am setting a stage for a life altering event, creating roles and inviting the viewer to contextualize their own story, to developing or extract their own meaning – or perhaps dismiss the situation as a meaningless fabrication.

Week 18

My gosh. I've neglected this little blog for too long! This may be my last entry until the second AIB residency, given the holidays and other stuff going on.

So, recently I've read some good books (Disparities and Deformations: Our Grotesque, An Anthology to Graphic Fiction, and about 10 graphic novels). I've seen some mediocre exhibitions (not worth mentioning). And I've spent some time making art. Life is very busy and frustrating lately, and I often wonder if my artwork is suffering as a result. Perhaps it is flourishing as a result. Maybe I'll find out some day.

I've been thinking a lot about my forthcoming artist statement. The more I think about it, the less profound it becomes. I have a feeling the statement will be very short and simple - perhaps less than one word (hugh?). I've spent time considering the art which has inspired me to create and I've realized I'm drawn to work which:

Communicates
Celebrates creativity
Evokes emotion
Commemorates humanity

To see examples of work which accomplishes none of these, view my recent artwork samples by CLICKING HERE.

Week 13

I've been working on the triptych journal images for the past few weeks. To date I have 8 or 10 of them complete. I've also started creating drawings which I am enjoying because they are much less technically demanding. I plan to arrive at Residency #2 with a variety of different approaches to my work. Hopefully the critique process will help me choose the right direction to proceed.

I recently finished reading An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories, edited by Ivan Brunetti. The book offers a diverse collection of material and provides a compelling overview of material produced for the independent comic / graphic novel genre of publications. The variety of subject matter and stylistic approaches represented in the book is astonishing. I found the volume to be a great introduction to the world of graphic fiction. Narrative illustration offers a remarkable and unique opportunity for in-depth personal expression of complex ideas and subjects, ranging from social and political ideas to issues surrounding complicated human emotion.

To view week 13 artwork sample CLICK HERE.