Artists Statement Points of View 2012
Xiaojia Lin, BFAXiaojia Lin's works were not on displayed during Points of View due to the graphic nature of her subject.
At ThinkArt! we appreciate all works of art and hate to censor works, however, with a public environment involving children, we have to be sensitive to our host's brand image and the public's interests. We would like to give Xiaojia some recognition and ThinkArt! Love! :-) |
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NATHAN COTE - MFA
'Gape 5'; C-print;
Size: 20"x30"
Gape, implies blind desire. The image depicts the plight of the sea gulls, existing as a documentation of my act of deception. Their presumption that an object tossed into the air is of an alimentary nature shows their role changing from one of yearning to one of prey.
Lolita Develay - MFAThese works explore the relationships between high-end fashion goods and consumers. It deals with our desires that are fed by mass media and asks the viewer to consider what forces drive those desires.
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Noelle Garcia - MFAThese paintings are from my ongoing "Honeymoon" series. I referenced photographs from my honeymoon in Disney World. I usually refer to photographs of family, times and locations that are out of reach. I feel that the process of painting these images brings me closer to the person or event. As an adult I long to escape my family dysfunction.
I have a fascination with Disney parks, because they are a common destination for normal, healthy families to vacation. Although I do not see myself as a normal |
person, when i present these images of vacations my history is not apparent. These images are meant to bring me into a normal setting. They can be any one's vacation.
For me one of the most important parts of creating a painting is creating a technically accurate drawing. I spend a great deal of time refining a line drawing of a photograph before I add paint (more time drawing then painting). I filled in these drawings by painting in a fashion that is similar to paint by number. I used craft and fabric paints that I squeezed through a bottle with small nozzle (similar to frosting a cake).
For me one of the most important parts of creating a painting is creating a technically accurate drawing. I spend a great deal of time refining a line drawing of a photograph before I add paint (more time drawing then painting). I filled in these drawings by painting in a fashion that is similar to paint by number. I used craft and fabric paints that I squeezed through a bottle with small nozzle (similar to frosting a cake).
Scott Grow - MFA “We shall not cease from exploration and in the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time.” ~T. S. Eliot |
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My aim is to push the boundaries of painting both as a medium and the experience in which we interact with and perceive painting in a given space. Through the exploration of media and the arrangement of objects within a space, I wish to transform various media, such as architecture,
printed materials and sculpture, into the medium of painting as well. To further consider these media in the context of a pure phenomenological, visual and aesthetic experience. Art as a form of exploration and exploration as a process of discovery with risk.
The work cannot be interpreted in terms of mere subject matter. I am interested in the relationships of paint, gesture, luminosity and space as they come to express concepts of presence and absence, intention and involvement. The works are derived and motivated, by issues of longing, searching, and a desire to explore the scope of visual experience. To create a suspended moment, a fragment, the calm before the storm.
printed materials and sculpture, into the medium of painting as well. To further consider these media in the context of a pure phenomenological, visual and aesthetic experience. Art as a form of exploration and exploration as a process of discovery with risk.
The work cannot be interpreted in terms of mere subject matter. I am interested in the relationships of paint, gesture, luminosity and space as they come to express concepts of presence and absence, intention and involvement. The works are derived and motivated, by issues of longing, searching, and a desire to explore the scope of visual experience. To create a suspended moment, a fragment, the calm before the storm.
FRED MITCHELL - MFA
These works are part of Fred's an ongoing body of work, in which he explores relationships between society, environment, & construction, specifically considering Las Vegas as a meeting point. Much like the neon lights of Sin City, Mitchell’s photographs entice you with sumptuous colors, but closer inspection of the photographic subjects, subtle moments captured, all of which are informed by their titles, these beautiful Las Vegas scenes may start to elicit humor.
Although these works function without an understanding of these relationships, it simply adds depth within Mitchell’s work. Another noteworthy aspect of this work is the fact that he has constructed his subjects, by composing various organic objects (most often botanical) juxtaposed within their environments drawing comparisons between their relationships. Mitchell was surprised to find much of Las Vegas’ floras are non-native to the high plains desert region due to the lack of water. The realization of the majority of plants were imported, along with water from the nearby Colorado River, inspired Mitchell’s In Plain Air Still Lifes, and helped to determine their pairings, titles, etc.
Continually enamored with the enigma that is Las Vegas, Mitchell’s photographs seemingly respond through beautiful color, absurdity, & humor, all of which camouflage the artists’ anxieties from his emersion into the visual, societal, & environmental Rubix cube that is Las Vegas.
Although these works function without an understanding of these relationships, it simply adds depth within Mitchell’s work. Another noteworthy aspect of this work is the fact that he has constructed his subjects, by composing various organic objects (most often botanical) juxtaposed within their environments drawing comparisons between their relationships. Mitchell was surprised to find much of Las Vegas’ floras are non-native to the high plains desert region due to the lack of water. The realization of the majority of plants were imported, along with water from the nearby Colorado River, inspired Mitchell’s In Plain Air Still Lifes, and helped to determine their pairings, titles, etc.
Continually enamored with the enigma that is Las Vegas, Mitchell’s photographs seemingly respond through beautiful color, absurdity, & humor, all of which camouflage the artists’ anxieties from his emersion into the visual, societal, & environmental Rubix cube that is Las Vegas.
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John Stoeling - MFAMy work is an investigation of the enigmatic figure in isolation; separated from contact with the people and the world around them. Figures submerged, attempting to survive. These self-portraits and photos of the human figure are created, taken in camera, with little if any computer manipulation before or during printing. It is through the use of intense color, filters and exaggerated lighting conditions bordering on the chiaroscuro, that the photos capture an abstracted visual field where the figures appear to be dissolving into space. It is through both the formal elements of color and composition, along with narrative symbolism that I stage these scenes for the audience to ponder.
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Cindy Berry Sullivan - MFA"...I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
from "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke |
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Living in the QuestionsWhile studying art works across time and cultures--from sacred poetry of ancient times to various music compositions and works of contemporary art--I began to make connections of artists who seem to exemplify "living in the questions". Even the unresolved gets expression through works thatembrace mystery. The individuals who create these types of work seem driven by a longing that though unsatisfied, is "more desirable than any other satisfaction" (description of "joy" given by C.S. Lewis).
The physical process of making my paintings IS reflective of a seeking, questioning process. Though I may start with a basic composition idea, there is always room made for a physical conversation--sometimes aggressive, sometimes sensitive, but always responsive. The materials of oil stick, oil paint, wax, plaster, and ink allow for this conversation to be flexible. Some aspects of the conversation are shouted, whispered, and even hidden.
Remembering that a 'conversation in paint' also needs quiet, space is given in the composition "She Floated Into Silence". In "Between the Silver Green Trees" there is again quiet space made by the ability of wax to both hide and reveal. While I have always related to the passion of painters who paint with a darkness, I feel an equal pull to movement and light and express that tension of opposites in "Gravity Defied".
Lastly, though recognizable imagery does not always appear in my works, in "Passageway" I found the image of a bird next to cage-like bars open to enough interpretations to not be narrative.
The physical process of making my paintings IS reflective of a seeking, questioning process. Though I may start with a basic composition idea, there is always room made for a physical conversation--sometimes aggressive, sometimes sensitive, but always responsive. The materials of oil stick, oil paint, wax, plaster, and ink allow for this conversation to be flexible. Some aspects of the conversation are shouted, whispered, and even hidden.
Remembering that a 'conversation in paint' also needs quiet, space is given in the composition "She Floated Into Silence". In "Between the Silver Green Trees" there is again quiet space made by the ability of wax to both hide and reveal. While I have always related to the passion of painters who paint with a darkness, I feel an equal pull to movement and light and express that tension of opposites in "Gravity Defied".
Lastly, though recognizable imagery does not always appear in my works, in "Passageway" I found the image of a bird next to cage-like bars open to enough interpretations to not be narrative.
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Heather Younger - MFAThe work reflects the patterns of a goal-oriented mind; exhibiting the highs and lows of a life based on expectation and purpose. Art exposing the frustrating uncertainty of the "bigger picture" and its relationship with the innate desire for the satisfaction achieved from hard work.
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Kim Johnson - BFAShape and form shift in nature. By abstracting parts from landscape and figure, the essence of the subject emerge. Through studying natural forms and systems, all things seem to find a relationship to one another. In the painting "Paradise", the form of the flowers becomes one with features of a youthful face. Skewed perception of scale and environment surreal relationships in the miniature painting "Abyss". Organic forms and figurative shapes embed themselves in ancient trees. All things seem to find connection. I hope to visually capture the essence and character of these forms to evoke emotion, curiosity, and to create thought provoking environments.
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HILLARY PRICE - BFA
Process has always marked my work, the ability for the viewer to see what materials were used helps to break the illusion of art as this extremely precious object. Yet the materials seem to lend to describing the image source and creating a world for it that seems fitting.
With my “They’re Back” piece, I am using advertising and signage from the beauty and fashion world to create an unsettling juxtaposition. The model is screaming and through her screams come ghostly images of beauty products. As consumers, especially women, we are always sold these picturesque scenes of these perfect women interacting with the consumable products in a way that only lends to further our desires for the ideal image and way of life. We are never shown anything that would be too difficult to understand and discomfort is never used, because it would not sell to us; so the market continues to sell us what we’ve been trained to want. With my painting I am trying to go against that, using the model and products as forms not to sell but visually draw in viewers. I am using the very heart of advertising, models and signage, to see if there can be something else that can said; must they always tell us how much we are lacking and how much we need to buy?
With my “They’re Back” piece, I am using advertising and signage from the beauty and fashion world to create an unsettling juxtaposition. The model is screaming and through her screams come ghostly images of beauty products. As consumers, especially women, we are always sold these picturesque scenes of these perfect women interacting with the consumable products in a way that only lends to further our desires for the ideal image and way of life. We are never shown anything that would be too difficult to understand and discomfort is never used, because it would not sell to us; so the market continues to sell us what we’ve been trained to want. With my painting I am trying to go against that, using the model and products as forms not to sell but visually draw in viewers. I am using the very heart of advertising, models and signage, to see if there can be something else that can said; must they always tell us how much we are lacking and how much we need to buy?
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