Saturday, December 5, 2009

Blog Post #6: The ABC'S

"Home To Me" (Josh Kelley) as presented by the ABC'S

From the creative minds of Andrea Coulter (me), Brooke Butler, Christine Ko, and Sara Carter. 

We noticed as a group that music is our common muse- I listen to music on Pandora when I'm drawing or working in the dark room, Brooke uses music to get into character before shows, Christine is a pianist, and Sara dances to music. When we picked Josh Kelley's song "Home To Me" as our source of inspiration for this group project we each shared how our art practices have become "home" to us while we're away from home at school. If they say "home is where the heart is" then art certainly is our home and it's were we find comfort and acceptance. Christine looked up the lyrics and chose key words that gave her a visual from which to fabricate a story. She shared her ideas with me and together we collected a pool of images all from Getty Images and arranged them in the order of the lyrics. Brooke and Sara worked together to put the story in order and kind of develop the characters and mood that the song is talking about it. All that work went into creating the channel on the left. Sara then watched the slideshow we created and improved a dance routine to suit the song. We were each able to contribute and pour our own practices into this project and we're extremely pleased with how it came out. We hope you enjoy watching it! 

Blog Post #5: ARTiculation


"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not of us." 2 Corinthians 4:7.  


The Good

I believe that I was preciously created in God's image (Psalm 139:13, Genesis 1:27) and my ability to create things that are beautiful is a reflection of the Creator. He gave me talents and His Son's life as a gift, so I cannot (and will not) separate my artistic practices from gift-giving. I have been blessed to be a blessing and when I serve God, I feel the glory in it, knowing that it is much bigger than myself. While there is a lot of hype and prestige in the status of an artist, the abilities I possess are not my own, but rather I am a jar of clay reflecting the power of the Artist who has shaped me. In light of this, I've shifted my art practices from making art because of someone (school assignments, 'their' expectations) to making art for someone. Art is the only thing that allows me to love God and love on people. I experience more reward in bringing a smile to my friend's face when I put effort and care into making a gift for them, a warm heartedness that isn't possible by just exhibiting work in a gallery. See, a gift is a physical manifestation of a thought. It says "I care about you and made this as a token for you to keep". There is hardly anything more satisfying than affirming someone. 


The Bad

My 20 years have been rampant with mistakes but I know that as a believer, "those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He glorified" (Romans 8:30), and "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). There is nothing I have done to deserve His love and there is nothing I can do for Him to love me more. I have experienced so much freedom in all of this, especially freedom to create art. The mistakes I made in the past have been justified and will be glorified by God. From them, my faith and the lessons I've learned, I've been able to produce art with amazing heart and such passion that I hope touches the hearts of people who spend time with it. 


And The Ugly

I do not try to hide the imperfection in my finished works of art because I feel by doing so, I am not true to myself or the story I have to tell. Therefore, my art is a representation of my own humanity- I leave loose threads, torn pieces of paper, finger smudges, paint drips, etc to prove that this piece was made by my hand and I am, as the artist, always present in my work. I took time and energy to make something beautiful out of nothing. God loves and cares for me enough to spend time to make me into a beautiful creation. 

Friday, December 4, 2009

Blog Post #3: Alexis (Weidig) Zoto review

I suppose artist reviews are supposed to be of recent exhibitions or gallery visits, but a show I saw about a year ago in the humble Roski School of Fine Arts Lindhurst Gallery at USC made a permanent impression in my mind. To illustrate the imprint in made in my mind, I vaguely remember the show to be a faculty exhibit but I only remember one professor's work; Alexis (Weidig) Zoto

She was my Design 202 professor in the spring of 2008 so I was delightfully surprised to find out she works mostly in sculpture. (Our design class was very much about color theory, precision and Gouache paint). Alexis' own work diverted radically from the work we did in the class and was wonderfully imaginative. A greco-roman meets romanticism fantasy blossomed in my mind (and still does!). 

Shown to the left is "Olgi" (2006), made from found objects, furniture legs, tassels and gold mylar tape. I believe "Thomaidha" (2004) was also shown, but it's "Olgi" that was really impressive. I love the simplicity of color and how the gold looks against white walls with blue and turquoise accents. Although the color palette is minimal, Alexis' attention to detail and dedication to her materials is fantastic. I would very rarely think to use furniture legs in a sculpture, but they definitely offer something unique and beautiful to this piece that any other material could. Can you imagine going around to multiple upon multiple junk yards and antique shops to find clawed sofa feet? My mind went there, but it also went off into thoughts, daydreams and memories of summer and what summer would be like in the Greek Isles! 

Her other work gives me similar vibes. Her use of gold seems so divine rather than gaudy as it could appear in the works of other artists. And her influences are consistent through her body of professional work: the Virgin Mary, the "Evil Eye", and ideas about femininity (as represented by the abundance of pears and gold). Also common is the use of found objects. I especially like found objects in sculpture because it gives the objects a magic of their own that would be impossible aside from the context of the sculpture. I highly recommend seeing her works in person because you will never be able to forget them.