Thursday October 26th wrap up

A full day of critique. Thank you to all. Good work and good conversation.

Here is a video on Cristina Cordova to inspire you as you finish up on the wet clay part of your project 3 Exquisite Corpse. Work hard. Dream big.

https://www.format.com/magazine/video/cristina-cordova

Magdolene and more this Friday!

Final project hint...

Your final project will be introduced on Tuesday Oct 31st and due finals week. Can't wait to share all the details with you.

Tuesday Oct 24th Wrap Up

Today you filled out Midterm Evaluations for the class.

We talked about strategies for midterm critique this Thursday. You should be preparing your sculpture stands and any other needs for installing your work before Thursday morning. Remember the main objectives of the assignment. Building 6 varying forms in 3 different clays that push varying surface and represent doppelgangers. There is no need to embellish more than the heads unless this is important to your presentation. Keep it simple but be prepared and think about relationships between work, presentation in terms of height and placement. 

You are divided into 2 groups of 6. We will start class at 9am sharp.  We will have approximately 10-15 minutes per student. Out break will be at around 10:15 to switch rooms and install/deinstall work. We will then start up again no later than 10:30 amsharp. It's a tight schedule with lots to talk about! Be prepared.

Consider doing a dry run so Thursday runs smoothly. You can begin installing the night before, but you must be cleaned up, leaving no trace by 12:30pm on Thursday. I will be there at 8:30 and help if I can. Email if you have questions before class Thursday. SKETCHBOOKS WILL BE COLLECTED and returned on the following Tuesday with your midterm grades.

The rest of Tuesday's class was a work period. Your abstract figures are due next Tuesday, on Halloween! You also need to bring colored print outs that show your plans for surfacing the abstract figure. Come with notes on what you want from the surface and how you're going to achieve it, or specific questions on how to achieve it. You will be assigned your Final Project and have the remainder of class to work on Project 2's surface.

11th hour Ideas for "Cold FIre" Surfaces on Bisque Ware

Hi Class,

I checked in on Saturday and took a quick peek today. Saw some exciting heads in progress and looking forward to the critique! Since very few of you asked for advice or my opinion I assume that you are doing well... just in case here are some last minute ideas I hope help.
See you tomorrow!

 45 best cold fire surfaces

5 Tips for Acrylic Painting on Clay

Practice skin tones by mixing paint and applying to a magazine photo.

Linda Mau's Cold Finishes for Clay

Japanese Dogu

Japanese Dogu, or clay figurines, date back to as early as 1000 B.C., all the way until the end of the Jomon Period, around 300 B.C.  These ancient, earthenware figurines are rather mysterious.  No clear answer for what purpose they served exists, although some suggest that they may be fertility symbols, since the vast majority of these figures depict highly stylized female figures, as can be seen in the image below.  One might draw parallelisms between the Japanese Dogu  Figurines and the Venus figurines from the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe and parts of Asia (not pictured).  Both ranging is size from something that can fit in the palm of a hand to about a foot tall. 

 

Dogu (Clay Figurine) 

            The clay used would have been molded mostly by the women of the Jomon culture and could be mixed with anything from led to crushed up shells, mica or other more organic fibrous materials.  Tools were used to shape the clay during sculpting or coil building.  Once bone dry, the clay objects would have been fired

Because some Dogu appear to have been intentionally broken, experts have theorized that they may have played a role in a ritual, in which, a person suffering from an ailment would ceremonially transfer the ailment into the clay image.  The figure would be discarded following the ceremony.  This theory is supported by the fact that Dogu are never found at burial sights, instead they have been found scattered all across the island.  Most are found in ancient trash heaps, believe it or not. 

The part of this work that mostly inspires me, personally, is not the ritual side.  Concerning that bit of its presumed history, I am more interested by the act of the ritual itself.  Rather, I am more concerned with the primitive need for expression of feeling and thought forcing it’s way into physical reality, in the lives of prehistoric men, much like, as I have said, the Venus figurines found in Europe, as some of the oldest “sculptural” evidence of civilization. 

Dogu (Clay Figurine)

It might be, for all we know, that these were early portraits of “hot” women that were given in place of flower arrangements by prehistoric men.  That would not take, for me, any significance away from the objects, mostly because of the sheer ancientness and understated sophistication of them as art objects, being some of the earliest symbols, presumably, of men and women.    

  

 Dogu (Clay Figurine) (head)

Source List

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53625

http://www.e-yakimono.net/html/jomon-dogu.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm

https://heritageofjapan.wordpress.com/just-what-was-so-amazing-about-jomon-japan/ways-of-the-jomon-world-2/jomon-crafts-and-what-they-were-for/ways-of-the-jomon-world/

all images from metmuseum.org

Beth Cavener Stichter

 

The Sentimental Question

Beth Cavener Stichter is a ceramic artist living in Montana.  Born in California she studied science until her senior year when she switched majors, graduating with a BFA in Sculpture from Haverford College.  Sher received her Master’s in Ceramics form Ohio State University.  During this time, she began working with animal forms.

                                                        

    "Please Don't go..."

Her work references our animal nature that lies within us all.  Using animal forms in conjunction with human anatomical parts or situations.  She states, “the things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words spoken out-loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one’s hands, the incline of the head, and the slightest unconscious gesture. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.”

Bliss

Beth Cavener Stichter finds inspiration from characters of people from everyday life, or at least they partially take their inspiration from people she meets. Her perceptions also influence the way she views people or emotions so her work is also partially self-portrait like.  Creating several pieces of work around a common theme, emotion, or idea allows time to really think about an idea. 

 

The Sanguine 2

 Husk

She talks about self-doubt, anxiety and depression heavily influencing her work.  I can relate to these ideas and feelings and see how they must have pushed her to this level.  The ideas in her work relating to the primitive animal within are relatable and beautifully done.  The characters she creates seem to have a life and real personality.  They are not hyper realistic but convey ideas very well.  She also has a petreon where you can support her efforts and I will put a link below.

 Triomphe

 She builds using large armatures wrapped in electrical tape and wood dowels. Sometimes working with 2000 pounds of clay for one piece. Once sculpted her pieces are cut apart and hollowed out.  They are fired in pieces and reassembled with epoxy and painted after firing.