Spring Semester 2015

Classes for Spring 2015

Graduate Sculpture: I want to be able to use both wood and metal together.

Small Metals: Learn more metal techniques such as fold forming etc.  I just need to have a better understanding of metal and what is it capable of.

Seminar: What is a Museum Object:  Requirement for my Museum practices minor.

Getting ready for first lecture (taught by me!!)

In Studio Practices II, the Professor Nina and I discussed the possibility of me having total control over an assignment.  The assignment: One Minute Performance!!  I am excited, anxious and a little scared.  At least I know the students are great people and they won't tape me to the wall and torture me.  I have selected a number of artists to talk about and show the students.  Artists like: Yoko Ono, Wafaa Bilal, Ana Mendieta, William Pope. L. , Berry Le Va ( who doesn't really make performance pieces, but the body's absence is always made present, also I find his Impact Run Energy Drain from the 1960's really interesting.  And Finally, Joseph Beuys.  Look Familiar Brian?  It should, I learned about all these artists from your classes and how could I forget Wafaa Bilal?  I still have the handout from the  I Don't Know Their Names piece he made at Linfield College.  Anyway, the lecture will be given on Nov. 20th so wish me luck!

New Artist Statement as of 11/5/14

Holly Vader

Artist Statement

            While wandering, I hear voices calling out to me from the landscape.  Following the voices, I come across abandoned objects.  I perceive the soul within the object through examination.  All objects desire to be useful, to have a purpose.  For some objects, they are content with becoming shelters for smaller organisms before breaking down into minerals for other entities to feed on.  However, I hear some objects cry out in frustration, yearning for a different purpose, to become art.  These are the objects I harvest.

            I hold no predetermined ideas and therefore I do not have a specific object or shape in mind when I set out to make a new piece.  I frequently scour Biology, Human Anatomy and Veterinary textbooks searching for inspiration.  The structures of plants, organs of animals, and internal systems of humans influence my work.  When construction occurs, the found object is accompanied by pieces of formed metal.  This integration of metal acts as my contribution to the item.  Metal, in my work represents humanness, a material fashioned for manipulation.  There is a tension between industrial metals and natural materials.  This pressure between natural and man-made objects began when humans set to control and tame the natural world.  However, my purpose is not to dominate but to provide a connection between these two worlds.  I build this connection by creating my own ecosystem of materials.  Bringing a variety of elements together, such as: wood, metal, bone and nylon forms this ecosystem.  These materials reflect the tension and kinship between natural and man-made objects. 

            I spend copious amount of time examining and listening to the object.  I develop a relationship through respect and understanding.  This relationship helps guide me when I begin constructing the ecosystem.  When I force objects to try to be something they are not, resistance builds and incidents such as: entire sections shattering or rejection of materials occur.  During these mistakes, I must take a step back and reconnect with the object. 

FINALLY SOME IMAGES!

Alright, I have been very busy this semester.  I am still harvesting materials from the landscape but I am also implementing metal and nylon into these works.  I also included my Plaster carving because hell, that was the last thing I was working on at Linfield.  

 These images are of a couple cocoons attached to a weathered piece of wood.  I was reading Rebecca Solnit's book A field Guide to Getting Lost, and on page 83 she talks about the process of transformation consists of mostly decay and if a chrysalis were to be cut open it would contain a rotting caterpillar inside.  This hit me like a truck!  I loved the idea of something decaying inside a enclosed space so I tried to replicate it.  

 Whole Piece.

Close-up of one of the cocoons.

 Here is my plaster carving.  I was a little upset that the tail broke when I was trying to create some negative space but now I can really play with the amount of space between the main piece and the tail end.

 One of my metal and found wood pieces, was playing around with the "trash" pieces from the next piece and made this piece.

 This piece was fun to make, it started out as a heart in my head.  When I began forming the metal it changed to lungs.  Now I have no idea what it is, but I like it.  There are some welding rods piercing through the metal.  Recently, I have burnt the rods so they no longer have that bright copper look to them.

 Here is the same piece from the other side.  (Flash I know!)  Still trying to figure out Photoshop please keep this in mind.

 Close-up of the rods, they remind me of the voodoo pins.  Like I said previously, they are no longer that bold copper color.

 Here is my latest piece, I found the stump by the Rio Grand River and I could not leave it behind.

 I formed more metal and used a patina on it in order to move away from the metal-ness of it.

 Really like this, I filled panty-hoes with packing peanuts and then cut some small holes in the first layer of nylon, creating a punctured intestine appearance.  Also working with the idea of parasites and how they burrow into something and take it over inside out.

Here is an image of the back end of the piece so to speak.  It has plenty of that worm-intestine squirming around under layers of metal.  A whole lot going on.

Well, as you can see I have begun using metal again.  I really enjoy forming the metal and learning new techniques as often as I can pester the Mattox woodshop/metalshop manager Justin.

A few draw backs

Well, been a while since I have last posted.  I have run into a few issues, bought a Canon Rebel camera and found out it is not compatible with my current operating system.  Had to upgrade my Mac, hopefully it will come soon and I can upload some images of my work and what I am doing.  I am doing something slightly different than when I was at Linfield, I am still harvesting materials and building relationships with my materials but instead of making pieces look like organs and whatnot I am using the organs as reference points and allowing the material to really shine.

Here is my latest artist statement:

This body of work expresses my interest in harvesting abandoned objects from both rural and urban landscapes.  Immediately, upon discovery I seek to build a relationship with the object.  I perceive the life it once had.  My intent is not to dominate the object or to absolve it of all its previous experience; instead I use my intuition and awareness of the material to resurrect life back into the object.  I harvest items because I do not wish to be wasteful, I am a firm believer in reconstituting items in order to give them purpose again.

The biggest influence in my work is Biology, I often refer to human anatomy or the physiologies of other organisms when constructing my pieces.  I am apart of the figurative legacy passed down through many artists, however due to my age I interpret these forms differently.  I choose to create forms form humble materials in order to demonstrate the level of sensitivity I have towards my materials.

Anyway, I will get my images uploaded as soon as I can!  When my operating system gets updated and I get Photoshop downloaded I will have my images up.

Artist Lectures

Last night I gave my artist lecture about my work, we had to keep under seven minutes.  We had a great turnout, SCA Contemporary even ran out of chairs.  I am so proud for everyone in our group that gave their presentation!  Everyone was professional and there were no technical difficulties!!  As a personal note I know I need to provide better documentation of my work in the future, luckily I did just purchase a Canon Rebel T5 camera that very purpose.  (I only need to learn how to use it and all the handy dandy parts that came with it.)  Well, I am excited to be here and I can't wait to get back in my studio today and finish one piece I have been working on.  I will document it and get it on my blog as soon as possible because I am starting to explore with forming metal using a ball point hammer and and the results are wonderful in my opinion.  I just need to be confident and try to listen to the piece, what does it want to be.

At First Sight

My first exhibition in Albuquerque!  Located at the SCA Contemporary Art Gallery on 524 Haines Ave. NW.  It's a great location and all incoming graduate students will be showing a piece and giving artist lectures on Sept. 11 at 6pm.