Kyle Hackett

10 in x 10 in
Oil on wood panel, digital print with chain
Plexiglass, plastic framework
kylehackettstudio.com

Motivated to explore issues of personal identity, I consider human skin a unique specimen that has the ability to both conceal and reveal. Ambitious to hide objects, actions and interactions, the process in creating this piece becomes a precious history. The hidden history beneath the surface skin can only be revealed if the entire piece is destroyed. As reflections and surface patterns distort the inner layer, one can only speculate the interactions and history beneath the surface. Furthermore, a history of touch also plays an important factor in the work. The skin print sample (seen on the right) represents the artists signature and is the only object to come directly from my physical skin. I began by using oil paint to cover my hand until I matched my skin tone and ultimately created a small mono print from the paint on my skin. These mono prints became the reference imagery for my sculptural painting.

Tia Fay

Because it makes me feel better

Dimensions Variable

Tia Fay

Spring 2011

Kevin Bielicki

Kevin Bielicki

ELI (maquette)

2011

This sculpture is dedicated to the English Language Institute. It represents international community and growth through its relationship to a coral reef. Coral reefs are structures made from colonies of tiny living animals living together that create the most diverse ecosystem on earth. The sculptures foundation is a mineral or Gemstone from which coral is built upon, grows and thrives. The sculpture tapers to a point to symbolize the continual intellectual growth achieved at the ELI, through the persistent commitment of teaching linguistics and professional skills to international students. This sculpture represents a diverse international community through the varying shapes, sizes, and perspectives that shift when someone views the coral like forms from the different angles. The coral like forms all come together to make one sculpture representing a partnership and active international network. Its red color similar to that of blood symbolizes the one color all coral reefs have in common.

The sculpture will be placed at the entrance to the newly constructed ELI building. The sculpture will be visible as you walk in the entrance and from every area inside the two-story space and stair well. It will be installed on the first floor and rise all the way to the second floor. Visitors, students, and faculty can view the different intricate paths of the structure as they walk up the steps. It will have an equally dynamic and different view as they view it from the second floor balcony.

The sculpture will be 2 ‘ long by 2’ wide by 16’ height. It will be painted red with a semi-gloss finish. This sculpture will be built as one solid structure and will be strong and lightweight. The sculpture will be free standing and held in place by two pins which will secure it to the cement foundation. The material used to form this sculpture will be foam. I will reinforce this lightweight material with a layer of fiberglass resin and mat to give it rigid strength and support. I will finish it with a epoxy gel coat which is a high strength and durable fiberglass coating. Its base will be 2.5’ long by 2.5’ wide by 2.5’ height. It will be composed in a semi-transparent teal resin to compliment the sculpture.

kevinbielicki.com

Anderw Jacob

Andrew Jacob
Devoured
2011
Steel, Wood, Wood Putty, Great Stuff, Epoxy Resin, Fabric, Acrylic Paint
33" x 12" x 8 1/2"

My intention for this piece was originally to be an exact structure of a tiger paw - inside and out. The steel structure is a replica of the bones of a tiger. During the process of creating the paw, the form began to look less "real" and more "surreal." From then on, I decided for this sculpture to be an experimental project by combining many different materials. Placing the bird at the top of the paw inspired me to attach a short but bizarre story to it: The blind bird devoured the beast and now resting atop its remaining limb.

Sarah Freitag

March 2011
Fabric, Thread, and Found objects
This piece started as a reflection into my past. The combination of childhood toys and soft colors with the scientific subject of anatomy are meant to show growing up too fast. I believe it shows growing up too fast because a child would not know what anatomy was unless they had to learn adult material at a young age. The fabrics that I chose were all used and worn down which I think furthers the meaning of this piece.

Shannon Tomanovich

These images were taken of the model I made for my proposal for the sculpture in the entryway to the ELI office building on Main street. The actual piece will be made of colored vinyl sewn onto steel frames that hang from the ceiling by fishing line. The vinyl will have tracings of ELI students and general university students made as a collaborative effort by one another. The light through the windows and from the ceiling will cast nice reflections of colors and shapes around the room. This will form a gentle ambiance. The drawings and shifting light will change the piece with each viewing. It can be visually explored as people walk up and around the stairs revealing new things each time.

Samantha Mancuso

- Samantha Mancuso
- Acacia
- March 2011
- Plexi glass strips and Aluminum wire
- Size varies depending on how it is displayed

- My inspiration for this piece came from my trip to Tanzania and the Flat Top Acacia trees that are native to the country. I was inspired by the way that the branches twist and turn and look like they are going to grow out and take over whatever is surrounding them. I wanted to mimic the movement of the Acacia branches in a material that contrasted nature but could still maintain a fluid motion. I cut down sheets of plexi glass into various sized strips. Using a heat gun, I molded each strip by hand to mimic the organic lines and motion of the trees. Each strip was held to the next by wrapping aluminum wire around the two ends and eventually creating a small cluster. The aluminum clusters add another element to the piece and mimic the knots of the branches and splits in how they grow. The piece can be displayed various ways, however, draping it over a pedestal allows it to move into the viewers space. The plastic "branches"are placed to look as if they are growing and taking over the pedestal.

Kevin Bielicki

Kevin Bielicki

Binary Code

2011

Wood

36" x 138" x 12"

My intentions in this work was to create a continuous rolling code created by cutting strips of plywood that are then chisels in half. I composed three convex panels together to make a series of freeze frames of this code. This Binary Code or true and false code splits the panels in half horizontally. As I chiseled the wood in half the darker wood be placed in the mirrored spot of the lighter color related to the center the panel. I see this work as not a separation and splitting or even crossing of this code of true or false or light and dark ,rather as them existing side by side rolling together as to be resolved, both informing the other. I choose wood for this work because I came about an interesting texture with plywood through previous work. This texture was invocative of exotic woods, native American patterns, and perhaps even African like print. In this work, however, instead of using only half the wood I cut on the table saw I salvaged both sides as I split them to save on material consumption, adding a different constrasting dynamic to my piece.

kevinbielicki.com

Shannon Tomanovich

Catbox

2011
Sharpie on vinyl, pvc pipe, zippers, thread and two cats
27" x 24" x 24"

Earlier, I traced people on sheets of vinyl. I may have been trying to preserve something. That is a common use of plastic today. It protects food from air, furniture from humans and humans from humans.
The transparency is what attracts me to the material. The ability to see through it and record what is visible. The Catbox was the first time I constructed something specifically for a tracing and in the future I would like to custom build shapes specifically for the subject to be traced. With the cats I tried to figure out what it is about this process that I am so drawn to. I traced the cats multiple times over the course of a couple weeks and I think it lost something in that. It wasn't a rush to save something that was going somewhere else. With people you cannot keep them under plastic for long. It was a rush to compromise how much they are willing to stand being traced. The cats liked it though, they had plenty of air and they liked the attention. The cats movement made for a nice element. In my next vinyl piece I will use a specific human subject in motion.

Old Eyes
2011
Plastic
20" x 45" x 3"

Marcel Proust wrote, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." I seek those eyes as well as new landscapes and this piece was just another failed attempt to find them. I see it as hopefully subtle and beautiful if it is given the chance. My reasons for using the plastic are the same. The transparency and, to some degree, the cheapening of a first-hand experience. I melted and carved images from my sketchbook of people on trains, a black dog's leg, a cat's face, a horizon line, measurements and symbols from maps and navigational instruments. I may revisit this sometime elsewhere.

Susana Cortez

Untitled
Susana Cortez
Metal rods, fabric, clay slip, drawing transfers and monotypes
Spring 2011

This piece was inspired by the current violence in Mexico. About the way it is spreading throughout the country and is becoming more brutal over the years.

Mike Gates

Guillotine

10' x 12' x 36'

Light rail, wood, steel, paint, string, screws, spackle.

This work started originally on the vertical steel saw cutting a piece of light rail into thin strips on a whim. Intrigued by the process and the end result of thin slices, I began to investigate things that were also attributed to slicing and cutting.

Let them slice their cake too, Marie.