Sam Smith

5' x 4' reclaimed wooden pallet

I've always wanted to try something with a wooden pallet. So I found an old weathered one near my apartment that developed some really nice coloring due to being exposed to the weather for so long. The task of getting the pallet over to my apartment and then taking it apart actually proved more difficult than I had originally anticipated. Out of the three pallets I started out with, I was only able to break apart two of them and had to pitch most of the wood because it was too rotted and soft. The third pallet was accidentally thrown away by my landlord. So this project didn't turn out exactly the way I would have liked but I intend to revisit it later and continue to work on it.

Sanjay Pelinski

Sanjay Pelinski

  

An Elephant Ruined My Zoetrope

Metal Pipe, Wood, Cloth, and Paper.

1.5’ x 8” x 3’

Like any Ringmaster, my initial endeavor was to entertain. I designed a cranked Zoetrope so one audience member could participate in the excitement. While crafting my Zoetrope I began to juggle materials, which fought each other like untamed beasts, but the show must go on. I stumbled upon a story saying the Ringling Brothers were freeing their elephants and they would no longer be a spectacle in their circus. I briefed through the web on elephants in the ring and discovered they are drastically abused, and they often retaliate. My abuse of the materials in my piece blended the line between me as the abuser and me as the abused. In the end I am the elephant that ruined my Zoetrope.

Brenna Smith

Brenna Smith

Little Family

2016

Newspaper, Card Stock, Wood Glue, Flour, Water, Tape, Acrylic Paint

15" x 24" x 8"

My intent with this piece was to help make creation a more enjoyable act for myself. The world of art, particularly contemporary art, seems to have an obsession with forcing things to have meaning, and I think it's important to let go of that seriousness while an artist is creating in order to make something that the artist themselves finds enjoyable. When one forgets this as an artist, they seem to be more prone to mental and emotional consequences through their career and lifetime. Matryoshka dolls, the basis for this piece, are an example of a fun object with little meaning. They're stacking dolls usually given to girls as presents for birthdays or holidays for decoration or playtime. It was important for me to attempt to emulate this carefree whimsy. I also used this piece as an opportunity to experiment with stop motion film.

Felicia Gordon

 

Felicia Gordon

Voronoi

Spring 2016

steel, spraypaint, plastic

18" x 32"

The term voronoi is used to describe an image that's made up of mathematical geometric shapes that repeat itself in nature. This pattern is seen in places like giraffe spots, turtle shells, dragonfly wings, plant veins, and soap bubbles. This structure was inspired by a combination of all of these different influences and have taken aspects from different places this shape is seen in. The varying sizes of the shapes mimic the nature of how soap bubbles form, the plastic is meant to represent the shape when it is found in bubbles and also the transparency of dragonfly wings, and the solid shapes are meant to symbolize the rigidness of turtle shells.

Rachel Truskolawski

Rachel Truskolawski

Projection

2016

Steel, Transparency Paper, Spray Paint, Hot Glue, Fishing Wire

62" x 18" x 18"

Shadows and geometric patterns both occur naturally all throughout nature and the known universe. I wanted to control these two naturally occurring things in a way that seemed cold, mechanical and almost unnatural to explore the relationship between the organic and the inorganic. I wanted to create my own shadows using common shapes and sacred geometry designs as well as 4 platonic solids representative of the elements.

Matt Mele

Sale!

2016

Found objects, mirror

36" x 60" x 19"

A display case holds something of value.  An object is placed inside to be shown off- in hopes that one lucky person buys it.  The customer sees a certain quality in that item, that makes he or she want to take it home with them. Take away those items from the case and the customer is left with only his or her reflection. What does the customer see once there is nothing to buy?

Rebecca Heringer

"Mkufu Nzuri" Swahili for beautiful necklace

Steel, Glass Beads, and washers 

36"x47"X7"

I recently traveled to the Massai Village in Tanzania on a MEDLIFE trip. I was deeply inspired by the vibrant culture and personalities I encountered. Being immersed into a very different, yet beautiful culture was eye opening. Each of the necklaces worn by the Masai women represent their lifestyle. Each color symbolizes a different aspect of their lives. I found a way to balance my culture and their culture by differentiating by the material I used. Steel is a heavy material, which serves as a counterpart to how the more jewelry and weight on the shoulders the Masai people wore, the greater pride and warrior-like theIr status is perceived.  I created my own necklace to show my appreciation of their culture. I used pattern and color to demonstrate a sense of their customs. My necklace was made at a such an exaggerated scale to display their large and vibrant lifestyle to the viewer. 

Aocheng Shi

Aocheng Shi

I Don't Like It

Ceramic, washed sand

1'x 6' x 3.5'

This work is not the original idea. It comes up by an coincidence. I just don't like the floor tiles of the show room. I think it is interesting that I can do something. Therefore, I change my idea in order to create an atmosphere. Th emphasis of the project is more on the feeling and emotion of space. As for me, it represents an experiment in my creating.  

Ana Jackson Chaves

Raíz

2016

steel, wood,  clay, acrylic paint

57" x 41" x 32"

Resilient membranes keep us grounded. The makeup of the mind is fluid, with neurons forming and breaking connections in response to experiences and input. A tree can grow on the edge of a cliff if its roots run deep enough. For this project, I decided to use a playful approach to explore ideas of the resilience of the mind and the pathways of energy and information that connect man and nature. 

Emily DiMaio

Adapted

2016

Steel, clay

 6' x 9' x 3'

An adaption of a popular children's toy.  The piece features larger and more tactile components which offers accessibility for a range of both able bodied and developmentally challenged individuals.

Rachel Cardwell

Lighthearted

2015

Steel, wire, fishing line, found object

11' x 4' x 2'

In my day to day life I often do not get many chances to play and create art for fun. Even in my other work, I often find myself drawn to more serious or melancholic topics. In this piece I set out to make a sculpture that I made purely for fun. Using steel pipes and found objects, the sculpture works as an interactive audio experience. The colorful found objects insert a playfulness into the overall mood of the piece.   

Becca Guzzo

Becca Guzzo

Gravity

3/8/16

Steel, Granite, Marble

30" x 16" x 12"

As this project developed I aimed to convey the idea of a very heavy object having the illusion of defying gravity. The concept of finding balance emerged as I welded the heavy pipes together and posed the question to myself, how can I get them to stand on their own? As the process went on I began to feel overwhelmed and frustrated, which ultimately led to my further conceptualization of the work. I started to ask myself, why am I even making this in the first place? With my college work, an internship and pressing thoughts of the future after school I've had a lot of trouble recently finding balance and stability in my life because everything seems to be changing so overwhelmingly rapidly. At the end of the day I've come to realize that failure is inevitable in order to succeed and no matter what happens I have an amazing support system to help me find stability. This piece was made to represent being able to find my balance; the stacked heavy pipe for my weighing(and at times crippling) thoughts and the hard granite base for the friends and family that support me no matter what, always help put my mind at ease and keep me grounded when I need to find my balance.

Hannah Zimmerman

Opus

2016

 Box- 44'' x 21' x15'

Area- 63''x 46'

sheet metal, leather belts, steel door knocker and brackets, silk fabrics

A structure seemingly breaking apart at the seams found in the folding away lid, breaking brackets and clips, scratches across door knocker, and the leather belts holding down this "case." In the heat swirls on the lid reads "Opus", personally defined as an invisible place we put things that we do not want to deal with or want others to know. It is a place we store our innermost emotions and memories, not all negative. This sculpture is presented with royally colored fabrics, because my opus is held in the utmost respect in my conscious mind. But the main question at hand, is something trying to break out or in? Who exactly is doing this and why? What is inside?