Ali Ruffner

Ali Ruffner

I slept with scissors on my bed, 2016

mattress, cloth, wood, hair, silk, clothing, blinds, glass, wire, yarn

Installation

The bed is a place to sleep, make love, think, eat, watch tv, fuck, write, smoke, love, cry, laugh, tell secrets, roll around, take naps, relax, be anxious, connect, to watch and be watched.

I could tell many stories about this particular bed, but that's just another element. I didn't start with this sculpture; it came from a thought process of my own bedroom, always shared with my sisters and rescues some of the childhood memories and deepest feelings of the past. To an outside viewer however, the piece is interested in exposing the intimacies and intricacies of a bed space unknown to the viewer. They are aware of the intimacy of the space by the clothing they are standing and stepping on as they move across the floor, but also apparent is the disjointed unusual combinations and collisions of objects. The pillow made from hair, the gutted mattress, the ash, or the quiet silk. 

I slept with scissors on my bed is just as much about making the outward viewer realize the space they have entered is not their own as it is about revealing secrets, memories, sexual adventures, emotional pain, death, chaos, and neatness and garbage.

Caroline Udell

Caroline Udell

where do you put that, 2016

plexiglass, light reactive acrylics, plywood, UV light

10 5/8" x 5'3" x 10 5/8"

When someone says something heavy you can just ask, "where do you put that?"

I think we're more drawn to constructing our own narratives than we are to figuring out the narratives presented to us. We might have an initial intent, but that intent can't be allowed to take up too much space. You have to leave room — or make room — for other people to come in. This displacement can make the heavier things feel a little lighter.

This piece is an invitation to abstract away from my intent and make room for your own narrative. If placed in the proper order, the plates reveal the first half of a poem and will flip to reveal the second. The nature of the segmented and overlaid verses make it so even if you happen to figure out the "intended" poem, you can never have it all at once. Removing the plates from their darkened environment and away from the charging glow of the UV light will slowly render them illegible. By imposing these convolutions and restrictions, I look to give the audience an out from the burden of reconstructing that which I went to such great lengths to conceal. It's saying "Do you want this? I'm not using it anymore" instead of "Can I get this back when you're done." I'm not interested in getting back what I purposely lost.

KATIE CHAVATEL

Katie Chavatel 

Habit Forming, 2016

Wood, wood stain, spray paint

24" x 36" x 2"

Habit Forming is an exploration of my anxieties and compulsions. Through my repetitive creation process, I was able to detach from the outside world and really connect with myself. I am obsessed with detail and repetition and am comforted by an excess of it. Through process, I seemed to develop this connection to the medium itself. The raw material of wood reminds me of my dad, who’s a builder, always smelling of wood and paint. It makes me think of home. These colors remind me of my beach house, where I feel the most content, life there is simple. When I look at my piece, I see sets of waves rolling into the shore. I decided to keep this piece so simple and refined because I wanted my viewers to feel at ease, almost as if they were staring into the sea.

Celia Binder

Celia Binder

Launch

Walnut, Ginko, Cordage and Steel

5' x 3'

2016

Launch is a celebration of the unfitting. This piece plays on the saying of fitting a square peg into a round hole. The repetition of geometric forms overcoming an organic plane represent a triumph of being different. 

Lava Tus Manos del Pecado by Stef Hamill

"Lava Tus Manos del Pecado" 2016
42" x 24" x 48"
Soap, water, table cloth, wood pallet, cinder blocks, ceramic cups.

The use of soap to represent a traditional Panamanian meal serves as a metaphor for the "whitening" and "washing" of many cultural traditions in the U.S. through gentrification and cultural appropriation.
On one side on the "table," the fish is whole and the cup is overflowing with water, commenting on the overabundance of more privileged perspectives in the U.S. The place is set with a table cloth, which masks the construction materials, symbolizing the masking of the cultural historical roots.
On the other side, the fish has been picked, the lime has been squeezed, and the cup has been broken, representing the people whose cultures were used, who are often left with less opportunity after their cultures are appropriated, profited from, and masked.
The viewer is placed in  the position to view the contrasting side, and can choose whether to start a conversation or attempt to wash their hands of their responsibility.

Laura Nagle

Laura Nagle

"Emergence"

2016

Wood Carving 

10.25" x 26.5" x 1.5"

This piece is an exploration of wood as a medium and is also my first attempt at subtractive sculpture. This reductive process forced me to relinquish some of my control, slow down and pay attention. I could not force the material into submission. Instead, I had to listen and respond to the piece as I went. Because of this change of pace, the development of this piece felt less like a carving and more like the unearthing of something that had always been there. 

Forrest Hines

When Torture Gets a Little Fun

Forrest Hines, 2016

Steel

This piece was a study of the human form as it reacts to certain positions and boundaries placed on the body. The form itself appears rather rusted, raw and tortured yet certain elements of whimsy, the fuzzy hand cuffs and open legs, make it appear that this guy may just be having a little bit of fun. This piece was an excellent experiment in material, form, and toying with meaning.

Rachel Cardwell

Untitled (2016)

2016

Steel, Saran wrap, Laytex balloons

Mental illness can often feel like a flatness, or an inability to access your emotions. This piece explores the sense of containment and isolation one can experience while battling mental illness.

Brenna Smith

Brenna Smith

howdy

Fabric, Thread, Yarn, Card stock, Cotton Stuffing, Acrylic Paint

72"x30"x30"

This piece began strictly based off of aesthetics that I find appealing, such as old curtain fabric, fall colors, clown makeup, and the intersection of creepiness and cuteness. The message developed as I worked on and installed it. This piece represents living with chronic anxiety, which I experience. Through my experiences, I've found that, even when you overcome your fears of the things that trigger your anxiety, they will still loom over you and occasionally pop in to say hello, just like the clown character I've created in this piece. My desire to continue to incorporate my favorite visual aesthetics into making this piece deepen my personal connection between this character and my experiences with anxiety.

Sanjay Pelinski

Stage Scent

2016

Steel, Chalk Pastel, and Spices 

12" x 9" x 14"

Growing up around Theatre has shaped my perception of the world, into many moments of performances. Creating this sculpture I looked at the elements of Theatre for inspiration, such as set design, performance, costuming, and characters. I created my structure based on performances I have experienced growing up. I used crushed chalk pastel as an analogy for characters, and the smells of spices as an abstraction of performance. 

Hannah Zimmerman

What Are We Doing To Each Other?

2016

Leather chairs, moss, plant pot liner, monitor, mp4 video (5:02)

This piece is observing two chairs, each representing an individual, and creating a discussion about what history these two chairs have with one another. The green moss chair is watching a video, on loop, of the other chair tipping backwards and standing back up again. Each chair's leather is being overcome with the skin that grows beneath. Questions begin to arise when the viewer notices the moss chair, green and alive, watching the chair with dead, hay-like material bursting from underneath it's leather. Is the moss chair causing the other chair to come apart and reveal a decaying interior, while it comes apart and is more alive than ever before? What is the relationship between these two chairs and what are they doing to one another? Why is the moss chair only watching? 

Rebecca Heringer

 Rebecca Heringer

Acid Trip

Fall  2016

Wood,  Acrylic Paint

60" x 36" 

Skulls have a stereotype about being about death. I chose to create a sculpture that created a positive feeling using bright colors through a marbling effect. The sculpture was more about the process then the end result for me. The pedestal represents the skulls spine built in an abstract way. 

Metatrons Hammer

Steel & Aluminum

2016