Taylor Schomp

Universal String

2015

Masonite, wood, acrylic paint, string

12'x8'x9'

An exploration of color, shape, and the versatility of material.  All of the floor pieces were cut into circles, while all of the wall pieces were cut into squares.  Some of the shapes recede into spaced while others are pushed forward.  No two pieces are the same color.  Each piece contains one of three design types, all employing the use of string.

Emily Arnot

Emily Arnot

"Garden Entrance"

2015

Wood and Wire

7' x 3.5' x 2'

This piece is about combining natural versus industrial material while also contrasting architectural versus organic shapes. I wanted to create a space that appears beautiful and welcoming, but as the viewer steps inside the space starts to feel dangerous. I used the wire to create sharp flowers and vines coming off the wooden arbor towards the space in the middle. I plan to continue to expand my garden of strange opposing elements to go along with this entrance. 

Rachel Truskolawski

Save The Bees
2015
Wood, Hot Glue, Wax, Pyrography
4'8" x 4'10" x 1'

This piece was inspired by not only the current dwindling state of the bee population, but sacred geometry and it's relationship to geometric patterns found in nature. The honeycomb structure built by bees contain their larvae, honey, and pollen and are perfectly formed every time in ideal symmetrical shapes. The dome itself is missing parts of it's structure and spilling out onto the floor to emphasize the fall of the honey bee. The wax is dripped throughout the structure randomly to stress chaos and worry.

Owen DiRienz

"Time Is Illmatic"

Aluminum casting and paper

24 x 24 x 1 in

2015

Owen DiRienz

This piece was inspired by one of my favorite albums, Illmatic by Nas. I wanted to commemorate the album through a decorative frame, which featured song lyrics scrawled in graffiti. The aluminum medium I chose required hours of trial and error, which I had not anticipated. That being said, I gained a lot of experience with this project and I am very pleased with the final result.

Tree

This is the first part of a much larger project that I am working on. This is the framework of a metal tree that has a seat built into the trunk for viewers to sit in if they so choose. I use nature as my inspiration for many things so I wanted to incorporate nature into this project. I wanted to start a conversation about nature vs man-made structure as well as play on inorganic vs organic by making such a natural, organic form out of inorganic material and build a seat into it to give it another functionality to it and even further that emphasis of man-made things catering to our materialistic world.

Stay tuned for the second part of this project that will incorporate this tree-seat into a much larger discussion on organic vs inorganic and man-made vs nature!

Ali Ruffner & Caroline Udell

radical apathy

10/7/15

Wood, vinyl, steel, fabric, LEDs, oil on canvas, expanded steel, plastic, 3M adhesive

9’ x 11’ x 4’

Our inspiration for the piece began with a possum and ended with a confessional. Commenting on confusion in religion, our piece investigated spaces of worship, particularly focusing on connotations surrounding certain materials used in these spaces and the intentions and consequences of iconography. The piece was an installation that included both sculpture and painting and fused together both of our styles and differing questions about religion.

Ali Ruffner & Caroline Udell

radical apathy

10/7/15

Wood, vinyl, steel, fabric, LEDs, oil on canvas, expanded steel, plastic, 3M adhesive

9’ x 11’ x 4’

Our inspiration for the piece began with a possum and ended with a confessional. Commenting on confusion in religion, our piece investigated spaces of worship, particularly focusing on connotations surrounding certain materials used in these spaces and the intentions and consequences of iconography. The piece was an installation that included both sculpture and painting and fused together both of our styles and differing questions about religion.

Mary Birmingham

Mary Birmingham
"Little Boxes"

cardboard boxes

8 x 6 x 4 ft

2015

  Inspired by a multitude of structures made as a child out of recycled cardboard boxes, I recently became fascinated with commercial and consumer boxes that look similar in shape to houses and structures from my memory and daily life. The panels of blue background are intended to give the feeling of looking out the window of a moving vehicle and to lend a panoramic view to the piece.

Matthew Cristello Fallen Process

Fallen Process

2015

Microcrystalline Wax

Approximately 18"x 6" x 5"

Wax figure with wax sprues for lost wax casting. This piece will be invested in plaster and sand, melted out of the casting, and the molten aluminum will be poured into the empty cavity left by the wax. This sculpture will eventually be hung from the ceiling with cotton pouring out of the head, the allusion of an angel falling from the clouds.

Brenna Smith

B Smith

big from small

2015

Steel, Stainless Steel

42" by 36"

This piece's beginnings lie in experimentation and a love for shapes. I began with the concept of paper lanterns, and ended up with this bubbly abstraction of the form of a Japanese paper lantern. I duplicated the shape and replicated the "light" of a paper lantern by polishing each lantern (maid of stainless steel) to a bright finish. The next issue was making these thin, bent lanterns stand; this is where the concept of "little people making big things" was born. The mice characters represent the little guy, working hard as a group to make a change for the greater good. They are, again, abstractions of their original forms to fit in with the playful, child-like aesthetic of the overall piece.

Aocheng Shi

Aocheng Shi

A Ripple Of  Time
2015

Wood, Paper

68" x 89" x 12"

My work is about TIME. Memory is the most significant thing to people. When we first time come to this world then we realize that we will eventually leave this world. However, the process of life is more meaningful than the result of life. When I thought about my time. Each wood strip expresses each process in my life time. And the white paper that represents "the window" shows my memory during the process of my TIME.   

It likes a waterdrop (Me) falls into a shining river (Time), 
creating ripples and corrugates.

Ana Jackson Chaves

Ana Jackson Chaves

Deconstructed Wave

10/5/15

Watercolor paper, wood frame, wire, gesso, sawdust, paint

36" x 27.5 " x 12.5"

We've all seen framed pictures on walls. Usually the image is flat, and placed behind the frame. The rules of framing a picture have been so ingrained in our minds that we see the frame as the outer border, which must never be crossed. This piece tries to deconstruct the idea of the traditional framed image and push past the limits of the frame, by having the subject spring out in undulating geometric forms.

Chrissy Nice

Chrissy Nice

Duality 

10/8/15

Steel, Chain

8ft x 3ft x 2ft

Working with wood and furniture so much last year made me want to switch back to steel for a change. I enjoy the rigid, harsh look of the material and its ability to give the piece a grim disposition. I am currently exploring the forms of ladders, the meanings behind them and the different ways to alter those meanings. This piece was meant to take that form and relate it to the relationships we create with the people around us.  

Rebecca Guzzo

Rebecca Guzzo

Canyons 

10/5/15

Handout paper, double sided tape, wood, paint

12" x 30.5" x 20.5"

Paper was a material I've worked with before but I never was able to put it into a form I was happy with. My past paper work as felt rigid, so I explored more organic forms with this project. I used the idea of a topographic map and focused on creating depth by stacking each piece on top of another. I created downward pits into the paper to push and pull the forms, creating my own map, my own little world focused on form and color.

Emily DiMaio

Link to Video

Just a Few Minutes

2015

Steel, resin, grate, textiles, medical tubing, video projection 

Approximately 10' x 10' x 10'

An effort to understand how severely disabled individuals interpret their surroundings.  While reading to children in a pediatric nursing facility, I often wonder what it would be like to see what they see and understand what they understand.   I recognize each child's individual personality but I cannot be certain of their train of thought or perception, whether it is clear or distorted.