Erica LoPresti Assignment #1

This exhibition by Marilee Salvatore is very beautiful and interesting. All of her works are the same shapes and colors. They all give off a clean appearance; framed with white frames on white backgrounds. One work flows into the next, which flows into the next, all telling the same narrative about the beauty of cells and life.

The piece that moved me the most was “Growth Patterns.” It was made by etching, digital prints, and wood. Every piece is a different size, color, and pattern. The etching and prints were placed onto blocks of wood cut out by hand to resemble the shape of a cell. This piece of artwork is also very large and stretches from wall to wall, and ceiling to floor.

Marilee Salvatore’s work definitely visually communicates with what she says it’s about. She tells us that she is very inspired by plants, nature, and biology. She said that she finds the beauty in cancer cells, while doctors and others see death. This shows through her artwork because the shapes resemble cells, and she uses a beautiful and unique array of colors to portray the feeling she has about the cells. It is clearly understood that even though cancer is an invasive disease, it plays a part in her own language through her artwork.

Francesca Pizzurro Assignment #1

The whole series was magnificent. All the pieces worked cohesively and really kept your eye moving from start to finish. Each piece told a story separately but as a whole it told an even greater story. I love the concept of a dark cell, such as cancer, showing such beauty and awe, yet symbolizing such a mortifying reality as death. The framing was simple which focused you more on the piece rather then the frame which is a very good technique the artist achieved. There really wasn't much that didn't work. The gallery was well set up and kept your eye moving and the setup of the pieces was just as well put together.

My favorite piece of work from the series was Circular Composition #1. The piece of art truly stood out to me from all the others. Though Growth Patterns was visually stunning, there was something about Circular Composition #1 that grabbed hold of my eye and my mind. The colors ranged from greens, reds, purples, browns, and yellows. The techniques were polyester lithography, silkscreen, and multiple shaped etching plates. Many cell shapes and concepts were portrayed in this piece. The usage of these shapes and concepts took hold of me and wouldn't seem to let go. The piece seemed different from the rest yet tied all of them together. There was a sense of calm and serenity hidden be hide the realism of cancer. The usage of circles and lines and the overlapping of cells memorized me. I am fascinated with this piece and congratulate the artist for such a marvelous job.

After seeing the gallery, I was on a good path to what the artist was trying to state. But when Marilee Salvator, the artist, began to explain her work and inspirations, the series opened it's horizons even greater. Explaining her repetitive and ritual techniques, I got a far better understanding of her work. The OCD she explained truly shows through her works. I am truly in awe at her patience and hard work put into each of her pieces. The monks and their ritual methods of art touched me as well as her attempting to somewhat mimic their work ethic. Also i greatly enjoyed her ability to take dog poop and make it into breath taking artwork. Having similar OCDs of my own and using tedious and time consuming projects and crafts to relax my mind as well, I was very sympathetic at her approaches to art and her labor intensive ethic. Having these similarities aloud me to grasp her concepts and efforts even greater and also potentially inspire some of my work in the future. I am honored to have witnessed this great gallery and congratulate the artist for an impeccable job well done.

Eric Shirk Assignment 1

I think that this exhibit was put together and presented very well. All the works were seemingly related as in they related to work number one which seemed to be the center point of the whole show. Each of the smaller works colors, shades, and shapes, seemed to relate to the larger work (work number one) in some way. It made me feel like it made work number one the center point for the entire show. Another reason I felt like that was the main point of the show is how it went on the floor and the ceiling. It really made you feel like you were being engulfed or taken over by the piece. The framing was also good I feel. The frame was a similar color to the wall so it gave the impression of the picture just being there rather then inside a frame. I think it really presented the work better than had it been in a regular wood frame. What makes this whole exhibition work is how everything sort of revolves around piece number one in my opinion.

The piece of my choice is piece number one as you see in the picture at the top. The colors in this piece are bright and vibrate and their are so many different colors which is what drew me to the piece in the first place. I am a big fan of bright vibrant colors so it was a no brainer on which piece I was most drawn to. I also liked the way everything was carved out of wood and how the shapes of the pieces sort of matched what was painted onto them in some way. It was very interesting. Most of the shapes were in a circular type shape, some had ridges and other edges, but they were still in a basic circular shape. I'm not sure if this was meant to happen but I also liked how everything sort of almost fits together to make this larger shape. It is mind blowing how all these pieces sort of come together to make this larger image.

I enjoyed the artist's lecture very much. I have never been to one of these before, but I feel like she portrayed and explained her art very well. I feel like her art really does communicate all of her intentions for her art very well. Although, I do feel like where she lived as effected her art as well. I feel like the fact that she lived in an area where there was no color is maybe why she has been drawn to making art without very much vibrant color in it (other than the larger work in the show.) My reaction to the artistic content is that I was really astounded at the detail and time put into it. All the small lines and marks were very detailed and intricate. I was also blown away by how I felt like I was actually at the beach or in the sea when I entered the gallery. All of the colors and shapes really portrayed that sea/beach type feeling. I enjoyed this gallery very much and hope to see more work from this artist.

Senior Exhibition

I really like how the seniors get there own exhibition to display their works from this and past years. I enjoyed the whole exhibition and various different types art work done by the different types of art work done by the different departments. It was something we did at my high school where each seniors received a section of wall or floor space depending. It was a great way to show how we had grown with our art over the years.

I choose Marcy's print she did of Martin Luther King Jr. and Harvey Milk. I liked this print because how well she was able to combined the two images together making them like as one. Both King and Milk were very influential people of their time. King fighting for the right of blacks and Milk fighting for the rights of gays.

I like how she added quotes from each of them to the print, it adds so much more to the meaning of the image. You can tell that she took her time getting the print just right and making sure it came out just right.

Stacy Gever EXTRA CREDIT

Adal Maldonado is a Puerto Rican artist that began his culturally inspired photography when he moved to New York City at the age of seventeen. He has had experience producing suggestive and surreal photographic collages in the early 1970’s, as well as portraits of others with an ethereal theme. “The Evidence of Things Not Seen” is a cluster of collages that create a disorienting effect that is said to resemble his inner most intimate mental landscapes. He likes to create imaginary worlds that fans appreciate across the globe. He claims to have explored the world of biographical art by using himself in his photos and is know for his collaboration with different artists. His art has been featured in such museums as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is New York City, and also other various museums over seas.
At his assembly that took place in the Kehr Union Multicultural Room, he explained that he enjoys using dark humor and politics behind his art. He also explained his experiences concerning baptism. He was in fact, baptized himself and shared a story about a Jewish woman he had met who was unable to explore in a church called La Santa La Madre de Tomates because she wasn’t baptized. The church is an inspiring place, established by Reverend Pedro Pietri in 1976, where all of the artwork was created from inspiration by Adal in 2001. Adal felt that this woman deserved to enjoy what the church had to offer, so he helped get her baptized. He said that ever since then, folks have been getting baptized in order to get permission to enter the church.
At the end of Adal’s presentation I decided to meet him and tell him about my first experiences working with photography. I felt that we share a lot in common because we share similar passions and both like to express inner feelings in our art. He told me that he was truly inspired twice in his young life when it comes to photography. He explained to me that he lived above a portrait photographer named Chuck Stuart, an album cover photographer, who would constantly explore the faces around him and even asked to photograph his mother. After meeting Adal, Stuart invited him upstairs into his studio and invited him to become his assistant. Adal fell in love with photography and tried saving up money to open his own studio. Stuart recognized his passion and three years later helped pay for a studio in hopes of helping Adal follow his dreams. Adal claims that Stuart was a big inspiration to him.
We discussed photography further and in more detail, and both agreed that the most mesmerizing and magical part of photography is letting the exposed print into the dektol, and watching the photo come to life.

Julie Farnan: Personal Adornment Day

This past week I experienced my first personal adornment day. I have never heard of it before, but I knew some people who were going to be in it, so i went to check it out and see their work. I was surprised by how interesting it was. Each piece modeled was unique and interesting in its own way. I thought the added aspect of different music for each piece added a fun vibe to the show. The first two pieces were my favorite. Ralph Hinkle was the first model. He wore nothing but tape and acrylic paint. His piece was a performance piece representing seeing a person for who they really are, past the exterior and looking at the interior instead. I thought the idea behind his piece was really inspiring. Its a thought many people think and even preach, but few of us actually take it to the level he had the courage to do. For that, i give Ralph very much credit.

The second piece was done by Maryam Cristillo. Her project was very earthly, entitled "Ala: Nigerian Goddess of Mother Earth." The overall design of her work was very well done, and her ways of modeling her piece captured the viewer instantly. She had tribal music playing in the background, and came out dancing and interacting with the audience. Her piece was one of my favorite because the way she altered the materials was so nicely done and the entire performance piece flowed very well overall. Her energy was apparent which engaged her viewers.

C. Hird: Personal Adornment (Extra Credit Assign.)

This was my first time attending Personal Adornment, I was pretty excited since 2 of my friends were going to be part of it. They are both very creative non-art majors so I was interested in what they came up for the event. First of all I want to say that all the students did an awesome job making the various outfits and the meaning that went into each were all different and special in their own particular way. I enjoyed the creativeness of all the costumes and how most of the models/artists were excited when coming down the runway. My friend, Tiffany-Ann did a superhero theme for her adornment and theres a picture to the right, the idea of everyone goes though a battle everyday... I thought her adornment was interesting and positive. The piece was entitled, Soldier and the materials she used were Rattan, chicken wire, cardboard, bubble wrap, paper, and various synthetic fabrics.
Another student I sort of know, Arielle Ortiz and her adornment was titled, Goddess of Creation, She designed this dress made of paper, spray paint and tulle. The dress was amazing piece of work I really liked. There was other pieces I enjoyed like Maryam Cristillo's Mother Earth and Megan Combs's untitled collection. It must take alot of time and work to come up with these designs but they seemed to do a good job overall.