Amber Weaver Assignment #1

I thought Marilee Salvator's exhibition Prolific Growth was beautifully done. All of the pieces seemingly flowed together. The individually framed pieces seemed to stem from the large wall instillation of cell like shapes spreading and growing to the point where they took over almost a whole wall. They all contained similar colors and shapes which also contributed to the flow of the space. To me, the layout of the pieces created a sense that there was a continuous cycle of growth happening. In a way, the individual prints could almost be parts of the large instillation; like you're zoomed into a part of the large piece.

Composition #25 (2009; Digital, relief, multiple shaped etching plates) is the piece that I was drawn to. This particular one has an over all feeling (to me) of calmness. When I look at this, I feel like I'm looking at a group of seashells laying in a pool of water with the dancing reflections from the sun. The thing that drew me to this the most would be the muted complimentary color combinations. For example, the moss green background and the light cranberry red on some of the shell/cell like shapes. I also like how everything is layered together to create a interesting composition.

I love Salvator's concept behind her work of finding beauty in unexpected places. For example, finding beauty in cancer cells. Instead of thinking that they are bad, she looked at the shapes that they formed and was able to create a language from those shapes that become beautiful compositions. I found it interesting how the parts of the compositions were formed. For example, the rain project. The idea of going out and tracing rain drops really intrigues me. I also enjoyed hearing about other artists that influenced Salvator's pieces.

Candyce Musinski

BLOG ASSIGNMENT#1 - Intro to Printmaking

Marilee Salvator's "Prolific Growth" was an inspiring and intricate exhibition that expressed an appealing message. The idea of cells, mutations, and general growth are all delicately combined into one grand display. Every piece in the gallery seemed to fit in to the presentation properly. The set up of all the compositions worked well. I do wish this piece was the last one, to save the excitement, but I do understand the lack of space provided in the gallery. However, everything was handled very professionally. The framed compositions were very elegant and even the ripping around the edges of papers were perfect. I completely felt Salvator's connection to nature and her fascination with specific ideas of life. When entering the gallery, a sense of overwhelming beauty is enhanced. The extremely detailed and numerous compositions was overpowering, yet the colors and markings used had a clam and lovely feel. The other pieces with the layering also created this sense of chaotic splendor. This combination works with Salvator's idea of cells. Salvator expressed that to some people, cells may appear to be beautiful, but to others, the cells can seem overwhelming and potentially dangerous. The very first piece, Growth Patterns, is a great example of this idea.

Prolific Growth was the one piece that I was extremely attracted to. I loved the way the piece extended from wall to wall and even from ceiling to floor. I thought it was wise to continue the piece flowing into the floor or the other side of the wall. This really spoke to me about growth and reminded me of Salvator's interest in gardening. Vines grow quickly and almost take over their surroundings. This piece had the same effect. The colors felt calm and cool, but the markings made for a slightly more chaotic scene. Prolific Growth was created with etching, digital, and wood. This truly interested me because I have never been a huge fan of digital or wood, but Salvator's interpretation presented a whole new idea for the two. I only wish that these pieces could have been hung up differently. Thought I admit I am not an expert on gallery set-ups, I wished that at least the tinier pieces did not reveal the velcro that stuck them to the walls. Overall, though, the flow and consistency of the composition made for a special message many seemed to agree with.

I personally enjoyed the idea of Salvator's lecture. I really just love to hear what inspires artist and why they created their pieces. Salvator's examples of other works were very interesting to me. When she began with her first piece that her professor created out of envelopes, I thought, how cool! This woman was inspired by someone else's work of art to then create her own pieces that personally inspired her. When referencing back to other's works, one idea that really stuck out in my head was the sand art. I thought it was amazing how some artists could create such a lovely piece and then destroy it instantly to instill the idea that nothing lasts forever in life. It was such an interesting concept and I enjoyed how Salvator admitted that she created a piece inspired by them, but could not destroy her own work because of her love for it. That really showed how big Slavator's heart is for art and inspiration and I respect that. One piece that she talked about, however, did not inspire me as much. Her poop images were semi-alarming to me. I understood that Salvator was attempting to find this certain beauty with layers and markings, but to me, I could not get the image of poop out of my head after it was introduced to us. However, if this was the worst that Salvator could come up with, at least it was still interesting and rousing to herself and others. Nothing is worse than an artist who is boring and uninspired by specific details in life. Her speech was very honest and I believed that with her explanations, her exhibition was clear and elaborate. Her use of markings, circular objects, colors, and layers I felt her passion for the subject "Prolific Growth". Being able to inspire others is difficult, but Salvator makes it easy with her strong expressions and beautifully detailed pieces.

Brooke Knepp Assignment #1

The artist of Prolific Growth, Marilee Salvator, has set up a very intriguing showcase. It went from a huge piece of etching, digital, wood into smaller framed pieces. With the first piece being so big and bright, it catches the viewers eye right away and keeps them interested for the next piece in the sequence. The framed pieces flowed very well with each other especially since the frames were identical. The virtualistic idea of cancer cells as artwork was interesting because the artist shows how something that can be harmful to one form of life can be turned over and inspiring to someone else.

The piece that really caught my eye was the first one called Growth Patterns. It is made by etching, digital work and wood. This piece of art is made from various sizes of circular wood. There are different colors on each piece of wood and small circles that make up the designs on the pieces. The shape of this piece is unique because it is not just a rectangle or square framed picture. It starts off on a smaller scale, then expands wider to the ceiling and the floor and then back to the smaller scale.

The Artist's lecture on the showcase was informative and explained a lot about her work. She explained how she likes virtualistic and labor intensive work which was definitely seen in Prolific Growth. I really enjoyed learning that Marilee finds cancer cells so interesting to work with in her art and how they take over and invade a body, just like she used them to take over and invade the wall that piece was mounted on. She also explained how she draws circles and patterns of circles in her work which was very true with this showcase and some of the other pieces she showed us in the slideshow. I really enjoyed hearing the lecture and learning about what inspires Marilee to produce the art that she does. Through this lecture I realized that something so strange to one person can truly impact another person in a different way, which really makes me think about things.

Lee Patton Assignment 1

As you walk into the gallery, the first piece you see, titled "Growth Patterns", completely grabs your attention. Its layout makes it seem to be expanding and growing in the space, which makes the viewer feel slightly overwhelmed and consumed by it. The almost fluid feeling of "Growth Patterns" is a great transition to the other works in the exhibit as it makes you feel as if you were flowing along with it. The other pieces in the show are much more congruent to each other and go nicely with one another. Although the first piece in the show definitely stands out more than the others, it still relates to them through the separate shapes used throughout. Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibit, especially "Growth Patterns" and "Circular Composition #1". The only thing that didn't thoroughly excite me was the feeling of repetition in the framed works. A few stood out to me, but I felt like I was looking at a few of the same pieces. Maybe adding more works on different mediums would help?

The work I chose to discuss was "Circular Composition #1" (polyester lithography, silkscreen, multiple shaped etching plates). The bright colors were the first thing to draw me into the piece, especially the red and green. I also found the shapes to be very interesting, and like every piece in the exhibit, they obviously all took a good amount of time to create. The bigger shapes, such as the red and bluish-purple ones, remind me of cells or bacteria, while the smaller green shapes give the feeling of something familiar but not obvious. The brown, almost coffee-stain looking shape in the background help to hold all of the elements in the image together.

After looking through the displayed work, I was not surprised to hear that the artist is inspired by cells and microscopic diseases. I think it was interesting to hear the thoughts behind a deadly disease posing as a beautiful shape. It also helped a lot to learn about other artists that were an inspiration, and seeing their work as well. The time intensive and OCD practices were evident in many of their works, so it made sense to see them in this exhibit. In the work on display i didn't see many direct ties to the vines/nature the artist talked about during the lecture, however the way "Growth Pattern" takes over the space is definitely reminiscent of the way vines take over whatever is in their path. Hearing the artist lecture helped me to appreciate the work as a whole, and the amount of dedication that went into it.

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.