Theme Park Sculpture

Full, View One

Logger's Run

Foam board, cardboard, metallic gold paint, and acrylic paint (GOLDEN Colors Paint: Primary Cyan, Primary Yellow, Primary Magenta, Primary White, and Primary Black)

16 inches x 1.25 inches x 16 inches

Full, View Two

Full, View Three

Detail One

Detail Two

Statement

The sculpture was inspired by the Logger's Run ride at Six Flags Great America in Illinois. I was inspired by memories of growing up in Wisconsin and visiting my aunt and uncle's log cabin. I intended to portray the Wisconsin Rapids, contrasted with the log cabin and the water-based Logger's Run ride. I wanted to ride track to be able to rise off the board and also contrast the rapids and land. 

In-Process, View One

“Logger’s Run | Family Rise | Six Flags Great America”

Originally called the Log Flume Ride and one of the original rides in the Six Flags Park. 

https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/attractions/loggers-run

“Six Flags Great America | Physics Days Teacher Manual”

Teacher manual for field trips to view amusement parks. 

https://static.sixflags.com/website/files/SFGAM+Physics+Day+Teacher+Manual.pdf

Memento

Full, View One

Rosette

Wood, fabric, and gold paint

2.5 inches x 1.5 inches

Full, View Two

In Full

Statement

The memento reflects on a specific memory spent with my grandmother. She gifted me a gold ring for my high school graduation, which in itself, also reminded me of a pillowcase she made for me when I was four years old. I used fabric from the very same pillowcase that she made, and formed it into a rose, since that was her favorite flower. The gold circle and grooves in the wood represent the ring, and the time spent with her. The blue of the fabric also represents the blue of the ring box gifted to me.

In-Process, View One

Cardboard Sculpture

Full, View One

The Flaherty Family TreeHouse

Duct tape, cardboard, exacto knife, scissors, acrylic paint (GOLDEN Colors Paint: Primary Cyan, Primary Yellow, Primary Magenta, and Primary Black)

16 inches x 28 inches

Full, View Two

Full, View Three

Detail, View One

Detail, View Two

In-Process, View One

In-Process, View Two

In-Process, View Three

On Longing Assignment

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale." - On Longing, Susan Stewart

Perceiving scale is found within the size of the jewelry box. This photo was taken recently, but the memory of receiving the jewelry is very special. 

"The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing." - On Longing, Susan Stewart

The language of longing is found in a sense of longing for childhood, this was the first day of second grade. This picture was taken when I was seven years old. 

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

To reduce the monumental into miniature, the figures in the picture on the beach are not in the foreground and are instead farther away. This picture was taken when I was eight years old. 

"The souvenir is used most often to evoke a voluntary memory of childhood."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

A voluntary memory of childhood includes my childhood dog, Buster. He is on our porch, at the same house I mentioned in the fifth picture below. This picture was taken when I was six years old. 

"The place of origin must remain unavailable, in order for desire to be generated."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

The origin is unavailable, as it is my grandparents and I at my old childhood home that I no longer live in. A lot of my childhood memories are at that house, in our yard, and in my room. This picture was taken when I was five years old. 

Artist Talk: Future Friends - 03/18/2024

 

Figurative Bust Sculptures

Sculpture One, View One

The Successor of Medusa

Air dry clay, 0.05-micron pen, and two wood palettes. Windsor & Newton inks in the shades

nut brown, emerald, scarlet, canary yellow, orange, white, and black Indian ink.

4 inches x 4.5 inches

Sculpture One, View Two

Sculpture One, View Three

Sculpture Two, View One

The Fall of Medusa

Air dry clay, 0.05-micron pen, and two wood palettes. Windsor & Newton inks in the shades

nut brown, scarlet, emerald, white, and black Indian ink.

4 inches x 4.5 inches

Sculpture Two, View Two

Sculpture Two, View Three

Both Sculptures, View One

In-process, View One

In-process, View Two

In-process, View Three

Eige, "Sexism at work: how can we stop it?"

Many companies, in the US and the EU, have been at fault for not committing to employee inclusion or diversity policies. “94 % of EU citizens believe gender equality is a fundamental right.”

https://eige.europa.eu

The New York Times, “Women Keep Up Their Tradition of Wearing Suffragist White”

Women in the House wore white in solidarity against State of the Union Addresses. “Women stood out once again in a sea of dark suits at the State of the Union address on Thursday night, wearing suffragist white as a form of solidarity and protest… except for 2018, when some Democratic women wore black in support of the #MeToo movement, many women have worn white at State of the Union addresses since.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/us/politics/white-suits-women-state-of-union.html

Reflection One

The sculpture entitled The Successor of Medusa was inspired by the Greco-Roman myth of Medusa, and how many women from those myths were either portrayed as saintly or villainous. I intended to visually communicate how easily one can be replaced in a competitive world, and how in the Greco-Roman myth of Medusa, it was a challenge to take down a “dangerous woman”.

I wanted to focus on making this sculpture the “ideal woman” from a man’s perspective, compared to the Medusa figure from a woman’s perspective, because that is how she would be perceived by the opposite gender. I decided to include darker hair and a darker dress for sculpture one to communicate that she may not be the dream woman that the men of mythology have perceived her as and that she is more similar to the “monstrous” Medusa than they may realize. The work was not producing the results I wanted, so I decided to change the inks and color palettes used for the sculpture; the clay was giving me issues, but not as many as with sculpture two.

I want to keep exploring how to work around air dry clay’s faults–when it tends to be so fragile and brittle, and I want to learn more about what air dry clay allows an artist to work with, as I learned many of its limitations in this artistic process. This piece allowed me to explore how the ink interacted with a different material, which was the clay. The making of this work exposed new ideas such as very hands-on artwork with clay, and the complexities plus, limitations of the substance.

Reflection Two

The sculpture entitled The Fall of Medusa was inspired by the mythos surrounding the Greco-Roman myth of Medusa, and how many portray her as the monster and attacker of this myth; I believe that this interpretation is false and that she was simply misunderstood. I intended to visually communicate how this misunderstanding, particularly in the myth, leads to Medusa’s untimely demise.

I wanted to focus on portraying Medusa as not just a Gorgon, but a woman, because many viewers of the myth will not view her as such. I decided to include small blood stains on the sculpture to remind the viewer that Medusa does meet her death by violent means. The work was not producing the results I wanted, so I decided to “run with it”. The sculpture’s head would not stay on, so I decided to instead make it a part of the piece and its narrative.

I want to keep exploring how to work around air dry clay’s faults–when it tends to be so fragile and brittle, and I want to learn more about what air dry clay allows an artist to work with, as I learned many of its limitations in this artistic process. This piece allowed me to explore how the ink interacts with a different material, which is the clay. The making of this work exposed new ideas such as very hands-on artwork with clay, and the complexities plus, limitations of the substance.

Masking Tape Shoes

Full, View One

Masking Tape Shoes

Masking tape, exacto knife, scissors

9.5 inches x 2.5 inches

 

 

Full, View Two

Full, View Three

Detail One

Detail Two

Paper Model, View One

Paper Model, View Two

In Process, View One

In Process, View Two

In Process, View Three