Student Work

Rachel Harris.  Process pictures. 

Shannon Frye.  In process photo and final, professional images of work. 

Kiersten Boehle, Student Work, Paper Stacking

Materials are wood glue and Rives paper.

Observe from life. Students asked to select a fruit or vegetable.

Inspiration images for second paper stack, a non-objective form designed by student.

Approx. 6" in diameter.  Wood glue, Rives paper and ink. 

Student Work

Shanon Frye

In process photos of paper stacking assignment. 

Melissa Zeise

In process photo and final solution of paper stacking assignment. 

Shannon Frye, Student Work, Gregor's Room

My final results reflect my original goal. I think Gregor's organic shape is in contrast with his geometric furniture. In addition, there is contrast between the realistic human room and Gregor's up-scaled insect form. I decided to make Gregor sitting up. At the beginning of the story, Gregor's main concern is getting to work and going about his normal routine despite his obvious transformation. Here I depicted him as if he were still a man getting out of bed to go to work. I tried to communicate his tired disposition through his down-turned antennas and angled position. When adding color I chose muted tones that I originally imagined while reading the story. The most vibrant color is the red of the alarm clock, which as previously stated, was his main concern at the beginning of the story. I also added lines to the quilt to match the straight lines of the furniture. Over all, I feel my depiction of Gregor's room reflects the beginning of the story when Gregor still has his humanity but is oblivious to the derailing effects of his transformation. - Shannon Frye

In process image. 

No tape or glue used to construct sculptures made from white copy paper. 

The bed measures approx. 8" x 4.5" x 4".

I started my project knowing I wanted to model my pieces after Gregor's room in the beginning of the story. This meant that everything would look clean and not lived in. Since Gregor is a traveling salesman I thought it would be  interesting if I could create contrast between a tired, worn Gregor and a new, bright setting. Since his life revolves around time, I also decided to create his alarm clock to sit across from him. To create the crisp furniture I researched origami techniques and adapted them to have additional tabs and folds in order to make the shapes I needed. While reading the book, I imagined his blanket to look homemade, like it was crocheted or quilted. I mimicked that by weaving pieces of paper together.  -Shannon Frye

Melissa Zeise, Student Work, Gregor's Room

Father and Son

White copy paper, ink, pen/pencil

Largest sculpture measures 8" x 5" x 6"

Statement:
The most interesting part of this story to me is the relationship between father and son. To me, I saw the father as having a hold on Gregor, which led me to create the bed as a symbol of the father- the head board representing the fingers of the father coming down and holding onto Gregor, trapping him in his bed. I felt that Gregor's transformation into a dung beetle was brought on by his father's business failure and his constant disappointment in Gregor. I also thought that Gregor's military background was an important element of the story because it made Gregor's life as a traveling salesman all the more discouraging and disappointing. As a lieutenant in the military, I can only imagine how humiliating it must have been for Gregor to come home from the war only to work in such a demanding and belittling job as a salesman. I included his military hat in a box representing Gregor's past, along with sales documents and cigarettes. Also to tie in the relationship between father and son, I added Gregor's dad's shiny, gold buttons to Gregor's wings to leave the mark of the father on Gregor's transformed state. The buttons also make Gregor seem somewhat human like- I purposely formed his wings like coat tails and included the buttons to show that he was still a human in a bug's body. I think Kafka's bizarre story is a tremendous insight on family relationships, personal pride, and the truth that we become what we perceive ourselves to be.  

In process pic. 

No tape or glue allowed for this assignment.  

The "bed frame" made by a process of dipping white copy paper in coffee/tea, 

stacking and wrapping the saturated paper and then baking in the oven. 

Here is the "bed frame" after it has been baked.  

In addition to the coffee/tea stain, Winsor Newton ink has been applied to certain areas. 

Measures approx. 10" x 5" x 4"

Shannon, Kiersten and Mary, Student Work, 3D to 2D Assignment

 Shannon Frye
Used detail images of stacked paper assignment.
Both images were manipulated in Photoshop.
Original paper sculpture approx. 3 inches in diameter
and consisted of A LOT of hole punches glued and stacked. 

Kiersten Boehle
Used documented images of stacked paper assignment.
Converted to a drawing in photoshop. 

Mary Ross
Used balsa wood small sculpture assignment.
Placed documentary photos of the small sculptures in images of net-lithic landscape. 

Paper Stacking, Student Work

Danielle Seeker

Rives Paper and Wood Glue

Laura Henning

Rives Paper and Wood Glue

Laura Henning, Student Work

Concealing/Revealing

While coming up with ideas for this project, I became deeply invested in the notion that a mask, by concealing, can paradoxically reveal certain parts of ourselves. In our desire to get to the "true" essence of a thing, we generally say "peel away the layers" when maybe we really should continue to coat, add, build up. Identity is, after all, formed by the tricky and ridiculously delicate process of deciding what to keep in and what to leave out, what to share and what to keep secret. 

I used this mask as a way to express parts of myself I usually keep hidden; in order to do so, however, I had to obscure my face and part of my body. This makes me wonder: Can we ever really know the whole thing, or everything only in fragment? Physically, the mask impedes one's ability to know my face, my expressions, the features that make me Laura. Nevertheless, it gives form to the interior structure of Laura, the parts that remain obscured by my body and its politics and complicity in facade. It's undeniable: in order to function somewhat normally in society, we have to uphold certain fronts or "un-truths." I do it all the time. We're told to "be yourself," but if that self is ugly and sad and deviant, how quickly the tune changes. Creating this mask gave me the chance to explore how to represent and make tangible those painful secrets that rest quietly inside my body and build throughout the day; how to express those feelings I often feel are inexpressible; and how to depict my struggles with depression and anxiety in such a way that perhaps others can relate. 

We all ache for connection, especially when our worlds seem very, very small. 

To see more of Laura's work and read her blog, link here.

Joe, Bailey and Kristin, 3D to 2D, Student Work

Joe Bushe

I used my “Masked Identity” photo as the starting point for my 3D to 2D Assignment. No imagery was used other than the original Mask photo. 

The process of this image’s creation is as follows. In Photoshop, I separated the figure and mask from the background, then used content aware fill to fill in the background where the figure was. The figure was then brought into Illustrator where it was live-traced. After live-tracing, I simplified the lines by removing all curves and replacing them with angles where needed. the roughen and tweak filters were applied to the lines to create a feeling of randomness. That figure was then duplicated and brought into the Extrude and Bevel filter plugin where the figure was exploded. The exploded layer was then set to the blending mode “hard light” so that the original abstracted figure could be seen underneath. Back in Photoshop, the image with the figure removed was duplicated. the top layer was blurred to 700px, and then gradated so that the ground could be clearly seen. The abstracted vectorized figure was reintroduced to the original image, given glow in the mask region, and given a much stronger shadow that was in the original. Thus the new image was created.

Bailey Johnson
Manipulated a documented image from the Masked Identity assignment.
(original photo not available)

Kristen Spivey
Manipulated a documented image from the Masked Identity assignment.
(original photo not available)

Elements and Principles in 3D Form (PAPER) Assignment Guidelines

Assignment:
-Using limited materials (see list below), make three, small scale sculptures.
-Each sculpture emphasizes an element or principle of art and design.  Choose three terms from the list below.
-Do not use the required materials to simply “attach”. Use materials for their inherent qualities. For instance, clear packing tape is transparent and can have shapes/forms sealed inside of it. Mask tape can be stacked, rolled, twisted.  Elmers yellow wood glue creates a warm color when it dries.  It is also a liquid in the first stage of use and can contain/have forms embedded in it. Another way to use the wood glue is to let it dry on a plastic surface, once dry it will peel off and hold it's shape.

-You do not have to use all materials for each sculpture.  You do need to make sure evidence of all materials appears across all three sculptures. An example - one sculpture can be made of just paper, but the other two have to include all four materials.

-No symbols or conventional imagery.
-No text.
-No origami.
-Strive to go beyond the expected.  Take chances and be innovative. If it seems impossible, then try it.
-Make sure each sculpture is three-dimensional - work should demonstrate length, height and depth.
-Each sculpture should be approximately the size of your hand.
-Label each sculpture with your name and the term it represents.
-Do not discard your work after it is graded. At the end of the semester, you will be drawing all work you complete in this class.

Select three terms from the following list.  Each sculpture will emphasize a term.
Focal Point
Texture
Pattern
Scale (contrast between large and small within one sculpture)
Repetition
Symmetry
Space (make use of interior and exterior)

Materials*:
WHITE CARD STOCK
MASK TAPE (any width, can use multiple widths)
CLEAR PACKING TAPE
ELMERS YELLOW WOOD GLUE
*Remember, evidence of all materials must appear across all three sculptures.

Some ideas on how to manipulate the materials:
Twist
Shred
Fold
Roll
Dice
Layer/stack
Thread (sew or string together, can't use thread, so will have to cut/twist paper to replicate thread)
Braid
Scratch
Pierce
Chop
Slice
Roll tape, stick rolled shapes together to form another shape
The clear tape offers opportunity to layer other shapes/textures inbetween layers of tape.
The yellow wood glue and tone of mask tape offer opportunity for tonal variation.

In addition to the section I prepared on visual examples for this assignment, "Elements and Principles in 3D (PAPER) Visual Examaples", I suggest you link to the category "Paper Sculpture Student Work" to see examples from other assignments that incorporated paper.

What to put on the blog:
1. Images of your work in process.
2. Any notes or sketches that you did for this assignment (optional).
3. Professional images of each sculpture - at least two different shots for each one. Photograph separately. Points are deducted from your block if images are not professional.
4. A description for each sculpture.  Discuss your intentions, process and reflect on your final solution.
5. Three drawings (we will be doing the drawings in class at the end of the semester -so keep your work safe).

In class the drawing workday fall 2013

Student Work, Masked Identity

Tashina Wells

Inspired by Donnie Darko's Bunny Mask. 

Alex Latourrette

The overall intention for this piece was to create a knight-like figure. A knight is a symbol of strength and loyalty. Being part of a new generational family I often look at our military history and how the world becomes a battlefield for everybody in one way or another.  Armor is useful to protect your self not just in times of violence but also in times of turmoil and self doubt. The armor is more for the psyche than the body. The image also contains influences from my South American ancestry in the white blanket cloth for the body and the Inca inspired design for the head piece.

Shannon Frye

One of the most important aspects of my identity is the fact that I have a twin sister. Because we are so close, I often find myself thinking in terms of "we" instead of "me". I'm not completely myself unless we're together. Another aspect of my identity is my love for reading. My favorite fiction series involves Greek and Roman mythology and my favorite Roman god is Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings, transitions, doorways, passages, endings and time. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past. I am attracted to this idea because as a twin I often feel like I'm walking around with two heads on one body. However, at this point in my life, themes like transitions and beginnings are something I've grown accustomed to. As a college student, I'm constantly thinking about my future and which paths and doors are available to me. 

The mask I made visually represents aspects of my identity discussed above. There are four forms resembling facial profiles pointing in four different directions, representative of a crossroads, indicating the different directions I could take. The heads are all leaning forward as if they are trying to decide for themselves which way to go; to break away. As a twin, I've experienced the struggle of trying to "break away," but it is extremely hard to go your own way when you are so connected to another person. All of the heads are what I would call "similar but different".  I've used this phrase many times to describe my sister and I, since we are physically similar but personally different. The position of the heads is reminiscent of Janus, the two-headed god of  doors, gates and transitions. I added another set of heads to increase the sense of movement. 

Masked Identity Work Day