Student Work

Christian Ard, Student Work

Rae Hull, Student Work

Heather Callahan, Student Work

John Quick, Student Work

Heather Snyder, Student Work

Internal Struggle

Artist Statement

In person, both parts of the mask are clearly visible, but through photography, I chose to focus on the aspect not seen by most people. In my day to day life, people often see me as upbeat, friendly and put together. I am always told that if any one can do it, that I can. Yet most people fail to see the struggles I face, just as they do. Instead of sharing and burdening them with my problems in addition to their own, I withhold and pull on my strength to help them through theirs. Its a choice I make daily, and for me the right one.

The black yarn mask that strangles the individual who wears it represents those suppressed feelings and thoughts that fail to be set free. When withheld for too long, they begin to suffocate and wear the person raw. Often, we try and hide from these feelings, turn our backs to the world and reflect on ourselves.

The bear represents the view the world receives. The mask purposely is looking up and is placed on the back of the head, as the individual appears to be positive and happy, but in reality, their head and heart ache.

In the photography aspect, I had my model convey what they thought frustration, fear, and defeat would looked like to them in action form. From those shots, I selected the best and placed them within a series, demonstrating the process as one goes through their withheld thoughts. Then reveling the final result- the confusion and overwhelming feelings that can come within the public space without warning. Within the image is the symbol of spilled ink, which stands for missed chances- opportunities that can easily be missed while stuck in your head, overwhelmed by everything that should have been said.

In Process Photos:

Hot glue was used to make a flexible mask that would fit over the head. 

Yarn was incorporated into the glue.

Tracing paper, gel medium, wire. 

Research:

Painted Bride

Silvie Heger, artist, Germany

Miranda July, artist, USA

Megan Lennon, Student Work

Bitch, I am the Pope

For some, religion can be a toxin; a venomous substance that is involuntarily injected into us at a young age. Who’s to say that a woman can’t be pope? Are we fools to allow religion to run our lives? The answer is for you to decide. All I know is, “Ain’t nobody prayin’ for me” (Kendrick Lamar).

Sarah Weisman, Student Work

Mason Mushinski, Student Work

Me Myself I

Artist Statement

In this project I pulled together thoughts, ideas, and qualities about myself that I wanted to display through my mask. I originally wanted to create a dodecahedron mask to represent how particular and organized I am as a person. After consideration, I ended up making the dodecahedron but wanted to give it flare. Inside the pentagons I placed multiple triangles in order to warp and add multiple faces ranging in size. Looking closely at the piece, a glimpse of the original pentagons can be seen. By leaving the pentagons within the piece, I wanted to represent the large events in my life such as family and education. Each of the large pentagons symbolize segments of my life and the interior triangles represent the small (and large) events that took place in order to shape the important moments in my life. I added "Me, Myself, I" on the surfaces in order to pull together who I am and that I should not be ashamed of that. Building onto that concept, my final pictures represent just that. 

The first picture portrays my body and stature as being uncomfortable and sulking as I hold a mirror. Transitioning into the second picture my posture is a bit more relaxed however my body is still rigid and the focus can be seen on the mirror. Completing the sequence, the final picture shows me being entirely confident, relaxed, and unfazed by the blank mirror. The mirror itself is symbolic because in Renaissance paintings mirrors were believed to be a literal and metaphorical reflection of oneself and also a negative representation of pride, temptation, and sin. I decided to include a mirror to show that though I am multi-facetted, it is important to not get wrapped up in personal selfishness regardless of my successes in life. I represented that idea throughout the photography process in that as my posture became more relaxed less of a reflection was seen in the mirror until there was entirely no reflection in the final picture.

Working on Masked Identity, Spring 2017

Students Working In The Studio, Summer 2016

Kailey Jewell, Masked Identity, Student Work

Kailey Jewell, Tennessee, Masked Identity Assignment, Student Work

Kailey used personal memories from her home town in Tennessee to guide her ideas for this assignment.

Kailey Jewell, Masked Identity, Student Work

Kailey Jewell, Tennessee, Masked Identity Assignment, Student Work

Kailey used personal memories from her home town in Tennessee to guide her ideas for this assignment.

Christopher McMachen, Masked Identity, Student Work

Christopher McMachen,  Masked Identity Assignment, Student Work

Inspired by  ideas about concealing, revealing and emergence.
Music "Wake Up Call (Datsik Remix)" by Steve Aoki and Sidney Samson

Alex McNutt, Student Work

Alex's concept inspired by "Meshes of the Afternoon" by Maya Deren (1943), action figures and the sea.

Materials to make the mask - wire, tracing paper and gel medium.

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a short experimental film directed by wife-and-husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular and repeats several motifs, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a loaf of bread, a mysterious Grim Reaper–like cloaked figure with a mirror for a face, a phone off the hook and an ocean. Through creative editing, distinct camera angles, and slow motion, the surrealist film depicts a world in which it is more and more difficult to catch reality. In 1990, Meshes of the Afternoon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", going into the registry in the second year of voting. In 2015 the BBC named the film the 40th greatest American movie ever made.^{[2] -Wikipedia}

Visiting Artist Workshop, Laura Mongiovi at Florida School of The Arts

Maddie Zatkulak, Student Work, 3D to 2D Assignment

Below is the body sculpture I made for a class assignment. 

I repeated a documented image of the sculpture in various sizes to create a sense of depth (foreground, middle and background). I also used value range to enhance depth. 

Student Work

Various Assignments that require students to use their body. 

Kayla Zapping

Poetry Garment

Abbey Osley

Masked Identity

Colton Jacob Hitman

Poetry Garment

Maddie Zatkulak

Masked Identity

Sarah Howard

Poetry Garment

Ely Marcil

Poetry Garment