figure studies in clay, man and woman

torso

water bottle chandelier

This was from my first art class in college.  I don't really remember what the assignment was, but I think we were supposed to make something look like something else.  Basically I used a lot of clear plastic waterbottles and tried to make it look like broken glass by using the glow of candlelight.  I collected clear water bottles, stripped them of their labels and then scattered them on top of small candles that had a wire dome over it so the bottles wouldn't burn.  When I first performed this in the classroom, the effect was exactly what I wanted.  The room was small and had white walls so that the flickering of the light and movement of the shadows really appeared like a chandelier that had just fallen.   In the video above, I couldn't capture what I wanted.  It is too static.

This is what it is like without the lights turned off.

The process.

First I collected water bottles in the dorm.

Then I got my floormates to help me tear off the labels and scrub at that sticky stuff that lingers on the bottle.  Surprisingly, I got a lot of volunteers.

Finally, nice and clean.

Then I crushed the bottles.  And then I remember that my original idea was to make a hanging chandelier, but it wasn't working out too well.  On the last day before the project was due, I stayed out because it was Halloween night.  I returned at 3am and I still didn't know what I was going to do.  In the early hours of the morning, somehow I came up with this idea.  It's funny how easily sometimes ideas come to you.  But then again, I know that it doesn't happen all the time.

bird gun

For this project we were required to create something that was half mechanical and half organic.  This was also my first introduction to wood.  Working with wood was difficult for me because I tend to make very fluid forms.  Although wood is stiffer and blockier than most mediums that I've worked with, I still attempted to make the bird parts very organic.  

This is the morning of it's completion, still held in clamps.

the curved ribcage of the bird was difficult to make because the machines don't cut like that.

When I was bringing the bird gun home, I ran into a few tree-trimmers on campus who thought it was awesome.  I used them to model the bird-gun.

 

lastly, here I am modeling my own project.

cardboard shoe

In my second year of college, there was a cardboard project where we were only allowed the materials of cardboard and glue.  This is a picture of it in the kitchen after I moved it from the studio.  I remember that the last few days before I completed the project were torturous.  I think it was my first all-nighter that I spent at studio.  I remember staying there until 3am and then walking home and getting home at 4am.  And then making smaller detailed pieces until 5am.  Sleeping until 6am.  And then walking back to studio and getting there at 7am to finish before my 9am class.  I also remember gluing my pants to the floor at some point during the night.  

I started with the heel of the boot:

And here is the internal structure of the boot:

Here are pictures of the gallery display with close-ups:

And then I went and brought the cardboard shoe home from the studio with help from a couple of housemates.  It did look very strange outside the studio environment.  I think it was the first time after making something where I felt emotional attachment towards something that I've made.  

taking a break

taking another break outside the house

Atticus the neighborhood cat enjoying something unexpected

We stored it in the back of the hallway

And then it was decided that it needed to be taken apart.  I discovered that the supports were strong enough to support my friend.

the end.

ceramic plate

This was made in a figure drawing class that I took Fall semester of my senior year.  Richard (the professor) brought in a bunch of blank vases and plates that he and the Erin the kiln man made for us.  I was immediately drawn to this particular plate.  It was by far the largest in diameter (about a foot and a half).  It was the only one that was made in Canada and it had the ghostly tracings of someone else's work with a bit of teal glaze already splashed onto it.  

mother

I made this piece in my first ceramics class in my third year of college.  I think this piece was the outcome of happy accidents.  This my first time sculpting the figure with clay.  I think we had an hour and a half.  I remember I had problems with the wet clay sinking downwards so that the torso kept getting shorter and shorter.  After bisque firing it, I wanted to glaze it a blue-gray stone color with tiny blue speckles.  When it came out of the kiln I was horrified to discover that it turned out a terrible, ugly milky green toothpaste color.  A classmate suggested I glaze a darker color on top of it.  I used the dark brown wood color she gave me, hoping to give the piece an elegant polish.  The brown glaze didn't adhere very well to the first glaze but I love the end result.  You can see how some of the dark brown clings onto the initial light greenish glaze.

boot

This was the first assignment on the first day of class for my first ceramics class.  We were supposed to take off the shoes we were wearing at the time and create a likeness of it using clay.  I was wearing flip flops at the time.  Luckily I found a pair of dirty, beat-up boots in the corner of the studio that had much more character than my own flip-flops.  This was made in my third year of college.