Faculty Show 2011

Fall is upon us, and that means it's time for the Sinclair Fall Faculty Show.  This year I decided to keep it simple and show some paintings.  I've really felt like committing to painting lately (although sometimes it feels like a scary commitment).  Both pieces are looking their best under the bright lights of the Triangle Gallery.

Traffic and Francis Dance, Triangle Gallery, Sinclair Community College

Francis Dance (diptych), 2011, water-soluble oil on canvas, 24" x 46"

Francis Dance, was shown in Cavort and I've posted the two separate parts of it on this blog.  I like it best as a diptych, however, as it's shown here. The original painting is the one on the left.  It was inspired by a dance Francis was doing (I think an imitation of the Swedish dancing demonstrated by the women of ABBA in their heyday) while wearing his blue striped overalls.  The pink on black companion piece was done a couple of days later as a further exploration of the "dancer" motif.  Once finished they seemed to go together - it's nice to dance with a partner after all, and the flipped orientation helped them fit.

Traffic is my most recently resolved painting, inspired by the black on yellow traffic sign arrows that help you nudge in when going around a curve.

Traffic, 2011, water-soluble oil on canvas, 40" x 40"

Francis Dance detail

Backyard

New documentation of my faculty show piece, Backyard. This work provoked the only negative comment in the entire visitor notebook for the faculty show. I'm not sure if I should be proud or worried?

Backyard, 2010
gouache, colored pencil and gesso (wall drawings)
plaster, gouache and found objects (sculpture)
dimensions variable

Even kitty got in on the documentation!

Mess!

Mess, 2010
gouache, colored pencil, gesso on paper
14" x 18"





My students have been editorializing on their drawings quite a bit this quarter. I think they want to get the jump on any criticism coming their way and demonstrate an awareness that a certain piece isn't their best work - not what they'd be doing if they had a choice.

It can been annoying as a viewer - having the direct voice of the author telling you what to think. So I made them do a drawing that was comprised completely of writing (to get it out of their systems). It worked with mixed results; the most dedicated writers seemed most at a loss to compose their commentary into a cohesive composition.

This is the drawing that I did as an example - fitting as it describes the current state of my artist mind perfectly. It's hard for me to focus on making work when school starts up and all my creative energy is directed there.

Faculty Show

Backyard, 2010
drawings: gouache, colored pencil, and gesso on paper

sculptures: plaster, gesso, gouache, found objects

Fall quarter has started at Sinclair, which means it's time for the art department faculty show.

Last year, the installation I constructed - an homage to Matisse's Pink Studio - was kind of a spectacular failure. I had construction issues, problems with working in the tight triangular space of the Hypotenuse Gallery, as well as the basic insanity of trying to use lots of new materials and processes within a short amount of time. It was a good reminder that failure is part of the process of art making - although usually I prefer to make my mistakes less publicly!

So this year, I wanted to tackle installation again, while streamlining my ideas.

The new bamboo floor in the Triangle Gallery shows off the sculptural elements of this work better than the old ratty carpet. I'm fairly pleased with how the drawings and sculptures relate considering I haven't done anything sculptural since undergrad. The drawings and sculptures are an outgrowth of the Convenient Landscape series - a response to artifacts of a consumer culture. Once I get some more detailed images I'll post them.

For those of you in the area, the opening reception for the show will be this Thursday, September 16th, from 5pm - 6:30pm.

Sinclair Community College's Burnell R. Roberts Triangle Gallery is on the 4th Floor of Building 13, at 444 W. Third Street, Dayton, OH.