Artist Statement

I do not consider myself an artist. I don’t really create art for art’s sake. When I create something, it is for the purpose of creating. Sometimes it has no purpose but in aesthetics, but more often than not, my creations are meant for more practical purposes. I love the art of practicality. Being able to make objects that serve a distinct purpose is both a science an art in itself, and usually that object has a beauty of its own.

I love things that move. I am entranced by things that can create motion by itself or seem to make motion on their own. Marionettes are one of these things, and I like to incorporate marionettes or marionette-like structures in my work when I can. Really, I like to work with anything that uses strings to move parts.

The mechanics of the body fascinate me. The physical body is a practical structure that uses a series of elastic strings to move. Emulating that structure is the goal of my work. I have already studied and mastered the visual aesthetics and structure of the body; now my & aim is to construct a working replica that can be manipulated with strings.

Killer Bear Progress

So, being Easter weekend, I didn't really get much done outside of class. I currently have the stomach and half of the back cut out. This week I should be finishing all of the cutting and sewing and I should be in the process of stuffing the bear by Sunday at the latest.  I've still been collecting newspapers and I now have a 2 1/2 foot stack of papers sitting in my living room. Hopefully that will be enough to fill the bear to the point where it will stand freely.

Since I am going to be performing in this piece, I'm going to need someone to record it for me. I have a camera, but I can't really take pictures while I'm face-down on the floor.

Christina Dietz

Artist Statement

I place meaning in my work through the juxtaposition of something normal and something unexpected. I like to use unlikely pairings to create a response in the viewer and often pair the beautiful with something grotesque or shocking. Wood and metal inside an orange peel, a meat face at a beautiful dining table, and a casual personal funeral all contain an element of shock and humor. These surprising couplings catch the viewer off guard and force them to reconsider appropriate contexts of objects. With my meat face dinner, the cannibalistic meal served so nonchalantly referenced injustices overlooked in society. I wanted the viewer to wonder why no one was questioning this out of the ordinary dinner. Often my work contains an element of beauty but a closer look reveals a darker side. The birdlike tar paper dress when approached shows rough, expressive stitching. The normal funeral scenario for my final project is challenged when the viewer realizes I will be playing all of the parts performing the ceremony. In my pieces, I address feelings of vulnerability and being out of control. I use my own anxiety and personal experiences to fuel my work but the meaning portrayed often changes as it comes into fruition. I find it interesting to expose feelings we prefer not to show the world. With the popularity of social sites like face book and twitter, the image one puts out to the world is controlled and refined. This image is a false projection of the individual. In reality and behind closed doors, individuals struggle and face their imperfection. We put our best self on display but the dark complexity that we try to hide is what really fascinates me.

Lia Artist statement

People always ask  about the kind of art I do, and I have no good replies. Over my last 2 semesters at Penn State, I feel my art work developing as I experiment with different mediums, materials, processes and also presentations. From static sculptures to installations to performance I enjoy pushing the boundaries as I explore myself in these realms. In my recent work I realise a common thread of self portrayal in my work where I have used thoughts and beliefs as grounds and inspiration for my creation. I want to continue to pursue this area of introspection and express my innermost ideas and thought processes through my artwork.

Most of my artwork involve some processess of systems, I believe that nothing is final and as artist we can never actually finish a work because even as each individual views it the work is incomplete as the last step to completion is the viewer's reaction may it be emotional or physical. I enjoy installations too as I like manipulating all the senses to experience exactly what I intend it to be. In my Lost piece, the viewers could walk into an actual space of what the mind is like when its in turmoil.

A lot of my artwork is still about me experimenting, just like in drawing and painting how I enjoy experimenting with different medias, in my sculptural parts I like to experiment with different mediums and processes that would enhance my pieces.

I hope that as time goes on I will not only become sure of the kind of art I do, but to make it so distinct that everyone would know the kind of  art I do- a kind that allows others to see what I see, feel what I feel and react differently. 

doughnuts!

Artist Statement Bari Blanga

I see good ideas, irrelevant ideas, failure and accomplishment in my work, but above all I see the recreation of what I want to portray and how each and every one of my ideas comes together in my final piece. What I like about my work is that when I begin a piece I am most of the time unsure of the meaning but as I continue to progress and work on it I find that definite meaning instantaneously.

Nostalgia is a reoccurring theme that tends to come up over and over again throughout my work. I enjoy exposing this theme because I am the type of person that is able to look back on past memories and recreate them in my artwork.

Techniques that work best for me are scale and color. As a child all my toys seemed very large- but I guess that was due to the fact that I was physically smaller. I upscale all of my art to make myself and my viewers feel like a kid again. The overwhelming emotion that a toy has over a person is to me- the best feeling.

Although black and white are colors used to represent the past, I believe that bright, vibrant colors reflect my past. Color definitely adds a lot to my pieces. I used vibrant colors such as red, yellow, green and blue to bring life and make my work come to life.

Food is something that I like to incorporate in my work as well. Whether it is photography or sculpture I believe that food is absolutely a great way to bring people together and celebrate life. I love capturing the realness and tasting it in my artwork.

All in all, my art focuses on the past as well as bringing people together in the future.

My previous post wasn't letting my add the pictures, so here they are