Kristina Smith

Kristina Smith

MFA Candidate - Photography

My work focuses upon memories and personal narrative gathered from relationships  and experiences. The work documents emotions that have been felt, experiences that I have experienced, situations that I have witnessed, and all of the things that were left unsaid. I try to evoke a sense of love and loss, showing how it can affect a space, and also how it can affect a figure in that space. What is left of the body, of your emotions, and your outlook on the world after a trauma or tragedy. What is left when the ground beneath you has been pulled out from under you and your sense of normalcy has subsided, having shaken you violently awake. 

I am also been interested in the body. How it works, what it looks like. How the body is this impressionable surface, much like our minds. That every event, good or bad, can leave an impression upon its facade.

My work focuses on dualities and dichotomies, women's issues, and sexuality. In this work I have used mold-making and burn out materials to create a sense of implied or constructed truth. I combined multiples of two distinct forms with a diptych style video projection, all referencing memory and deconstructive behavior to create a new hybrid form, one that isn't as defined or black and white. But possibly something incorporating many truths. 

Kelly Burchfield

 Trying to find an Artist Statemen is one very difficult task. I do not make art to say a set message. I lack the capasity to look at a piece of clay and think to myself, "If I make it shaped in this manner and add distress and color on these specific locations, some profound meaning will just pop into the mind of the viewer". Against popular advice, I infact, do the exact opposite. When I start shaping a piece of clay, all the noise around me fades away. Clay is a medium of which my subconscious mind is able to find resolution for the war between my inner and outer worlds. The journey through my ever changing battle is pernamently recorded in every piece I make. I guess if I were to summarize all that into some sort of statement it would be: To allow my pieces to become what they are, a journey through mixed feelings and emotions. 

April Mae Bassett

I have always been creative in the arts, whether it be drawing, sculpting, music, or performing. The work that I've created so far is mostly abstract.  I've always been interested in the universe and the endless flow of energy and I feel like my work reflects that. Through past experiences that I've had and for the things I would like to see in my future, is to continue to trust the process of creation. I want my work to be interesting to look at and to inspire people to find a connection within it. One of my favorite things is for people to call out what they see happening in the piece; most of the time, it's things that I haven't seen. To me it shows that because it's abstract, people are finding pieces of themselves within it and they have the freedom to create their own reality.    

Anastasia Gabriel

Emotional associations attached to events during childhood fascinate me. The inspiration for my current work in porcelain and simplified objects is an abstraction drawn from early memories and interactions with relatives.

I began this work after a visit with my aging father during which he forgot who I was. As I left, I contemplated on my own memory and how events shape our lives.

My artwork is about expressing transformative moments of fragility and strength. I want viewers to be taken out of time by the ordinary–to enjoy the simplicity of line, movement and emotion conveyed through my work.

Joye Chadwick

I'm interested in architectural dwellings that refer to ancient origins, across different cultures. Formally each piece is a vessel that reflects light and shadow on planes and spaces in asymmetrical and altered shapes. Attachments and extensions refer to architectural details. I explore surfaces that reflect the formal qualities of drawing and texture as well as colors in slips and oxide washes.

The house, the habitat, the dwelling - these are terms I use for my architectural forms that reference shelter. The current work 'Road Trip," is a hybrid piece built with found objects and clay.  In the accompanying road trip video, light and  dark, morning and evening, speed by. A passing scene jumps, and jogs a memory of another road taken, another time. For me it is a serious, contemplative exploration, not glamorous, no crowds. The sculpture considers a lifestyle possibility, a dwelling with a fantasy ability to move about the environment. In some pieces wheeled toys or animals present a means to get around.  As a sub-theme the animals stand in as pets. One of these is my cat Boc, my muse, and the pet whale in today's work travels in specially built environment.  I am considering the intentional act of being homeless, by choice, not necessarily for cause.  Without ownership of land or house, a sense of freedom can push forward ideas of minimal belongings, small living space and exploring life around the world.

Carrie Grewing

Emotional ties to creative expression are something that took root at an early age with me, watching my grandmother work in clay as a child lead to my love of the medium; the malleability of the clay leaving structural horizons open. It’s simplicity giving way to my own creative drives. There is a tendency in my works to focus on living shapes; simple, strong organic lines, and contrasting textures. Capturing colors and patterns through experimentation in technique and glaze work is always a goal. I tend to conceptualize the projects at hand with sketches but they all evolve beyond the paper into their own works. Recently I began figure building, piquing my interests in less abstract shapes, lending a sense of history to pieces. Experiments with metal working and wood carving technique have given me new approaches to a familiar medium. Hand painting, as well, has broadened the color palette at my disposal. My influences come mostly from nature. More specifically, I’m fascinated by the way things grow and compound upon themselves; initially lending itself to plant life, but more recently branching out into more complex storytelling in a static media. Presently, I am taking my art in another direction, attempting to depict archetypal images hidden within everyone's subconscious mind. By using universal imagery and esoteric symbolism, I want people to feel a connection to the art and to everyone else's perception or reality. To give the viewer a sense of presence or awareness is my new goal.

Kristina Smith

Kristina Smith

MFA Candidate - Photography

My photographic work has been mainly focused upon personal memories and experiences that I have gathered from relationships over the years.  The work documents emotions that have been felt, experiences that I have experienced, situations that I have witnessed, and all of the things that were left unsaid. I try to evoke a sense of love and loss, showing how it can affect a space, and also how it can affect a figure in that space. What is left of the body, of your emotions, and your outlook on the world after a trauma or tragedy. What is left when the ground beneath you has been pulled out from under you and your sense of normalcy has subsided, having shaken you violently awake. 

I have also been interested in the body. How it works, what it looks like. How the body is this impressionable surface, much like our minds. That every event can leave an impression upon its facade.

My ceramic work has been focusing mainly on dualities and dichotomies, women's issues, and sexuality. I have been working mostly in mold-making with grolleg porcelain casting slip and lustres. I combine two or more forms to create a new hybrid form, one that isn't as defined or black and white. But possibly something incorporating many truths

                                      

 

You can view more of my work here.

Julie Greer

My work in ceramics continues to be challenging and emotionally stimulating.  My work is defined by my love of nature and the simple shapes and colors found in our environment.  I enjoy the creative process and especially love working with the earthy qualities of the clay.  My forms are basic in design, yet powerful in their message.  The colors evoke a sense of quiet energy.  My work conveys my life experiences, the landscapes I've lived in and the life force I've encountered.  I tell a story with my work and hope to convey the power and beauty of relationships between humans, animals, and their environments.  I appreciate that each piece created is original and has its own character marks, not unlike the people that view them.      

Aisha Le Blue Sims

I've made art all my life, which is not a long time in the grand scheme but it was something I was raise in. Throughout my undergrad work, I've strive to make things look visually pleasant, " pretty" in fact. I'm a fanatic when it comes to Rocco and decorative jewelry. It influenced my work beyond measure. Then I realized I am not that person as an artist, and my art is suffering. So I've changed my focus to something more in tuned with my inner thoughts and self. My current works are focused on decay and seeing the body in fragments. The wonderful illusion that these people are real and I'm just here to distort them.  Its not meant to inform, teach, or relate to the audience in any way other than to disturb.

John David Hutson

The art that I create, regardless of the medium, is a physical manifestation of my evolution as a man finding his way through life.  Each piece of art I create is a form of therapy that helps me evolve mentally, physically and spiritually.  My art starts with ideas, dreams, and plans, but as with life itself things don’t always come out the way you intended, but that doesn’t mean it is not how it was meant to be.  I allow each piece to evolve and find its own path through the creative process.  In the end I want my art to represent a little piece of me, it’s the way I cope with life and how I connect with other people.

To see more of my artwork visit johnhutsonart.com

Codi Rennke

Art. What is art? What is beauty? What is purpose? What is direction? What is life? Right now my art is more about a question than a statement. Self-discovery, perhaps, if anything.












Thus far my Ceramics education has focused on functionality, and so here is an example of the work I have done:

Liz Head-Fischer

My work is a fusion of natural organic forms layered with a kind of decoration that reflects current notions of what is pretty or fashionable. I attempt to present a vision of what occurs when a beautiful object found in nature is radically altered using decoration that supports modern ideas of taste and style. I make biomorphic forms enhancing them with textures, delicate colors, and patterns that are already familiar in our surroundings. The richness of color, for example, gold might draw the viewer in to try to understand what this structure is communicating. I then will add natural rough textures contrasting with elegant Rhine stones or sequins transforms the object into a form from a another world.

Colby Parsons

Colby Parsons

Associate Professor

My work explores the semiotic connections we continually make in conscious and unconscious ways; the ways that ordinary things link to associated meanings and memories.  Each object we encounter is like the tip of a mental iceberg, connecting what is in front of us with any other experience we have had with an object like that in the past, anything it makes us think of indirectly, or any representation of something like it we have seen in a movie, a book, etc.  I am exploring that type of connection by creating clay simulacra of objects I encounter in my everyday life, and overlaying them with video and still imagery based on my own associations with the things I am depicting.  

  Here is an example called "box of lightbulbs", and you can look at my website to see more colbyparsonsart.com