Monday, March 15, 2010

Alumni Highlight...

Undergrad Alumni Highlight :

After receiving his BFA in Ceramics from GSU, Andrew Sloan Jackson has been teaching in Fulton County public schools for the past two years and now plans to pursue his MFA in Ceramics at Ohio University this Fall 2010. In 2008, he was an artist-in-residence at Roswell Clay West, a ceramics studio and gallery in Roswell, GA & is now collaborating with fellow GSU alum Kelcy Chase Folsom on establishing Ladyboy Presents, focusing on issues of gender and sexuality through installation, performance, and craft materials.

Artist Statement :

I am interested in evoking an alternative to the "human" world as it presently exists. Rather than a world in which the natural is subjugated to the human hand, through my work I wish to evoke an alternative environment where man and nature come together with less conflict in a harmonious symbiosis, whether by design or natural evolution. By mimicking organic textures and shapes in settings of varying complexity, I hope to suggest in my work the geometry of nature, in particular biology and genetics. I often create the same forms in different scales, mediums, or contexts suggestive of lineage or evolution. In most works, I strive to keep the installation free of overt references or judgments allowing the viewer to interpret the meaning of the work in light of their own personal experience. I also want the work to retain its looseness, as I am drawn to simple, direct processes and materials.

My current work in progress and in my portfolio exemplifies my interest in and exploration of ceramic and mixed media to explore ecology, organic processes and the concept of transhumanism. I am especially drawn to exploring the possibilities of a transhuman future where technology and biology blend to change the bodies we now inhabit in ways we can only begin to imagine. Through visual media I intend to explore the questions and issues raised when we are able to manipulate the form and abilities of our bodies. I wonder whether humanity will react with horror or accept these changes as the logical next step of evolution.


Monday, March 1, 2010

MFA Thesis Exhibition...

Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of artist Jessica Orlowski’s MFA thesis exhibition Ties That Bind.

Ties That Bind is an alluring and playful exhibition comprised of ceramic figure sculpture and interactive toys. This work offers playful memory triggers and empty spaces in which viewers can deconstruct the building blocks of their social persona.

Jessica’s work has been frequently exhibited both nationally and internationally and is a part of prominent collections such as The Porter Price Collection in Columbia, SC, and the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute Collection in Jingdezhen, China. Locally, Jessica’s work was recently seen at Beep Beep Gallery’s 1st sculpture exhibition Material and will also be included in a month-long exhibition at Kibbee Gallery in April.

Ties That Bind will be on view from March 22nd-26th. A closing reception will take place March 26th, 5- 7pm. The show is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact the GSU Gallery at artgallery@gsu.edu or Jessica Orlowski at Seraphim205@yahoo.com

MFA Thesis Exhibition...

In A Strange Place : An examination of modern life through self-portraiture
Mixed Media works by Ben Goldman

Opening Reception Friday, March 5th 6:00 PM - 10 PM
Artist Contact : ben@bengstudio.com 404.271.6340

Kibbee Gallery
(behind Fellini's Pizza on Ponce)
688 Linwood ave
Atlanta, GA 30306
404.839.0331

MFA Thesis Exhibition...

Stories from a Chair: A Life Exquisite

The works of Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn

March 15th - 19th

Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design is proud to present Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn's Master of Fine Arts Thesis Show, Stories from a Chair: A Life Exquisite. Her drawings, performances, and written works have been called truthful visual documentation, small works with large emotional impact, visually jarring, brave, and abrasively comical. Making the artwork even more compelling is the story it tells. Blinkhorn was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, at nineteen months. Having lost the ability to walk at age five, Blinkhorn received her first of many chairs. Her drawings are small visual documentations render true to life on a 5’’ x7’’ and/or 2’’ x3’’ scale and speak of her life contained within a genetic cage.

Blinkhorn's work will be on display from March 15th - 19th, with a reception on Friday, March 19th, 2010 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Free and open to the public.

MFA Thesis Exhibition...


The Pink Passenger

An exhibition of art works by Samuel Parker

March 15th - 19th

Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design is proud to present Samuel Parker’s Master of Fine Arts Thesis Show, The Pink Passenger. Parker has created a series of paintings based on critical dialogues in which individual paintings act as finished responses as well as transitional points for further dialogue. The show explores Parker’s filtering of graffiti, tattooing, and underground comics through the critical exchange of the academic arena.

Artist contact: Samuel Parker at ceroakb@gmail.com

Parker’s work will be on display from March 15th - 19th, with a reception on Friday March 19th from 7pm- 10pm.