Category: Studio
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Toying with History: How history repeats itself
[This is part two of a thesis paper about the series Toying with History. Here is the master post.] In any critical comparison of the present and the past, it is de rigeur to mention philosopher George Santayana’s much-quoted claim that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (qtd. in Schwartz…
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Toying with History: Abstract and Introduction
[This is the first installment of my final MFA thesis paper. The master post is available here.] Abstract I use my paintings to playfully invite serious conversations. The series Toying with History examines representation through a feminist lens. I began this series with the following question: to what degree are women still misrepresented in our…
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Studio upgrade
I have wanted to build a proper rack within which to store my canvases for years. I knew it would free up a lot of studio space while giving me easier access to all my work. I massively underestimated how dramatic that change would be.
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Old stuff: more costumes
[Edit: I found this March 2014 post from about older work languishing in my drafts folder. I am no longer working with such crowded compositions, nor on 11 x 14″ papers. I only post this now in the interest of completion within this research blog. More carefully edited thoughts on the matter appear in this…
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A bevy of artists’ sites
Peers: Beth Scher Jaclyn Seufert Todd Molinari Eric Leon Colleen Wampole David Butler Amy Brand and (her blog) Denise Philipbar Sarah Nguyen Nathan Goddard Joe Bliss and his plein air paintings Robin Brewer Monika Rosa Meg Brady Aaron Kather Moraiah Luna Zac Pritchard University of the Arts Faculty: Rebecca Saylor Sack Dan Reidy and Wendy…
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From the archives: an old storage attempt
My recent task has been to decide how to display these paper dolls. Months ago, I tried making an altered art history book into a popup display for paper dolls. I’m far from content with this prototype, but the link of paper dolls (derived from art history) and an altered art history book strikes…
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Incorporating criticism
I mentioned some of the feedback I received from the first critique of term in this post. The task during the week following was to use those suggestions and criticisms. I experimented with and modified work from the spring critique in five different ways. The more I thought about the spring crit, the more I…
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Spring critique 2014
This Saturday I presented this term’s artwork for review by my peers and professors. Here are a few photos of how it was arranged for critique. I’ve been asked to explore more display options. Cutting them out and presenting the dolls in site-specific installations was one suggestion. Removing the black mat boards was a…
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Play and fantasy
[ The first two parts of this essay can be found here and here. Some images and detailed description of this final section have been omitted pending permission from the individual to whom it refers. ] Collection #2 “To my way of thinking, knowing an object does not mean copying it–it means acting upon it.…
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Confronting and kowtowing to the canon
[ part 2 of the essay which began “To Thine Own Self Be True” ] Collection #1 ”Shades of Santayana! Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it; ergo, those who can remember the past may overcome it? What does it mean, in a society replete with simulations and reenactments, to overcome…
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To thine own self be true
[ Then again, consider the source. ] Selfies are easily dismissed as narcissistic or kitschy, but the urge to self-define is neither new nor unimportant. The convention of using physical likeness to express individuality applies along the continuum of portrait images in visual culture: it links lowbrow selfies to high art portraits of Rembrandt. By…
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Highlighting women as creators (via paper dolls)
My recent paintings experiment with and assess the personal impact of the artistic canon. In superimposing the art historical canon over my own paper doppelgänger, I engage in a form of portraiture similar to what Svetlana Alpers refers to in The Art of Describing as the “historiating portrait” (14). Such figures “are distinguished by looking…
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Proof of concept?
I’m starting something new… My plans owe a grateful nod to work by Jaclyn Seufert and Beth Scher. …oh, and maybe Sandro Botticelli as well.
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Four months of work
Correspondence art: and a scrap/accordion book to document it 1) Proust’s madeleines 2) Honkers 3) pictures of the pink/purple seal (designed with feedback from mail art #1) 4) bees 5) luggage tags 6) a book to document the project Opiate of the Masses the triptych about seductive things (with a…
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Souvenirs, part 2
I recently completed what I considered a research trip to Europe. I brought a stack of quality paper and pencils and attempted to create as many souvenirs (aka postcards) as I could while engaged in the inevitable “hurry up and wait” parts of such travel. Obviously Gaudi’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia made a…
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Mail art #3: Wax seals yet again
First and foremost, thank goodness for the occasional light-hearted project like this one with which to leaven everything else. I was dared to construct a wax seal larger than my usual 1 in. diameter. I decided that this meant I had to make one in excess of 4 in. With so much more surface area…
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Identity politics
Today’s derailing experience comes courtesy of my studio mentor. He pointed out that an opinion I expressed about identity politics invalidated my entire thesis. He wasn’t wrong…but the opinion I voiced this morning was less nuanced than the one I would have stated if given more time. To give the appropriate visual context, here are…
Colleen Wampole 