“Transformations”: Nathalie Miebach November 13, 2009
Posted by claralieu in artists, sculpture.Tags: music, science, sculpture, weather, weaving
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“Transformations“, an exhibition scheduled for March 2010, will examine artists who work between 2-D and 3-D media. Below is a preview of Nathalie Miebach’s visually arresting sculptures based on two-dimensional musical scores. Read her artist statement to gain more insight on her multi-faceted process. Miebach will also be offering an Applied Arts Workshop in Sculptural Weaving in conjunction with this exhibition.
My work focuses on the intersection of art and science and the visual articulation of scientific observations. Using the methodologies and processes of both disciplines, I translate scientific data related to ecology, climate change and meteorology into three-dimensional structures. My method of translation is principally that of weaving – in particular basket weaving – as it provides me with a simple yet highly effective grid through which to interpret data in three-dimensional space. The data I use is a combination of my own, which I gather on a daily basis using low-tech data-collecting devices, as well as regional or global data from the internet. By staying true to the numbers, these woven pieces tread an uneasy divide between functioning both as sculptures in space as well as instruments that could be used in the actual environment from which the data originates.
Central to this work is my desire to explore the role visual aesthetics play in the translation and understanding of scientific information. By utilizing artistic processes and everyday materials, I am questioning and expanding the traditional boundaries through which science data has been visually translated (ex: graphs, diagrams), while at the same time provoking expectations of what kind of visual vocabulary is considered to be in the domain of ‘science’ or ‘art’.
For the past three years, I have been working on a project called “Recording and Translating Climate Change”. The purpose of this project is to gain a better understanding of weather and what it means to live in an age of human-induced climate change. Using my own data-collecting devices, I gather weather observations from specific ecosystems, which are then compared to historical and global meteorological trends. All of these pieces look at the complexity of behavioral interactions of living/non-living systems that make up, or are influenced by, weather. The latest development in this project includes data translation into musical scores. I choose several elements from my data and “map” the numbers (in pictorial form) on score sheets. Musicians then interpret the “score” as musical compositions and I interpret the score as three-dimensional sculptures. My aim is twofold: to convey a nuance or level of emotionality surrounding my research that thus far has been absent from my visual work and to reveal patterns in the data musicians might identify which I have failed to see.
Upcoming: Japanese Bento Box Workshop November 9, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Applied Arts.Tags: bento boxes, Japan, lunch
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I’m working on booking Applied Arts Workshops for the spring 2010 semester right now. We have a terrific line up already, which includes a Japanese Bento Box workshop on February 27. Anna The Red will be coming in from New York City to instruct this workshop. The workshop will show basic techniques and approaches for making cute characters from an assortment of different foods. You can visit Anna’s blog, AnnaThe Red’s Bento Factory to view some of her bento creations.
View the spring 2010 workshop schedule here. Registration for spring 2010 workshops begins on January 26, 201o.
Japanese Bento Boxes by Anna The Red
“Line by Line”: Opening Reception November 6, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Opening Receptions, drawing.Tags: drawing
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This afternoon we hosted the opening reception for “LINE BY LINE: Student Drawing Exhibition” . WCAC TV, Wellesley’s local news station came to the opening and conducted short interviews with many of the participating students in the exhibition. Several students in the exhibition who I talked to noticed in particular how different their work looked within the gallery context. For most students, the typical experience with their drawings is to quickly pin it up on the classroom wall to be critiqued. It’s amazing the difference it makes to have a clean wall with everything measured and neatly presented; you’re able to see the work clearly and in a completely different light.
Preview: “Transformations” November 5, 2009
Posted by claralieu in artists, sculpture.Tags: drawing, sculpture
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While working on the installation for “LINE BY LINE: Student Drawing Exhibition” this week, I’ve been putting together a roster of four artists for an exhibition coming up in March 2010 called “Transformations“. The exhibit will examine artists who with in both 2-D and 3-D media. I’m pleased to announce the four artists in the show: Ken Horii, Anthony Janello, Thomas Lyon Mills, and Nathalie Miebach. Nathalie Miebach will be offering an Applied Arts Workshop in Sculptural Weaving in mid March. Gallery Talks will also be scheduled with the other three artists in the show.
Student Drawing Show: Installation November 3, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Installing Exhibitions, drawing.Tags: drawing, exhibition, gallery
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This morning we deinstalled “Pacific Pictures: Student Work from the Carleton College Seminar in the South Pacific“ and installed “LINE BY LINE: Student Drawing Exhibition”.
We had a great turnout for this exhibition; students were invited to submit up to three pieces which made for over 60 submissions for this show. After going through all of the submissions, it became clear early on in the process that we would hang one submission from each student due to space limitations. The other option would have been to hang the show “salon style” where the walls would just be plastered with work from floor to ceiling. I tend to like showing fewer works and giving those works enough breathing space on the wall to be fully appreciated as opposed to throwing everything up on the wall en masse.
Packing up prints from “Pacific Pictures: Student Work from the Carleton College Seminar in the South Pacific” and hanging the new exhibition at the same time.
Laying out all of the drawings with ID labels attached to each piece to figure out what specific works would be in the exhibition.
The other major challenge (and asset) of this exhibition was the enormous range of subject matter and drawing approaches that this show encompasses. We worked to group the pieces according to scale, subject, and overall visual look to create some sense of cohesion amongst so much diversity in the pieces.
View more images of the completed installation and the installation in progress here:
Student Drawing Show: Submissions October 29, 2009
Posted by claralieu in drawing.Tags: drawing, exhibition, gallery, student
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This week at the gallery we’ve been accepting submissions for “LINE BY LINE: Student Drawing Exhibition”. This is the first time that we’ve hosted a student exhibition which was an open invitation to all students here at Wellesley College. I’m excited to have the opportunity to see the enormous range of subjects and approaches to drawing all in one show. We had a huge turnout for the show, over 60 submissions total. The show will be installed on Monday with an opening reception scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5 from 4:45-6pm.
“Acne, Year 6″, charcoal, 36″ x 48″, by Katie Simpson, Class of 2012.
Applied Arts Workshop: Papermaking October 25, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Applied Arts, book arts.Tags: paper, papermaking
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We had a great turnout for the free Applied Arts Workshop in Papermaking this afternoon. Book Arts Program Director Katherine McCanless Ruffin led the workshop in the newly renovated Papermaking Studio, instructing papermaking techniques and processes.
Katherine McCanless Ruffin explains and demonstrates the process.
Papermaking is apparently very wet and messy; workshop participants were instructed in advance to wear rain boots, while plastic aprons were handed out at the workshop. Papermaking is divided up into 4 essential steps: 1) fiber preparation, 2) sheet forming, 3)couching/pressing and 4) drying. Participants were able to do everything from running their hands through giant plastic bins of paper pulp to pressing their paper onto dampened felts to couch and press the paper.
One of my favorite anecdotes from the workshop was the papermaking phrase “kissing off”. When you form the sheet with the wet pulp, if the sheet is uneven and you need to redo the sheet, you “kiss off” the wet pulp back into the bin of pulp. It’s amazing how quickly and evenly the sheet would fall right back into the bin.
Upcoming: “Transformations” October 23, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Ideas, sculpture.Tags: exhibition, gallery, sculpture
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Our gallery is unique in that we show both student exhibitions and professional exhibitions throughout the year. The majority of our shows scheduled for the spring semester are student exhibitions, but I will be curating a professional exhibition in March called “Transformations”. “Transformations” will feature artists who create works in two-dimensional and three-dimensional media which are related somehow. The idea is to look at how three-dimensional work is transformed into a tw0 dimensional media, or vice versa. This is an exciting show in terms of the 3D component; the majority of shows that we’ve mounted recently at the gallery have focused on two-dimensional media: drawings, paintings, prints, photography, etc.
