Tamara Al-Mashouk on installing “Senior Thesis Exhibition” May 11, 2010
Posted by claralieu in installation, Installing Exhibitions, sculpture, Student blog posts.Tags: art, exhibition, gallery, installation, senior, thesis, wellesley college
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Today’s blog post is by Tamara Al-Mashouk, class of 2010 who completed work on her thesis in this year’s Senior Thesis Exhibition. Below you can read her thoughts on working in the gallery this past week.
The installation of my work began with setting up the standing bookcase. I decided where I wanted to place it, then laid out the eleven frames and four wall shelves. I had had an idea for how I wanted my side of the gallery to be arranged, but chose not to finalize my plans. I wanted the set up to come together as fluidly as the work itself; organically with very little sketching and planning.
After working out the structure of the show, I started bringing in the tiny objects I had created. I placed them sporadically, moving from the bookcase to the shelves, and onto the frames. I aimed to create a perfect chaos. When all the objects were finally in the gallery I sought to rearrange them to create interactions and an ethereal atmosphere. -Tamara Al-Mashouk
Senior Thesis Exhibition: Installation Complete May 10, 2010
Posted by claralieu in installation, sculpture, Student Exhibitions.Tags: art, exhibition, gallery, installation, student, thesis, wellesley college
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The Senior Thesis Exhibition, featuring seniors Tamara Al-Mashouk and Ji Young Lim completed installation into the gallery at the end of last week. To view all images from the exhibition, visit the Jewett Art Gallery’s Flickr Page.
Join us as we close the 2009-2010 gallery season with an opening reception on Tuesday, May 11, 4:45-6pm. The opening also includes the 350 senior photography exhibition “It’s Personal” featuring EB Bartels & Eleri Roberts, and “In the Rough”, sculptures by students in Professor Carlos Dorrien’s ARTS 317 course.
(above) detail of Ji Young Lim’s installation.
(above)detail of Tamara Al-Mashouk’s installation
Senior Thesis: Ji Young Lim April 24, 2010
Posted by claralieu in installation, Student Exhibitions.Tags: exhibition, gallery, installation, thesis, time
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Today’s post is a preview from the upcoming 2010 Senior Thesis Exhibition, our final show for the year featuring seniors Tamara Al-Mashouk and Ji Young Lim. Below is a preview of Ji’s work and her artist statement.
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” – Buddha
Time has always enchanted me. I found myself obsessing over the concepts of time and thinking about my past, present, and future. I was at a time of transition and at an end of my Wellesley College career. I found myself drowning and longing for the past and terrified of the uncertainty of the future. I found myself at a race against time just yearning for a break, a pause, a breath.
This installation is both representative of the weight of time and of a break in time. It is an interactive space. The viewer is allowed to become part of the hourglass standing at the bottom representing their own past and history through their physical presence. It depicts the infinite space of time and a stillness that provides a space for a breath. It is an intimate space where one can become aware of one’s physical presence and of the infinite entity of time.
This is a closing to my time at Wellesley College. It is my ode to my fellow women who are struggling with the race against time. There is no winning, just accepting and being.
Time keeps moving through the tough and through the good. It does indeed heal all wounds and it does indeed make you treasure the fleeting moments of joy. I have gained a larger and healthier perspective of time and have this past year to thank. I no longer look forward to the future with fear, but with excitement with what the future has to offer me. The possibilities are infinite.
Thesis Exhibition: Tamara Al-Mashouk April 23, 2010
Posted by claralieu in sculpture, Student Exhibitions.Tags: exhibition, gallery, imagination, installation, sculpture, thesis
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We will be concluding the 2010-2011 Jewett Art Gallery season with this year’s 2010 Senior Thesis Exhibition, featuring seniors Tamara Al-Mashouk and Ji Lim. Below is a preview of Tamara’s work and her artist statement.
Imaginary worlds exist within our minds. Music, painting, film making, writing, are all means of pulling them into the sensual world, in order for us to escape our reality and to experience. I consider daily how to bridge the gaps between these imaginary worlds and day-to-day life.
Throughout the year I explored the architectural elements that would de-root us from reality and allow us to escape. I aimed to create a setting that actualized another world in which we are the visitors. The result, is a cabinet of curiosity; an accumulation of objects belonging to an alternate reality.
By closely interacting with these objects as single pieces, or as parts of a whole, a window is opened to the intricacies of another world. The objects are all very fragile, almost untouchable. In this world, objects manifest themselves. There is no creator. They are formed by living elements, naturally coming together.
When making the objects, I did not work from a sketch, or plan. I simply worked with materials, my minds eye guiding the process. Allowing the objects to manifest themselves within our world.
I began to notice certain repeated tendencies, such as the shape of a pentagon. The structure became a building block for some of the objects. I did not measure and cut pieces of material, rather placed them where they felt comfortable. This process created a series of beautifully distorted intricate objects belonging to a world of fantasy. -Tamara Al-Mashouk
Madeline Vara on installing “350: Student Exhibition” April 15, 2010
Posted by claralieu in Installing Exhibitions, painting, Student blog posts, Student Exhibitions.Tags: exhibition, gallery, installation, painting
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Today’s post is a guest blog post by Madeline Vara, Class of 2010. Madeline completed a 350 level project and is participating in “350: Student Exhibition“ which has an opening reception next Tuesday, April 20 at 4:45pm. In her post, she discusses the process and experience of installing her project into the gallery space.
“This past Monday, we began the installation for the 350 show. Though all of the 350 students participating in the show, myself included, were displaying paintings, I found myself with a bit of predicament concerning how to present my artwork. In the case of the other 350 students, their paintings were all on large stretches of canvas, set to be easily hung on the walls. My project had left me with 22 various small paintings, though, with all of them on paper.
While I could have just as easily posted my paintings in mass along the wall, I couldn’t help but feel that it wouldn’t do the art justice. As a result, I embarked on small mission to complete a three dimensional installation of my work by creating shelves to display them on. After buying a multitude of hardware supplies, I set out to create a 7-foot long shelf and multiple smaller shelves. The all-day affair of painting them, deciding their places on the wall, and finally drilling them into place was tiring, but ultimately worth every minute. Viewing art isn’t just about the painting or drawing or sculpture itself; it is deeply tied in with the space the object occupies and the mode through which we view it. Installing the shelves was essential to creating the right “frame” for my paintings.”- Madeline Vara, Class of 2010
Madeline Vara works to install her pieces into the gallery space.
Installing “350: Student Exhibition” April 13, 2010
Posted by claralieu in Uncategorized.Tags: drawing, exhibition, gallery, installation, painting, wellesley college
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This morning we finished up the final stages of deinstalling “Transformations” and began installing “350: Student Exhibition“. This student exhibition spotlights students who are doing 350 level projects this year as well as students in the ARTS217 Life Drawing course. Join us for the opening reception next Tuesday, April 20 from 4:45-6pm.
The incoming student paintings are against the gallery wall, waiting to be installed into the gallery space.
Nathalie Miebach works with a student gallery assistant to pack up her sculptures from the “Transformations” exhibition.
Madeline Vara works to arrange her works on paper project onto a wooden shelf she installed into the gallery wall.
Becky Parker’s oil paintings are on the left, with Wanda Xu’s landscape paintings and Laura Foley’s oil paintings of cupcakes on the right. To view all of the works in the exhibition, visit the Jewett Art Gallery’s Flickr Page.
“Spine: Senior Exhibition”: Opening Reception December 11, 2009
Posted by claralieu in book arts, installation, Opening Receptions, painting, Student Exhibitions.Tags: book arts, installation, painting, student, wellesley college
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This afternoon we hosted the opening reception for “SPINE: Senior Exhibition”. We had an amazing turn out for the show, which made for a lively and festive event.
At the opening reception, each of the artists spoke briefly about their works in the exhibition.
Jessica Planos discusses her artist books.
Eliza Murphy talks about her self-portrait oil paintings.
Jenna Miller discusses her installation “Frame”.
Jenna Miller on installing “Spine: Senior Exhibition” December 5, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Architecture, sculpture, Student blog posts, Student Exhibitions.Tags: Architecture, installation, sculpture
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Today’s post is a guest blog post from senior Jenna Miller, who has a large scale installation titled “Frame” in our current exhibition “SPINE: Senior Exhibition”. Read below about her experience installing her work in the gallery over the past two days.
After 12+ hours worth of time in the gallery, I have finally completed installing “Frame”. I arrived at the Jewett Art gallery around 8:30 yesterday morning to begin moving the components of my installation work from the studio into the gallery. It ended up taking multiple trips (and multiple people) to move the stack of 2×4 wooden beams and my slabs of drywall into the space.
Once we finished hauling materials and relocated a missing ladder, the gallery looked a bit like a construction site. Eliza, Jess, and I then began the task of determining the layout of our show based on scale and the way our pieces talked to each other.
When I returned from class, the construction began. I started building the wooden frame, which composes the structure of my work, with the help of Professor Andy Mowbray and my Independent Studies Advisor, Professor Daniela Rivera. The 2x4s had warped because of the humidity and definitely put up a fight as we tried to straighten them into an orthogonal frame. Ultimately, we were successful, and the framework was complete.
We then created cable support mechanisms for my walls, and I attached my drywall slabs and plexi-glass onto the still horizontal wooden frames. The next step took a couple of us standing up the assembled wall panel as Daniela scurried up the ladder to attach the cables to the beams. It was great to see the first segment of my work standing for the first time, especially since this is the biggest scale work I have ever created. I finished up the evening in the gallery by myself, touching up details and tidying up the space after the day’s whirlwind of activity. Then I went home and slept—what a full day!
This morning, Daniela and I stood up and hung the final panel, helped Jess to arrange her podiums, and adjusted the gallery lighting. At the end of it all, we just sat back, sipped our much-needed coffee, and admired all of our hard work.
Spine: Installation December 4, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Architecture, book arts, Installing Exhibitions, painting, Student Exhibitions.Tags: Architecture, artist books, gallery, installation, oil painting
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This morning we started installing “SPINE: Senior Exhibition” which features seniors Jessica Planos, Eliza Murphy, and Jenna Miller. This exhibition has a wonderful diverse selection of work: Eliza Murphy is exhibiting a series of large scale, self-portrait oil paintings. Jenna Miller constructed a large scale installation piece which references architectural elements. Jessica Planos is showing a series of letterpress books.
Jenna Miller and Andrew Mowbray work on constructing a wooden structure for her installation piece titled Frame.
Moving segments of Jenna Miller’s installation work into the gallery turned out to be a five person job due to the fragility of the drywall material the segment was made out of. The segments will be attached to the wooden structure and then made to stand up with a pulley system attached to the ceiling of the gallery.
Eliza Murphy works on figuring out measurements and spacing for her oil paintings. Since Jenna Miller’s work and Jessica’s work are both three-dimensional, this allowed Eliza to have use all of the wall space for her paintings. Given their large scale, this worked out perfectly.
“Pulp” Installation September 5, 2009
Posted by claralieu in Installing Exhibitions.Tags: exhibition, gallery, installation
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This morning many of the studio art faculty gathered to install “Pulp: Works on Paper by the Studio Art Faculty”. I’m constantly surprised that I can ask each faculty member to bring some work of their own choice, and that together we’re able to mount a group show relatively spontaneously.
Phyllis McGibbon places her work “Super Imitation” on a pedestal for display.
Left to right: Daniela Rivera, Christine Rogers, and Katherine McCanless Ruffin look at Christine Rogers’ work “New Family”.
