Scholarship & Research
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Item Ceramic sculpture(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1994) Van den Dool, Monica HelenaThe observation of everyday actions and interactions provides me with the motivation for this body of work. The situations, motives, and characteristics of my sculptures are no more indecipherable, strange, or ambiguous than what I see around me everyday. To me, the figures are clear and more than real, crystallizing and magnifying the course of day-to-day life. In general, figurative work appeals to me because of its directness. Its presence and impact are less remote, more immediate. The bulk, scale and chunky physicality lend an important quality to these figures; a sense that they are uneasy in their own bodies. In Deep Sea Catch, this theme is explicit. A blankly smiling and seemingly oblivious woman holds out a prehistoric-looking fish. The fish represents the primitive in the character’s nature, a connection that she cannot even begin to grasp. The figures are all female for a variety of reasons. I am obviously more familiar with the female figure and work from my own poses in the studio. There is also a feminist element in the work, although the emphasis is on the more sweeping concerns of the human condition. The issues I address are common to both genders in varying degrees, but are expressed more naturally for me through the female figure. In the earlier sculptures, which are not draped, the generic style of clothing is an attempt to establish a kind of uniform of normalcy. The women, outfitted in pumps, necklaces, and dresses, appear to be comfortable and well-off. Their placid and carefully groomed exteriors form an ironic contrast to their more desperate or suggestive circumstances. For instance, in Chicken Dinner, two women interact with a pair of dead chickens. The women’s incongruous style of dress and apparent delight heightens the strangeness of what could have been a relatively normal scenario.Item Ceramic sculpture(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1986) Dayton, Chandler RaeThe pieces in this exhibition are abstractions of figures in landscapes. Although some of the forms suggest physical places, the abstraction of the forms is intended to draw-the viewer into a private, interior place, or landscape. The references to the figure are contained in the gesture of the whole piece, as well as in the repeated use of the oval volume (the head, center of perception) and the tubular volumes (the limbs which act on perception). The gesture of the whole piece is orchestrated to allude to specific interior experiences which are also universal; that of conflict, joy, and eros. Conflict is a condition of human experience because of ignorance, or our inability to know. Joy is the fundamental state of being; the wellspring of all life forms. Eros is the condition of life's longing for itself; love. In addition, some of the pieces exhibit a humor which is self-mocking.Item Untitled(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1999) Ahnen, Phillip S.This work is carved using different axes, a process that does not allow modeling, and involves no “finishing touches”. Using these tools, I engage abstraction, and work to reveal myself through the clay. To me, the work is primarily about the nature of clay as a malleable material; it is about the permanent record of my actions left in the wet clay, and vocabulary of expressive mark-making. Secondary to abstraction, is the figure. The figure is the lure for the viewer to engage my abstractions. The human form is common to everyone, and in this scale invites the audience into its personal space. At the' same time, these sculptures are nameless, and faceless, which affords each viewer the opportunity to feel the body before them as if it were their own.Item Glimpses of my journey(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1994) Thorn, Richard LeeI am an explorer. I work in a personal and private way, which enhances my own journey of exploration and discovery. My site-interactive ceramic sculptures intensify the bond of energy that exists between myself and nature, revitalizing me and reaffirming that which I know to be true or of value. I deliberately create startling or unsettling conditions that are intended to provide a glimpse into unexplored inner realms, challenging myself and viewers to engage in exploration. My work is not a finished product, but a continuing process. The process begins with my exploration of the surrounding mountains, with my search for sites with which I feel an inner connection. This exploration inspires the construction of site-interactive sculptures which I call Spirit Vessels: ceramic sculptures which function as containers for my spirit and as focal points for my thoughts and energy. I choose shapes, colors, textures and a scale which unify the vessels with their sites. I return often to the sites, frequently bringing back rocks to guide me in the treatment of each work’s surface. At times, I texture my work with these rocks by pounding or pressing them into the wet clay.Item Personal pluralism(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1986) Berends, Andrew AlbertMy art work exploits a form of "personal pluralism" which enables me to work in a myriad of mediums as well as ideas. All the mediums and techniques surround a core of imagination which is part of a perpetual, ongoing dialogue among materials, processes and instinct. Each medium contains its own set of rules as well as parameters. I try to repeat the process to learn the physical aspect of the techniques, while at the same time letting my instincts and intuition dictate the final outcome. I am always trying to go out on a limb to challenge myself, trusting this intuition and applying a good, healthy dose of imagination. I treat art as the game that moves as I play. In other words, I never know what I'm looking for until I've found it. Each piece has a life of its own. I give it a chance to be born and then, after a passage of time, I objectively analyze and assimilate a visual feedback of information in order to understand its significance. This information becomes the catalyst for new work which will, in turn, lead to new discoveries. The pottery, for example, becomes sculpture which begins with a variation of a wheel-thrown vessel form. Like the sculptor, Peter Voulkos, I use the potter's wheel as a tool to make vessel-shapes which speak of my respect for the genesis of form through the. vessel, yet at the same time I want these pieces to stand up on their own integrity within the context of contemporary art. I am convinced that vessels can transcend the ominous barrier between art and craft if the visual dynamics of form and surface overpower the sense of utility. Ambiguous asymmetry plays a crucial role in providing impact while simultaneously raising questions that will hopefully lead to a personal investigation. I want my work to endure beyond the point of this initial impact, or beyond that point where confrontation occurs between object and viewer. I want questions to be raised about its content other than, "How is this made?" The two-dimensional work also raises questions about the very nature of rules. I purposely try to draw objects "wrong" because I was raised to believe that there was a "right" and "wrong" way of creating art. Likewise, I am beginning to realize the potential of art as a potent social weapon, not just a decorative icon. Because the world is in a state of ultra-decay, glowing more radioactive every day, and since there are more than enough people painting pretty pictures already painted, I want my art to address issues which are crucial for the survival of the planet. I am not saying I have any concrete answers or solutions, but hopefully my art makes people think about their own lives and how perhaps they, too, can start to address certain world issues instead of ignoring them through fear.Item Victims of circumstance, victims of ourselves(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1981) Toland, Deborah GroomeI am trying to represent a feeling or psychological state; the situation and figures in.my work are often used as metaphors. The drama becomes a symbolic representation of an emotion or inner condition. There is an exaggerated sense of drama or melodrama throughout the work, which increases the potency of the scene and promotes self- consciousness in the viewer. In creating scenes where the figures look out at the viewer, it is my intent that the viewer becomes aware of his own observation,. Many scenes depict fragments of an implied narrative creating a mystery open to the viewer's interpretation. The use of light and shadow support the melodrama and increase the level of fantasy and mystery. Each isolated scene, beyond describing a condition, asks> the viewer for his involvement in the drama, while making him self-conscious in the process. My work is often satirical. This satire co-exists with an empathy for the situations created.Item Dawn of a new day(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1989) Henderson, SusanI have worked in clay for sixteen years. For me, answering the question Why do I work in clay?" is hard. Clay reinforces my imagery and content of landscape and figures because clay is earth; when it is fired it becomes rock. The brittle unevenness of the surface, the colors, the cracks, the dents, the holes represent human vulnerabilities, frailties, imperfections, their humanness, their perserverance, their impermanence. I alter the clay body to make the clay surface look similar to a slice of land with veins of color running through it. My firing process furthers the geological nature of my sculptures. The clay is underfired and unevenly fired resulting in further color variations on the surface. Clay cracks as it dries. These cracks add to the natural land image and reinforce my content. I build in supports on either side of where I want a crack, cut the clay on the inner sides and let the shrinkage do the rest of the cutting. Clay lends itself to texture. Feelings are channeled directly into the clay surface through finger marks that follow the contour of the form.Item Perceptions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Muldoon, Dara Anne Hartman; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: N. R. PopeMy work is informed by the cultural construction of the ideal woman, i.e., a pretty, tidy, clean, little package; and by the women close to me, the women I encounter from day to day, and the representations of women throughout history. To this end, I want the representations of the female figures I create to possess a goddess-like quality, to show the beauty that all women possess, and to portray the reality of feminine struggles in a society obsessed with constructed images of beauty. I want to reference the idea of the male gaze and the objectification of the female body through the use of the torso but to also bring the viewers attention to the perceptions a woman may have about her own body. My intention is to place the object in front of the viewer in an effort to provoke, educate, and compel the viewer to think differently about the complexities of the female body.Item Apathy(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2005) Dinkins, Jonathan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael PeedAs a sculptor, figurative objects are my means of exploring and communicating ideas that represent my reaction and digestion of social behaviors. Apathy toward the environment and the world in general is found all around us in political, social, and cultural contexts. My comments are based on my education, observation, and perception of the attitudes of a large portion of individuals within our society. The environmental theme acts as metaphor and indicator of the ill effects of the consumer culture that we are surrounded by. Deeper meaning can be searched out and interpreted in these monumental sculptural forms presented as large scale human and animal figures. Monumental size places significance on the issues presented by each piece, while the intriguing forms emphasized by flowing monochromatic color persuade viewer into looking at them. I purposefully give no solutions to the direct or indirect issues presented within these sculptures, because I feel there may not be a black or white solution. I only give illusions to my opinions through my translation of environmental problems into contemptuous, cynical, or sarcastic monuments to highlight the apparent absurdity of society’s treatment of the problems around us.