It is all about being there--UPDATED!!

Whew! Now that the student exhibition is up and juried we should take a moment to pat all of ourselves on the back for participating (whether you were juried in or out) and to the winners chosen by the juror and the for the boardroom. I think you should also take a second to think about this... to everyone that participated, you have my highest regards, win or lose, in or out. It is all about being there. Thanks folks. Successes and so-called mistakes, it requires brave souls to put yourselves out there. You all make me super proud. Can't wait to see your final portfolios!

Awards seen in image may or may not be real  ;)

Boardroom Awards...


Category 1 – Drawing I
C.J. Canter, “Floating Still Life” (DaVania)

Category 2 – Drawing II
Aaron Ivie, “Still Life with Fruit and Such (Smith)

Category 3 – Advanced Drawing
Angie Meyers, “Repose” (Smith)

Category 4 – Figure Drawing
Janice Flagg, “And So I Stand” (Smith)

Category 5 – Graphic Design
Vance Perkins, “The Adventures of Skunky Squirrel” (Mogerman)

Category 6 – Sculpture
Steve Hackmann, “Butterflies in the Stomach” (Ouellette-Kirby)

Category 7 – Black & White Photography I
Vincent Dyer, “White Noise” (Fisher)

Category 8 – Digital Photography I
Darin Mlady, ‘Perfect 32” (Ouellette-Kirby)

Category 9 – Advanced Black & White Photography
Elizabeth Sheck, “The One That Reminds Me of Man Ray” (Fisher)

Category 10 – Advanced Digital Photography
Kimberly Mae Wall, “Lost and Found” ”(Sanker)

Category 11 – Design I
Carl Cassidy, “Four Seasons” ”(Robinson)

Category 12 – Illustration & Design II
Janice M. Flagg, ‘Simply Black and White” (Reidel)

Category13 – Ceramics
Laura Lloyd, “Sticks and Stones” (Meeks)

Category 14 – Jewelry
Elizabeth Sheck, “Adeline’s Locket” (Ouellette-Kirby)

Category 15 – Painting I
Marlena Speraneo, “Still Life 3” (Smith)

Category 16 – Painting 2 & Advanced Painting
Terri Berg, “Self-Portrait with Microwave”  (Smith)

Category 17 - Printmaking
Eric Zimmer, “Anticipation” (Russell)

ADDITIONAL AWARD WINNERS
1. Terri Berg, “You Didn’t”  (Smith)__________________________category: Painting II
2. Lu Cross, Industrial Strength” (Ouellette-Kirby)________________category: Ceramics
3. Rick Spriggs, “Bright Eyes” (Ouellette-Kirby) __________________category: Jewelry
4. Jan Slade, “Apples in a Bowl” (Smith) _____________________category: Drawing II
5. Rachel Mitchell, “Once Upon a Time” (Sanker)__________category: Adv Digital Photography
6. Amy Stadler, “Maps of Symmetry” (Russell)__________________category: Design I
7. Taylor Clark-Jones, “Night Scene 1” (Smith)_________________category: Advanced Painting

Read this!!  Juror's Statement & Awards...

SCC Student Art Exhibition

April 20, 2012

Juror Awards

Ken Wood, Juror

It was a pleasure to jury this show, and I was as impressed by the effort and talent of the students as I was by the rigor of the program here. 

Selecting which works to include is always a difficult process, as every project has something unique and special about it.  But because there were so many works, I had to narrow it down.  Some works were chosen because they explored some aspect of the medium that none of the others did;  some were chosen because they went well with others in their category (either thematically or visually).  And sometimes when a number of projects were similar (ie, they came from the same assignment), I chose two or three to represent the whole group so as to avoid repetition. 

If your work was not chosen to be in the show or to receive an award, please don’t lose hope in that work.  I encourage you to submit it to other venues;  each juror has different things that he or she is looking for, and the more people you show your work to, the more likely you are to find a juror (or gallery, or client) who’s looking for exactly what you have. 

A few things that stood out in this show:

There were some very inventive approaches in the foundation courses, such as the fractured graphite drawings of Drawing I, or the blending of genres in Design II/Illustration.  These kinds of projects are especially important at the beginning of a curriculum, because they help draw out the possibilities of a non-conventional approach, something every artist should nurture.  There seems to be a concerted effort in all of the 2D courses to show that context is just as important a part of a composition as subject matter – this led to some very coherent and resolved images.  Color theory is another strength in the program, not just in Design II but also in the painting and digital photography courses;   I especially liked the way that Drawing II was so focused on color theory.  The theme of narrative, including not just story but also characters and set,  plays a large part in the best works from the photography courses (and also in some ceramics, jewelry, and painting projects).  And an emphasis on adaptive reuse in Sculpture (as well as in some jewelry projects) proved to be excellent start to some very inventive and unique student work.  

1. Drawing I

Still life drawing is the staple crop of Drawing I courses – or so I thought before seeing the selection of drawings here. This display makes a good argument for teaching beginning drawing with a more diverse subject matter and more invention.  Some images distinguish themselves with strong composition, others with a deft use of light and shade, and some with sheer creativity. 

Amy Stadler gets first place with her very inventive “Seven years of bad luck”;  she proves here that she has the patience required to transform graphite into a complexity of different textures and shapes, all in a dynamic fractured space.   Aaron Ivie gets second place with “Frank,” and Julie Han gets third with “Fly Fish Salon”;  each of these drawings displays great control of the medium to create texture and likeness. 

2. Drawing II

The explosion of color in this category can barely be contained on this wall, and made this class one of my favorites. 

As it was so hard to pick just three,  I decided to make first place a tie:  Jon Slade and Aaron Ivie share first place with “Apples in a Bowl” (Slade) and “Still Life with Fruit and Such” (Ivie).  The rendering of surfaces and transformation of black paper to a space filled with light make these very strong images.  Marisa Pope takes second place, giving the viewer a window into how the drawing is constructed (while still maintaining an integrity of surface, space and light).  Tim Connors’ drawing of a black vase with red cloth, while less refined in some ways, shows a great sensitivity to color and its use as a foil to create contrast and focus.  Even his greys and blacks are colorful.

3. Advanced Drawing

Angie Myers takes first and second place with her two enigmatic renderings of models seen from behind:  one male, done in pastel, and the other female, painted with acrylic.  In each, the mark-making is spare, yet developed enough to transform the color paper (and chipboard?!) into flesh, light, and space (hard to do that with chipboard!). 

4. Figure Drawing

Janice Flagg takes first place here; her delicate modeling of form creates a suppleness of texture, transforming the charcoal into something that has life.  She is able to describe the figure almost entirely with shapes, allowing line to act as an accent that provides movement and focus.  Aaron Ivie takes second place with “Kate.”

5. Graphic Design

The web design and box kite projects show how diverse and eclectic the application of graphic design can be.  First place goes to Demi George’s box kite, and second to Alfredo Carbojal’s.  Third goes to Vance Perkins for his web design “The Adventures of Skunky Squirrel,” as creative in its title as it is in its execution.

6. Sculpture

Adaptive reuse is a good way to prolong an object’s usefulness.  It’s also a good way to trigger the imagination of the person doing the adapting.  Desiree Cabell and Ralph Rollins use creativity and ingenuity in adapting their found objects into volumetric sculptures that give their objects a second life;  they tie for first place.  Second place goes to Sonny Hartman for “You Play, You Pay,” his enormous relief sculpture reminiscent of a slice of a Roman Sarcophagus carving.

7. Black and White Photography

Vincent Dyer gets first and Dalton Smith gets second place in this, the smallest of the categories.  Both show a strong grip on composition, tone and texture, and each photo, though black and white, seems rich with color;  they are able to stretch the medium to make us imagine the things we can’t see.

8. Digital Photography

First place goes to Michael Randman’s “Strange Destination.”  This reveals nothing at first glance;  it is only upon deeper inspection that the viewer begins to see forms emerging from the wilderness.  The image conceals in order to reveal, and an ordinary scene is transformed into something ominous in the process.  Connor Lockett gets second for the simply composed yet richly textured “As dead as the Enemy.”  Third goes to Heather Bradley’s “Outside In,” a small gem that doesn’t show its splendor until seen up close, at which point the artist’s mastery of color and contrast is revealed.

9. Advanced Black and White Photography

Sonny Hartman gets first place for his photo of a contemporary couple’s embrace in the midst of a scene that could be of another time and place.  Elizabeth Sheck’s “The One that Reminds them of Man Ray,” a photograph that is strangely reminiscent of Man Ray, comes in second for its rich metallic tones and enigmatic image of a woman that is part machine. 

Photography has always been a good medium for revealing the beauty in the unexpected;  Alyson Wittich does this in the rich tones of her silver gelatin print of an industrial doorway, which gets third place.

10. Advanced Digital Photography

There is a strong theme of allegory running through these images, and they reveal that the photographer can also act as a cinematographer.  Rachel Mitchell takes first with her six images from fairy tales.  These are very timeless, but have just enough contemporary  detail to set them apart from the original.  They show an understanding of costume, set design and lighting as much as they do of color and composition.   Kimberly Mae Wall comes in second with “Lost and Found.”  And third place is a tie between two images that provide stage and character for a modern myth:  Philip Cary’s “Lock and Dam” and Josuha Evans’ “Lucent.”

11.  Design I

Synthesis of pattern seems to be a theme and a strength in this category. 

It isn’t easy to integrate painting, drawing, drafting, stenciling, collage, photography and even sewing into a seamless, coherent design, but that is exactly what Samuel Reynolds has done with his fold out book “Sick Cities,” which was awarded first place.   Amy Stadler gets second with her “Maps of Symmetry,” an intricately painted study of bilateral symmetry, quadrilateral symmetry, and some other kind of symmetry I’ve never heard of before.  And  Cynthia Fyfe comes in third with her “Zebra”:  simple and to the point, it is still a very satisfying blending of pattern into a balanced composition that has movement and focus. 

12.  Illustration and Design II

Superimposition and juxtaposition are themes here, with the “Old Masters meet Modern Packaging” project and the multi-layered still life project.   Janet Flagg’s Bezold Effect project does a great job showing how much our perception of the same colors changes when seen against different backgrounds (black and white outlines in this case).  This is a classic design 2 project but never gets old;  this example is very satisfying to look at.  Design and Illustration often involve problem-solving, and the next two projects do that very well:  Thao Truong’s “Camo,” in which in which the artist has seamlessly matched the color and pattern of a collage swath;  and Jon Slade’s double still life of fruit and skulls, which shows two versions of the same superimposed images, each with a different palette, ambiance and emphasis. 

13. Ceramics

I’ve always been amazed at the ability of clay to transform itself into so many different things, from monumental sculpture, to image, to relief print;  from solid to liquid;  and from ordinary vessel to cultural vessel.   The pieces I chose represent three of these very different iterations of clay.  First place goes to the Laura Lloyd’s poetic and ambitious “Sticks and Stones,” which part portrait, part symbol, and part story.   Second place goes to Sandy Chan for a very convincing transformation of clay from solid to liquid (by way of a couple thousand degrees of heat).  Third goes to Eric Brooman for his blending of graffiti tags with a classically shaped and colored urn. 

14. Jewelry

A tie for first place reveals two very different aspects of jewelry and of design in general.  Elizabeth Sheck does a lot with a little:  with just two silhouetted  planes of copper, one convex, the other concave, she is able to incorporate portrait, landscape, atmospheric perspective, figure-ground and story in a beautifully synthesized and crafted pendant.  Conversely, Rick Spriggs does a lot with a lot:  his kinetic “Bright Eyes” brings together symbolism, caricature and mechanics in a playful and transparent creature.  Angie Colbrath takes second place with “Home Sweet Home,” and Elizabeth Sheck reappears for third with “Adeline’s Locket.”

15. Painting I

The still life studies of Painting One show the importance of context in perceiving color, and they are a good reminder of the fact that every square inch in a painting is valuable real estate.   Jazmine Poblette takes first place with her tightly cropped still life done in muted colors and chromatic greys;  edges help to frame the central elements, and warm plays off of cool to maintain a sense of motion throughout the piece.   Marlena Speraneo takes second place with the most primary palette of this trio.  Her prismatic colors jump forward, but not too much;  the muted and tinted colors around them help to pull them back into the painting.  The almost overbearing red at the top is cut into by the transparent blue bottle, which helps keep the balance of power in check.  David Fisher’s third place still life “White Lady” is the most daring in its use of shaded tones and earthy ochre colors to counteract the prismatic colors of the still life. 

16.  Painting II and Advanced Painting

First place goes to Terri Berg for her “Self-Portrait with Microwave,” a rich composition of colored greys that reveals the eerie and the supernatural in the everyday.    Second goes to Taylor Clark-Son’s (sp?) “Night Scene,” a depiction of a desolate landscape reminiscent of Edward Hopper.  Third place goes to Janice Flagg’s “Through the Looking Glass” with its strong contrast between a geometric, bejeweled border and the fleshy, modeled figure within.

17.  Printmaking

The four prints described here share a story line which is familiar but always interesting:  within a chaotic rumbling of frantic and sometimes grotesque marks, a lone figure emerges into clarity amidst its murky surroundings.  Dylan Kughn does this in blood red and black with his first place “Death Knell.”  Second place is shared by Eric Zimmer (“Anticipation”) and Emily Simmons (“Freaks”).  And Kimberly Duncan gets third place with her dragon that evolves from stick figure to realized form as it sheds transparency and comes to life.

BEST OF SHOW

As hard as it was to choose from the many excellent works in each category, it was even harder to determine the winners in this last category.   After much internal debate, I came up with the following for the top three works:

First Place:

Michael Randman’s “Strange Destination,” a color digital photograph that is contemporary while also having a timeless quality to it, gets first place.  With very little information, and a lot of concealing, a scene is presented that has beauty, mystery, and, just slightly, danger.

Second Place:

Angie Myers gets second in show with her very spare pastel drawing of a male figure.  Her mastery of the medium gives just enough information to show flesh, light, shade, shadow and background, while still revealing the texture and color of the paper over large parts of the page. 

Third Place:

Laura Lloyd, “Sticks and Stones.“  This genre-defying piece brings many materials and ideas together, such as found objects, ceramics, pedagogy, poetry, childhood, and story, yet it still remains a singular and integrated piece.



Drawing I: 
1st: Amy Stadler, "Seven years of bad luck"
2nd: Aaron Ivie, "Frank"
3rd: Julie Han, "Fly Fish Salon"


Drawing II:
    (tie)1st: Jon Slade, "Apples in a Bowl"
          Aaron Ivie, "Still Life with Fruit and Such"
2nd: Marissa Pope
3rd: Tim Connors 


Advanced Drawing:
   1st: Angie Myers
    2nd: Angie Myers


Figure Drawing: 
   1st: Janice Flagg
    2nd: Aaron Ivie, "Kate"


Graphic Design: 
   1st: Demi George
    2nd: Alfredo Carbajal
    3rd: Vance Perkins, "The Adventures of Skunky Squirrel,"


Sculpture:
     (tie)1st: Desiree Cabell
           Ralph Rollins
    2nd: Sonny Hartman, "You Play, You Pay,"


Black and White Photography:
   1st: Vincent Dyer
    2nd: Dalton Smith


Digital Photography: 
   1st: Michael Randman, "Strange Destination"
    2nd: Connor Lockett, "As dead as the Enemy"
    3rd: Heather Bradley, "Outside In"


Advanced Black and White Photography:
   1st: Sonny Hartman
    2nd: Elizabeth Sheck, "The One that Reminds them of Man Ray"
    3rd: Alyson Wittich


Advanced Digital Photography: 
   1st: Rachel Mitchell
    2nd: Kimberly Mae Wall, "Lost and Found"
      (tie)3rd: Philip Cary, "Lock and Dam"
           Josuha Evans, "Lucent"


Design I:
   1st: Samuel Reynolds, "Sick Cities"
    2nd: Amy Stadler, "Maps of Symmetry"
    3rd: Cynthia Fyfe, "Zebra"


Illustration and Design II
   1st: Janet Flagg, Bezold Effect
    2nd: Thao Truong, "Camo"
    3rd: Jon Slade


Ceramics:
   1st: Laura Lloyd, "Sticks and Stones"
    2nd: Sandy Chan
    3rd: Eric Brooman


Jewelry: 
      (tie)1st: Elizabeth Sheck
            Rick Spriggs, "Bright Eyes"
    2nd: Angie Colbrath, "Home Sweet Home"
    3rd: Elizabeth Sheck, "Adeline's Locket"


Painting:
   1st: Jazmine Poblette
    2nd: Marlena Speraneo
    3rd: David Fisher, "White Lady"


Painting II and Advanced Painting:
   1st: Terri Berg, "Self-Portrait with Microwave"
    2nd: Taylor Clark-Jones, "Night Scene,"
    3rd: Janice Flagg, "Through the Looking Glass"


Printmaking:
   1st: Dylan Kughn, "Death Knell"
     (tie)2nd: Eric Zimmer, "Anticipation"
           Emily Simmons, "Freaks"
    3rd: Kimberly Duncan


BEST OF SHOW:
   1st: Michael Randman "Strange Destination"
    2nd: Angie Myers, (male figure)
    3rd: Laura Lloyd, "Sticks and Stones"