Cabinet of Curiosity

 

Organic

Materials: Fabric, black foam board, straight pins, wood, air dry clay, resin teeth, colored thread, twin, black masking tape

14"W x 22"H x 8"D

Artist Statement:

My concepts for my cabinet came from my reading of To Have and to Hold, and my work resembles strange organic and living artifacts. The almost plant-like creature on the top shelf reflects the botanist in the reading who went around the work collecting odd and bizarre plants for his collection. The tooth creature on the bottom shelf reflects Tsar Peter, who used to pluck strangers off the street and extract their teeth for pleasure; he would then add them to his collection of teeth. I included curtains in my cabinet to symbolize the vanity of the period (the 1600s) but also reflect on how if you close the curtains, they can hide the grotesque. I want to visually communicate how there is a sense of wonder in the grotesque and how easily it is to hide the ugliness behind closed curtains.

Momento

 

Lunchbox

Materials: Blue fabric, cherry wood, blue zipper

4"W x 4"L x .5"H

Artist Statement:

This sculpture reflects when Nana would pick me up after school and take me to swimming lessons. She used to pack a navy blue lunch box with snacks for me; at the bottom of the lunchbox would always be chocolate, which was my favorite. I used navy blue fabric to represent the lunchbox and hand-sewed it together. I also used a navy blue zipper to represent the zipper on the lunchbox and the act of opening and closing it. I also added a piece of fabric to represent the handle. The chocolate bar is made out of cherry wood and represents the many chocolates my Nana would pack for me.

Figurative Bust Sculptures

 

Plastic

Materials: Plastic doll, doll's hair, air dry clay, wood, white ink

8"L x 4"W x 5"H

The Gap

Materials: Wood, acrylic paint, crushed pastel, air dry clay, colored ink

4"L x 4"W x 15"H

Artist Statement:

The work titled Plastic reflects the upcoming phenomenon with plastic surgery and "beautification" procedures, specifically targeted towards women. I chose this social issue because it is becoming apparent that the use of surgeries and injections to enhance the body is becoming more prevalent; young women are feeling the effect and pressure of today's beauty standards. These procedures are becoming normalized, and these ideals are not natural to young and grown women. Plastic reflects the need to change one's body to fit the advertised beauty standards. The doll is cracked; she is half plastic and has bleached blonde hair. She is also sitting on a hospital bed. She represents numerous women who fall prey to the need to "become plastic."

The work titled The Gap reflects the gender wage gap between men and women in the workplace. I chose the gender wage gap because I find it frustrating as a woman that I may not get paid the same amount for doing the same job as a man does. I wanted to portray that in my sculpture by splitting one bust into a man and a woman. The woman's and the man's heads are broken; inside their heads, the viewer can see that the woman is thinking about equality, and the man is thinking about money. They are sitting on top of a very tall office building that resembles the numerous workers in the world who suffer from the gender wage gap.

Research:

The effect of people being on Zoom since 2020 has been that people are noticing that their appearance could use some enhancement. Botox is as normal as getting a haircut nowadays, the article says. 

https://connect.uclahealth.org/2022/02/03/zoom-face-phenomenon-has-people-eyeing-plastic-surgery/

There is a discernable gap between men's and women's hourly wages. It is averaged that each woman makes 80 cents for every dollar a typical man makes.

https://www.epi.org/publication/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap-and-is-it-real/

Pay discrimination was made illegal over half a century ago, but the gap between men's and woman's wages is still prevalent today. Different groups of women experience different gaps in pay based on race, ethnicity, age, education, and disabilities.

https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/simple-truth/

Memento On-Longing Exercise

1: "The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing."

This is a picture of my best friend and me in our Sophomore year of high school; this was our homecoming picture that year. Ever since I moved away from Washington state in 2020, I have missed her more than anything. I long for our late nights of laughing too much, getting into trouble, and driving in her 1994 Volvo with no destination. When I was with her, nothing mattered.

2: "The souvenir exists as a sample of the now-distant experience that only the object can evoke." 

This is a picture I took in the summer of 2017 in Maine. My Nana had passed away that February, and we were spreading her ashes in the ocean at her favorite point and lighthouse. She always said that she wanted her ashes to be put inside a carved-out watermelon with sprinklers sticking out of the top and to be floated down a river. However, we could not find a convenient river, so we went to her favorite point. We put her ashes in a carved-out watermelon with sprinklers sticking out; we also put her twin sister's ashes in the watermelon as well. When we put the watermelon in the water, it immediately sank. When it hit the rocks below the water, the watermelon burst open, and she and her twin sister's ashes floated to the top. The ashes had dried rose petals mixed in with them; we all laughed and thought she would laugh at the beautiful failure too.

3: "The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for desire to be generated." 

I took a picture of Lake Tahoe while spending my summer in California. My family and I moved to Florida two years ago. They decided they did not like Florida, so they wanted to move back to California, where we lived when I was very young. I have wanted to be with them since they moved to California. However, I am in Florida.

4: "Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss."

This is a picture of me and my old dog, Sophie. I was probably in 5th grade in this photo. My family and I never stayed in one house for more than a year, and no, we are not a military family. My parents would get bored fairly quickly, and the best way to cure boredom was to move, or so my parents thought. The house in which this picture was taken is still in my family; it is now one of three of my grandparent's homes. So, I say it is the house I grew up in. But, of course, I didn't have a place that I grew up in because we moved ten+ times while we were in Washington from 2010 to 2020. I am nostalgic about Christmastime in that house since it is where I have enjoyed Christmas many times. The house is not lost, but the childhood enchantment of Christmas has faded.

5: "The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body." 

This is a picture of my Grandfather and me. I remember being completely enamored by the little porcelain miniatures my grandparent's collected when I was little. Mini dogs, cats, birds, and anything else I could imagine. They also collected miniature instruments, which I thought could actually play like real instruments at the time, and I was disappointed each time I tried to play them.

Artist Event Picture

 

Experimental Sculpture Collection Photos

 

Power Lines

Balsa wood, black thread, white ink, black ink, hot glue

9"x8.5"x5"

 Dripping

Blasa wood, white paper, black ink, masking tape, black thread, wood glue

9.5"x6"x2.5"

Jelly Fish

Blasa wood, black ink, masking tape, clear packaging tape, black thread, hot glue

9"x8.5"x3"

    

Water Fountain Replica Photos