No Compromise: Drawing III Exhibition

The final show went very well! We had quite a nice turn out and the food and drink was tasty! I really enjoyed the guest critique for the final. It is always nice to hear a second opinion of the work you've created and how outside viewers respond to the piece. I had a great response to my piece in the show and received the same feedback from the class in regards to using the materials from the drawing room for the fort's support structure. The space was laid out well and the interactive map with artist statements was fantastic and very professional. I enjoyed being able to see everyone's work in the gallery space as an entire class. It was nice to be able to graduate with one last show to add on my resume. I thoroughly enjoyed this class for the third time and I'm glad I was able to take it during my final semester at Stout!    

Fort Review

The fort was a huge success! The class responded very well to my recreation of a blanket fort using my own materials from home. Everyone burst into a discussion of their own memories and the desire to go home and make their own forts to return to that nostalgia. I didn't get a huge amount of feedback besides the wish that I didn't use the materials from the drawing room to build the fort. Ideally I would have liked to use the chairs from home, but I was limited with time and space to bring them four hours up to school. Everyone responded to the musty smell of the blankets and the light source as well. I'm not sure if I would include the painting again unless I was able to incorporate more of the knick knacks my brother and I used to use to decorate the fort's interior. This was my favorite project this semester and it will be the piece displayed in the final show.

Final Project

My self directed project investigates my workplace through photographic documentation. I have worked as a custodian for the past three years at Stout and during the summer at my local school system. I have come to discover that the job requires an essence of solitude and alienation, which I have chose to highlight through the photographs. The series is titled: Custodial Closet, which highlights the relationships between the personal space and the necessities associated with the job. I have juxtaposed the quirky aspects of making a space feel more like home amongst a clutter of cleaning products. Little narratives appear in places where they seem out of place. It is this aspect of the custodial closet that sparks my curiosity and urges me to photograph the setting. The photographs act as a closer look into the strange world of full time cleaning. I like to take time to slow down and notice things that spark my attention. The photographs spark questions through the images depicted and together act as a series of unveiling the ordinary and making it extraordinary.

The class enjoyed my photographs, but they were most interested in the image of the hanging ceramic figure. I also found this photo to be the most interesting, but I didn't know if it would have enough visual information to act on its own. I think if I were to show the photograph alone, it may come off as morbid, which was not my original intention. Overall, I am happy with the way the images turned out. I enjoy the blur and filter as it adds to the nostalgic, stumble upon quality of the photos.