Eau Claire, The Foster Gallery

Drawing Beyond the Edges
After driving around the campus, consulting a outdoor campus map, and many confused looks from Eau Claire students, we finally found The Foster Gallery. It was exciting to visit a neighboring campus and investigate their Art and Design building and gallery. I have to say, I am glad I am attending Stout.

The artist's featured in the "Drawing Beyond the Edges" show are:

• Amanda Hughen
• Edward Mater
• Cal Lane
• Fraser Taylor

I choose to do noticings of pieces done by the first three artists listed.

Amanda Hughen, "Preoccupation"
Ink, graphite, acrylic paint on drafting film









I noticed...

• layering
• honeycomb structure
• it was dense in the middle and as the form moved towards the edges became less
• there was a form the reminded me of pollen of a flower or ends of sticks
• pale pastel colors
• hexagonal forms
• acrylic painted part pops out, more three-dimensional
• some hexagons are filled, while others are just the contours
• movement of the piece is bottom left to top right, diagonal
• eye is drawn to the burnt orange color first
• pthalo blue, mint green, baby blue, olive green, orangish pink, school bus yellow
• invokes light hearted emotion
• some of the hexagonal forms are only noticed when up close
• few tiny hexagonal groupings
• fingerprints
  
• thickness/weight of lines are fairly consistent
• long rectangle forms
• long oval pill forms
• total of 3 different shapes

In her artist statement is read that she, "abstracts forms from biology, architecture, geology and astronomy...repeat forms until they reach a critical mass which becomes a release of energy, a transformative movement..."

Cal Lane "Untitled (Map 2)"
Plasma cut steel drum

I noticed...

• red
  
• jagged edges, roughness
• world map, side, top and bottom view
• figures in 3 of the corners
• Mother and Child
• sphere form in top right looks like it is emitting light
• boarder looks like dancing people or flower forms
• block/box forms above the mother and child
• top left figure has a basket of apples
• positive and negative space of the piece create shadows on the wall
  
• grid over world map
• lines coming off of sphere in the top right moves your eye down and out of the piece
• circle pieces are centered above and below of the large rectangle
• grid lines are wavy- remind me of water

Edward Mayer
Noticed the hanging black rope of his entire piece

I noticed...

• the hanging rope looks uneven from side, but when standing at the end you see they hang at an even distance from the ground
• rope has a knot about every four inches
• there are 16 hanging "u" from the ceiling
• seem to hang in pairs
• giant ball of knots at the end
• other end rope is taped to the ground
• is a part of a larger piece
  

Science and Art Discussion

During the discussion of our ideas for our science and art projects my group gave me a couple good ideas. One was doing a positive and negative effect of drawing on black paper with a white pencil, and then drawing on white paper with a black pencil. The other idea which I am quite fond of is using orange juice to draw the lines- then possibly using a blow drier on it to brown the citrus lines. I think using the orange juice would add an interesting element to my drawings because the drawings itself will not be recognizable of coming from the lines seen on a clementine. The use of orange juice might help the viewer make a subtle connection or will simply be a fun medium to use.

Science and Art

My investigation of science and art started when I was eating lunch. I bought one of those big crates of clementines from Walmart- therefore I have frequently been eating these delicious little fruits. When I was eating one the other day I was peeling a part each slice and realized how amazing it is that this fruit is sectioned off into slices. I also became fascinated by its outer shell and how it is a great convenience to the consumer because it never needs to be protected from looming bacteria. It makes a person wish all fruit was like this so we never had to slice any ever again!

My original thought was to explore the sectioning of clementines, but was drawn more to the incredible line work found on each slice. All this to say I don't per say have a question, but more a great appreciation of the line work found in nature- a clementine.

This would relate to science in the area of pomology- which is the science of growing fruit. Pomology is a branch off of botany- which is the scientific study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance.

At the moment how I am going to translate this into art is by focusing solely on line work. I think it would be interesting to copy the line work found on the rounded surface of a clementine and transfer it onto the flat surface of a piece of paper.