The intention of the project Tactile Tools Animals was to approach the pedagogy of animal recognition from an alternative method.  While we are often fed information which is phonetic or color-based for animal identification (for example, A is for Alligator, or a Bear is Black), the tactile qualities of an animals skin is hardly emphasized as an approach.  To do so, I created a set of 14 finger puppets, each composed of a mimicking fur or skin to its corresponding animal.  The puppets are meant to be stored/ displayed in their box, made of acrylic with laser cut engraved text identifying not only the box but the furs and skins on its interior.  With each name sits a sample swatch of the fabric which the name of the animal it matches to.  What was most interesting about the construction process within the pieces was their ability to take their own forms and personalities.  For example, the feathered fabric of the pheasant looks quite cock-like with a sort of pride from the head feathers which defy gravity.

Here are some photos documenting process and sketches including inspiration from the Jim Henson exhibition at the Museum of moving image.

 

 

My intention was to capture a series of narrative scenes depicting my perceived experience of living in my upper west side neighborhood.  From a very personal perspective, city dwelling is most enjoyable within the radius of my block, West 80th and the surrounding blocks around on the neighboring Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.  Particular things to note about the area include the tight-knit community of young families who are familiar with each other, dogs who have better hair than I, and the plethora of eateries and activities.

When assessing the prompt to create a pop-up book I attributed the term book to a subjective narrative quality, and wanted to create an object which could be read and interacted with whether than paper pages.  To do so I assessed the cube form as a six-sided surface, in which each surface was a page.  Keeping with the rule of threes I determined three separate narratives which would take place in pairs, in which each individual scene, or side of the cube, would consist of three characters.

Within the design of the final surfaces, the three narratives are visually paired by engraving art.  In breakdown; inhabitants including dogs and people are both presented on crosswalk patterns; eateries and activities appear to be on block corners from an aerial square border, and urban architecture consisting of the brownstone buildings and planter boxes and trees line up amongst sidewalks.  Each figure illustration is printed on vinyl cut sticker paper and stuck on the 3/16 acrylic which was the main material for the project.

Marie Antoinette is one of the most misunderstood historical figures canonized by society today.  Whether it be moods of misogyny or a distaste for bourgeois class, the Dauphine taken down by the guillotine is never properly credited for the struggle which was her own conflicted existence.  It is for these reasons that when prompted with masks aligning with transformation or identity that I was inspired to look towards the once daughter of Austria, Queen of France.  Marie Antoinette wore her own masks to survive French aristocracy, using her visual reception to be both blessed and hurt by the public and personal perceptions of who she was.  From the moment she married Louis XVI and was pressured into immediate conception, to the date of her execution, Marie Antoinette remains one of the most underestimated martyrs of our time, as her fall was long and gradual and her only faith was in fashion.

Marie Antoinette, various images; Digital sketch, reflecting initial ideas; Moodboard collage, showing a strong inspiration in fashion aesthetics as well.  These images are what allowed me to choose materials and forms of the masks, denoting what points of Marie Antoinette’s life were to be focused on and which aesthetics were to be followed physically.

 

        prototype images, back and front shots

The series consists of a collection of three unique masks.  Each mask represents a different time frame of Marie Antoinette’s life and a different facet of her existence.  The first mask represents the beginning of her end, taking form in an exaggerated bridal veil tied back by a bowed velvet choker.  Viewers have critiqued its suffocating, yet swaddling appearance on its wearer, equating to the mask’s significance within Marie Antoinette’s bonding inescapable wedlock and the child-bearing expectancy which came with it.  It also speaks to the Dauphine’s fleeting youth, as she was only 14 when she became Queen, wife, and to-be-expecting mother.

The second mask takes form in a masquerade mask, with the base of the mask 3D-printed off of a lace model in white, and the sash tie of the mask descending to below the hip.  The solid base is then interlaced with lace interfacing, so that the wearer’s features are covered up and no expression is perceived.  This reflects Marie Antoinette’s inability to express herself, and while she threw decadent parties and hid behind a lavish lifestyle, she was often powerless in achieving a stable public image.

The third and final mask is a mask which represents the tragic resolve of Marie Antoinette’s life.  The chainmail veil is both a cycle conclusion and creation bearing the prison chain of the conciergerie, where the Dauphine stayed in a humble cell until the day of her beheading.  The red velvet collar, which falls asymmetrically near floor-length alludes to the bloodshed of the guillotining.  Marie Antoinette was stripped of all material possessions in the end, and yet Charles Henri Sanson recounts in his family memoir that she remained noble in the face of a seething public, masking once again what one could only imagine as the greatest fear.

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibition review

For my paper clay experimentations I created a series of small sculptural forms, which I then connected by thread to make a necklace of consecutive relation.  I was challenged by the texture of the medium when it came to decorating the pieces with acrylic paint.  At the same time this texture adds a certain structure to the form which ought to be preserved.  The drying process was also lengthy because I had enclosed the pieces inside a Tupperware container- the lack of fresh air inhibited the drying process.  In summary paper clay is a time-consuming, but enjoyable medium to be used in a hands-on approach.