2012 MFA Thesis Catalog

MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

1

President, Dawn Barrett The Graduate Programs Dean of the Graduate Programs, George Creamer Assistant Dean of the Graduate Programs, Jenny Gibbs 621 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 Graduate Programs: 617 879 7166 MassArt.edu COVER IMAGE: Kevin Sweet, Stills from the film installation Intervals, 16mm multichannel projection, 2012 2

MFA Thesis SHOWS

MFAWC THESIS Show

I

April 24 – MAY 3, 2012

II

MAY 9 – MAY 18, 2012

MAY 14, 2012 - MAY 30, 2012

CONTENTS Massachusetts College Of Art And Design

2

FOREWARD

3

RYAN ARTHURS

12

DAN BOARDMAN

14

ADINA BRICKLIN

16

AMANDA BROWN

18

DANIEL JAMES BUCKLEY

20

KATELYNN DEWITT

22

JOEL FRENZER

24

SHAN GAO

26

JATURONT (KID) JAMIGRANONT

28

CARLOS JIMÉNEZ CAHUA

30

JOHN KECK

32

ALEXIS KOCHKA

34

MATTHEW KUSHAN

36

KATHYA MARIA LANDEROS

38

SUSAN METRICAN

40

LEILA NAMIN

42

JOE REYNOLDS

JEFFREY REZENDE BEN SILVA

44

46

48

MARIA ANNA STANGEL KEVIN SWEET

50

52

NICOLE TARIVERDIAN JESSICA VOGEL

54

56

2D LOW-RESIDENCY MFA IN PROVINCETOWN

58

Juan Berrios

60

Gaye Korbet

62

Natasha MelL—Taylor

64

Ferdinand “Nando” Pellegrino

66

Jackie Reeves

68

Bonnie Saland

70

Janet Slom

72

Lauren Y. Watrous

74

Elise Wells

76

3

Massachusetts College Of Art And Design

MassArt’s Graduate Programs offer US News & World Report’s #1 rated MFA in the state and one of the top-25 programs in the US. Our campus in downtown Boston offers more than 1,000,000 square feet of studios, workshops and galleries in walking distance of three world-class museums. MassArt’s MFA Thesis Exhibitions showcase the innovative multidisciplinary work of our internationally diverse artists. All accepted graduate students who qualify receive financial assistance which may include teaching assistantships and scholarships.

The university offers graduate degrees in eleven areas. For more information please visit MassArt.edu, email gradinfo@massart.edu, or call (617) 879-7166.

Jessica Vogel, Installation view, Intentional and Unintentional Morphing, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 4

Foreword

It is with sincere pleasure that we publish this catalog representing selected examples of Massachusetts College of Art and Design graduate thesis work. Exhibiting work of this artistic quality and depth is a testament to the rigor of our MFA graduate program, a tribute to its educators and a resounding body of evidence of the skill, sophistication and accomplishment of the graduating MFA students.

Since 1873, MassArt has been a student-centered, education-oriented institution dedicated to providing students with a professional orientation towards art and design. We proudly continue and enhance that tradition today by adding new technologies as opportunities to advance the creative potential of these disciplines and by fostering innovative and responsible uses of technology in the realization of artistic concepts.

We recognize that individuals continue to educate themselves over a lifetime. A successful MFA program is not based solely on the program of courses but relies upon the artistic ingenuity of the student artist and his/her ability to utilize the educational laboratory for their own professional development.

The rigor of a MFA program provides artists with the kind of educative habits of thought and practice which will serve them over a lifetime. In two intensive years, students engage with themselves, their peers, the faculty and visiting professionals in challenging and supportive discourse and critique of artistic practice. They also learn how to situate that practice within the professional context in which they will be engaged as artists and educators.

President Dawn Barrett, Masachusetts College of Art and Design

5

6

Joel Frenzer, Installation View, Obdomia, Video, 4m, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

7

8

Ryan Arthurs, Untitled, Silkscreen on captured video still, 40” x 66”, 2012

9

10

Carlos Jiménez Cahua, Installation view, Untitled #42 (14x11-inch chromogenic paper cut parallel to and three inches from shortest side--cut stopped three inches before reaching other side; paper exposed to dual combinations of filters on color enlarger head and then smaller flap from cut exposed to a different dual filter combination), 14” x 121”, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 11

12

Dan Boardman, Installation detail, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

RYAN ARTHURS MFA PHOTOGRAPHY ryanarthurs.com Ryan Arthurs is a photographer working primarily with themes related to masculine identity. Sexuality and the digital age inform these images that divide environment and figure. By calling attention to the queer male body that is without place, the figure becomes a landscape in which to explore ideas of intimacy, vulnerability, confrontation and seduction. He received his BFA from Carleton College, in Northfield, MN.

Untitled, Digital photograph, 40” x 50”, 2012 RIGHT: Untitled, Digital photograph, 32” x 40”, 2012

14

DAN BOARDMAN MFA PHOTOGRAPHY dbboardman.com Collected from trips in the North Atlantic and Central New York, these images describe a fictional world of uprooted men seeking a way home. In this folk tale I encounter gatekeepers, watchdogs, renegades, spirits, ghosts and lone wolves. These characters navigate a crestfallen world seeking out new terms to define themselves and the world they inhabit.

16

Installation view, Untitled, Photograph on newsprint, 30” x 40”, 2011, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

17

ADINA BRICKLIN MFA 2D adinabricklin.com Through drawing process and subject matter I investigate opposing aesthetic ideals, simultaneously striving toward fact and toward fiction, toward clarity and toward subtlety, toward perfection and toward error. I use photographic sources to tap into my fascination with the machine through the filter of drawing, struggling toward a mechanical goal, pushing against the limitations of my hand and the properties of my materials. To draw performances of light in the landscape, I treat the stylus as light and the paper as landscape.

I utilize different processes of tracing and rubbing to translate photographic light into drawing, and my various drawing tools distort and degrade the imagery or emboss the paper with the blemishes of my studio walls. The spaces depicted in my drawings are within a human context, seen from eye level, a person-mediated nature. By creating the objects I wish to see, confronting my own longings for image on surface, I hope to produce work that engages the human appetite for vision, beauty, and place.

Installation view, Ticks and Shoelaces, Graphite on paper, 22� x 60�, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

18

Film 3, Graphite on paper, 10” x 10”, 2012

19

AMANDA BROWN MFA 3D amandambrown.com My work is a fusion of sculpture, dance, and video. The sculptures have a moving surface where the narrative is intricate and sparse, involving relationships between people, oneself, and the space. With both sculpture and video, I explore materiality and movement in time, with its pauses and reflections, offering a chance to linger in a fleeting moment and giving permanence to the fragile and ephemeral. I am working with video collages, which are projected onto ceramic objects as decoration or pattern.

The quiet, gestural qualities of the installations are echoed with a series of small porcelain vessels.

Installation view, Pattern, Video projection on porcelain, 26” x 26” x 3”, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, Promenade, Porcelain, 3” x 4” x 11”, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

20

21

DANIEL JAMES BUCKLEY MFA DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE opensourceempathy.com My thesis documents my hypothesis that by drawing from the psychoanalytic technique to objectify subjective experiences, I can better understand myself, my users, my medium and the way in which they connect. My case studies represent an approach to facilitate empathic connections between members of a community by reminding them of the importance of personal reflection and storytelling. Each case study proposes a unique solution encouraging users to begin sharing their vulnerabilities publicly.

By creating a range of solutions to engage community members in the self-identification process I hope to exhibit the distinct parallel between the uncertainty of human connection and the category of dynamic media. My own process, the interaction of others with my projects and the results of my facilitations reveal patterns in the resistance to interpersonal connection.

The Prometheus Clock provides users with the experience of being inside the head of Prometheus, the Greek god of fire. Bearing a constant mental stream of man’s experiences affected Prometheus, a titan, to the extent that he empathized more with humanity rather than his own kind. The Prometheus Clock compiles the latest content added to YouTube in real time, creating a visual barometer of human experience. Each cell on the geodesic dome represents one human experience, but together create a moment-to-moment snapshot of life on planet Earth.

Prometheus Clock, Projector + empathy + plexiglas + oedipal complex + drafter’s vellum + greek myth + plywood, 30” x 30” x 30”, 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, Prometheus Clock, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

22

23

KATELYNN DEWITT MFA 2D katelynndewitt.com I paint intimate scenes between my partner and I at home. I focus on the color in order to evoke the emotional state of these scenes: paranoia, loneliness, lust, affection, domination and adoration. I want my voice to be heard in a society that actively bans and denigrates my desires. What I desire is beautiful.

Hold My Pussy, Oil on canvas, 10” x 10”, 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, A Pussy and A Dildo Study, Oil on canvas, 8” x 10”, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

24

25

JOEL FRENZER MFA FILM/VIDEO www.ffafcast.com Utilizing his background in experimental animation and performance, Joel Frenzer has developed a body of work that encompasses independent short films, looped animated vignettes, digital found-footage puppetry, and comedy podcast hosting.

His work has been featured in international festivals, workshops, galleries, and on the web. Since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000, he has taught and assisted classes at Harvard University and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and is currently a full-time professor of animation at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Still from Obdomia, Video, 4m, 2012

26

Installation view, Obdomia, Video, 4m, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

27

SHAN GAO MFA DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE shangaodesign.com Wishing Well is an interactive installation comprised of two pieces: the projection of a pond and a stand for users to create drawings.

It provides a platform to collect users’ drawings and transform them onto floating “coin” images that are projected into the “well.”

Users design their own “luck coins” and make one wish.

Installation view, Wishing Well, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, Wishing Well (Drawing Table), Interactive installation, Mixed media, 2012

28

JATURONT (KID) JAMIGRANONT MFA DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE kidjj.tumblr.com An organic motion can be hypnotically calming. The twists and turns may look repetitive to the eyes but when seen overtime a beauty emerges within the natural alteration of the movement. The interactive tactile surface of Touch to See is a platform to deliver a dynamic aesthetic experience of discovery, a catalyst to reward the investigative and contemplative process. Touch to See creates an interactive experience that elevates our natural sense of curiosity, to make the viewer a seeker rather than a receiver.

Installation view, Touch To See, 255 Friend Street, Fresh Media 2012 In collaboration with Colin Owens

30

Touch To See, Interactive sculpture, Mixed media, 16” x 16” x 32”, 2012

31

CARLOS JIMÉNEZ CAHUA MFA PHOTOGRAPHY carlosjimenezcahua.com

Untitled #39, Chromogenic print, 20" x 16", 2012

32

Installation view, Untitled #41, Archival inkjet print, 153.5� x 44�, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

33

JOHN KECK MFA PHOTOGRAPHY bokehrama@gmail.com “Life and How to Live It” My photographs explore the uncanny, the psychological, and the imaginative possibilities of suburbia, both the place and the state of mind it induces. T.S. Eliot has written, “The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” In a sense, I am investigating the idea of suburbia, the childhood “place” where I started.

My early childhood memories of suburbia represent a paradise of sorts. That version of suburbia was safe with plenty of space for adventure in friends’ backyards and neighborhood parks. As I grew older, the boundaries and limitations of suburbia slowly became stifling. It was too confined, too banal, too restrictive, and too homogenous with too little culture. As an adult, finally detached from suburbia for many years now, I have been strangely drawn back to it as if to a suburban siren’s song.

34

Winter Flowers, Archival inkjet print, 40”x 32”, 2011

35

ALEXIS KOCHKA MFA 2D alexiskochka.com In my paintings I look at places where nature and culture mingle, where the natural world is mediated by people, and where people are mediated by nature. Parks, woods, swimming holes and river bends are platforms for me to navigate this uncertain terrain.

I try to locate these places through paint.

I use imagery from my personal experiences and the places I visit. The settings that I transcribe are more sensed than known.

I want to show the feeling of these places, the warmth of a sunny rock, the cold shadow of the forest. I create a stage on which human interaction with the landscape unfolds. Once on stage, the figure and the landscape perform, relying on each other to to imply a narrative. My hope is that this all adds up to the story, of an experience that has been suspended, re-lived like a memory.

Installation view, Jamo, Jerrine and Kaiser, Oil on canvas, 48” x 68”, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, Lauren and Me, Oil on canvas, 48” x 68”, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

36

37

MATTHEW KUSHAN MFA PHOTOGRAPHY matthewkushan.com The series Symphony is a group of videos that were made by piecing together multiple videos found on the internet. Each piece is driven by a song. These songs were constructed by sifting through vast amounts of self-broadcasted performances, which were uploaded to websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, then re-edited into a grid. Throughout the 4000 videos viewed, I downloaded 1300 and used about 300.

Installation view, House of the Rising Sun, Video, 6m 21s, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

38

Please, Please, Please, Video, 2m 34s, 2012

39

KATHYA MARIA LANDEROS MFA PHOTOGRAPHY kathyalanderos.com Kathya Maria Landeros was born in northern California. Her photographic work draws from her experience as a first generation immigrant with a focus on family and Mexican-American communities. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Mexico where she continued her work on migrant culture, and subsequently served as an Ambassador to the Fulbright Fellowship program.

She holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature and Hispanic Studies from Vassar College.

Nicanor in Pear Orchard, Courtland, California, Archival inkjet print, 16” x 23.5”, 2012 RIGHT: Wreath, Sacramento, California, Archival inkjet print, 16” x 20.5”, 2012

40

SUSAN METRICAN MFA 2D susanmetrican.com Most recently I have been considering the notion of seeing as a 2-dimensional experience and thinking about the space around me or the still life set-up as a flattened space (as if behind glass). I am currently exploring ways in which to affect or “touch” what I am seeing through the use of projected light on the actual still life as well as including elements in the work that try to exist on the surface of the painting.

Installation view, Construction 2012, Mixed media, 16" x 14", Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Darkened Chamber/Room, Acrylic on canvas, 78” x 60”, 2012

42

LEILA NAMIN MFA 2D leilanamin.com My work is made through many layers of narrative and medium. Narratives evolve from different source material. Recently I’ve been working on wood panels that allow me to agitate the surface. The clash between narratives often come from experimentation with ink, colored pencil, acrylic and oil mediums.

Installation view, Five Hands, Mixed media on panel, 40'' x 30'', Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

44

Installation view, Absence, Acrylic on canvas, 86’’ x 75’’, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

45

JOE REYNOLDS MFA PHOTOGRAPHY joereynoldsphotographs.com Joe Reynolds grew up in Chattanooga, TN. He holds a BA in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BFA in Photography from East Tennessee State University. He lives and works in Boston, MA

Installation view, Kudzu no.1, Silver gelatin print, 40” x 30”, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Wisteria no.4, Silver gelatin print, 20” x 24”, 2012

46

47

JEFFREY REZENDE MFA 2D jeffreyrezende.com My work investigates the concept of surface. I experiment with a variety of media in making illegible text through gestural marks with dry media over acrylic paint on wood panels. My rules for this initial circumstance often adjust during the process, and I end up with a surface different from the initial idea. When making paintings, I am continually adding or removing material and therefore adding and removing content. For example, if I take a standard neon-orange traffic cone and paint it white, I have added material and subsequently removed the content and functionality of the iconic object.

Installation view, The Interface Divided, Mixed media on canvas, 5 panels 40� x 30� each, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

48

Installation view, Running The Gambit, Oil and paintstick on canvas, 6’ x 8’, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

49

BEN SILVA MFA 3D bensilvasculpture.com Juxtaposing industrial and natural media, Silva’s work celebrates a dichotomy of geometric and organic, order and chaos and the crystalline tendency of nature—that same energy which constructs the atom and controls the orbits of the stars. Inspiring meditation on this universality within the sublime paradox, Silva’s work walks the thin line between the comic and the cosmic.

Installation view, Wheat Grass Grotto, Mixed media, Wheatgrass, 15’ x 25’, 2011

50

Installation view, Dome Sweet Dome; Bamboozled ReAppropriation Project, Bamboo, stainless steel, beeswax, hardware, 22’ x 22’ x 11’, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

51

MARIA ANNA STANGEL MFA DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE mariastangel.com

I am curious about the unexpected moments that can inspire strangers to share attention and momentary experience.

During my thesis research, I have been investigating how spontaneous connections are initialized and what role “play� has in facilitating these moments. I believe that we can take advantage of digital media installations in order to encourage interaction between people.

Brush Ball is a prototypical game scenario where people are encouraged to creatively collaborate by painting an image as a result of a playful activity. This installation has been created as a forum for social interaction. The movement of passing the beach ball to another person results in a projected line of light on the area between players. Each ball has a unique color, therefore when more people interact the image becomes more complex. Using beach balls, participants playfully interact with each other, while enjoying a shared experience.

Installation view, Brush Ball, Interactive installation, Mixed media, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

52

Interactions and installation view, Brush Ball, Interactive installation, Mixed media, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

53

KEVIN SWEET MFA FILM/VIDEO kevinjsweet.net Intervals is a series of 16mm film loop installations in which the inherent mechanical flaws of the projectors become generative, image-making processes. As no film projector can actually operate at exactly 24fps, particularly in relation to another projector, the three color channels will phase in their synchronization. With a length of two hundred and fifteen frames per loop, approximately every nine seconds there will be a new cinematic experience; a new image comprised of cyan yellow and magenta imagery, dancing and blending before the viewer. In making Intervals, I act more as a choreographer than filmmaker, constructing a situation through a series of constraints and allowing the action to unfold.

Installation view, Intervals, 16mm multichannel projection, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Show, 2012

54

Stills from the film installation, Intervals, 16mm multichannel projection, 2012

55

NICOLE TARIVERDIAN MFA DYNAMIC MEDIA INSTITUTE nicoletariverdian.com Things That Matter plays on the intrinsic truth implied by an archive. It also addresses elements of curation and documentation though the act of taking a photograph. The system allows participants to archive any common object they have when they encounter the installation. Things That Matter raises the status of ordinary objects to archived artifacts. This transformation occurs though documenting and assigning meaning to an object.

This system has evolved through several stages of prototypes. The finished installation consists of a wooden free-standing sculptural object, a high-resolution camera, a capture application driven by an RFID reader, tags and an Arduino, and a projection that displays the results of the participants’ interaction.

Images collected during exhibition, Things That Matter, Interactive sculptural object and projection, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012 RIGHT: Installation view, Things That Matter, Interactive sculptural object and projection, Bakalar Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

JESSICA VOGEL MFA 3D jessievogel.com

Installation views, Intentional and Unintentional Morphing, Paine Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition 2012

58

59

2D LOW-RESIDENCY MFA IN PROVINCETOWN Provincetown has inspired artists for centuries; the Fine Arts Work Center has provided a sanctuary and a magnet for artists since 1968. In 2005 MassArt launched a low-residency 2D/MFA Program at the Fine Arts Work Center for artists who want to pursue an MFA without suspending their personal and professional commitments.

MassArt’s 2D/MFA in Provincetown is a unique opportunity for self-directed artists to develop work in an environment of natural beauty through a graduate program that combines the intensity of an on‑site community and peer-based learning with the freedom and flexibility of distance education.

The intensity of the residency sessions and off-site periods in this sixty credit, two-year program requires a high degree of discipline. Students spend four three-and-a-half week residencies in Provincetown during September and May, working intensively in their studios, which are open 24 hours a day. During residencies they also participate in Major Studio and Graduate Seminars, with emphasis on studio production and critical feedback from visiting artists, faculty and peers.

Between residencies students return home to work under the guidance of mentors through monthly studio visits and critiques. Online art history and critical studies courses support an understanding of the context of contemporary work. At the conclusion of the program, candidates return to FAWC for a thesis exhibit and review.

The Fine Arts Work Center was founded by a now illustrious group of artists and writers, including Fritz Bultman, Salvatore and Josephine Del Deo, Stanley Kunitz, Philip Malicoat, Robert Motherwell, Myron Stout, Jack Tworkov and Hudson D. Walker.

FAWC was envisioned as a community that would support emerging artists and writers with uninterrupted time to work.

Participants in the MFA program have access to a wealth of FAWC resources 24/7, including large studios, a gallery and computer lab. Students can use the Michael Mazur Print Studio, which honors his role as former head of this state‑of‑the‑art printmaking facility. Housing is available in local guesthouses and inns within easy walking distance of the Work Center. In fact, the Fine Arts Work Center experience is not just about access to the highest-quality facilities, but offers the inspiration of living and working steeped in the atmosphere of one of America’s oldest art colonies.

For more information, please visit FAWC.org or call 508-487-9960 ex. 107 or 617-879-7178.

60

“No artist is an artist all by himself. He is an artist only by virtue of the fact that he voluntarily permits other artists to act on him, and that he has the capacity to react in turn…..The continual inter-action of ideas among artists is the very condition for the existence of an artist.”* This concept is central to the MFA program, Massachusetts College of Art and Design at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Just over two years ago nine carefully chosen artists came to Provincetown for the first of their four residencies together. They immediately immersed themselves in the intense and spirited interchange between faculty, visiting artists, mentors and fellow students that distinguishes the program.

The sessions in Provincetown are unique, there is the famous quality of the light and the landscape. But more than that, the physical environment together with the town’s long history of welcoming artists creates an openness in people and an expansiveness that is not found in many other places.

This catalog is a tribute to the outstanding artists who will receive their Master of Fine Arts degrees in May 2013. These images are only a sample of the compelling work in the thesis exhibit, and the exhibit shows a fraction of the large bodies of work completed through the two-year MFA program.

We look forward to following the work of these artists in the years ahead. For this cohort, the future promises great things; more work, more stretching boundaries, and lasting contact with each other.

Grateful thanks to the members of the cooperative gallery ArtSTRAND and to the Hudson D. Walker Gallery at the Fine Arts Work Center for the opportunity to present this thesis exhibit to the public.

Barbara Baker, Coordinator, MassArt at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown

*Excerpt from The Extreme of the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov, edited by Mira Schor, Yale University Press, 2009, 3.251, p.168. Jack Tworkov was one of the founders of the Fine Arts Work Center.

Photographs from left: First two by Holly Popierlarz and third by Joan Cox 61

Juan Berrios MFA Low-Residency 2D

62

63

Gaye Korbet MFA Low-Residency 2D gayekorbet.com I paint portraits often using photographs I have taken as source material. The use of photographs is overt as my subjects are usually frozen in motion. I am investigating if certain in-between moments are truer than our posed selves allow. I am especially interested in moments somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness when our human vulnerability becomes apparent. I acknowledge Velazquez, Goya, and Manet as inspirations. Other more contemporary influences are Chuck Close, Gerhardt Richter, and Luc Tuymans.

Geoff, 26” x 40”, Oil on linen, 2012 RIGHT: Max, 24” x 40”, Oil on linen, 2012

64

65

Natasha MelL—Taylor MFA Low-Residency 2D natashamelltaylor.com

Kong, Watercolor and acrylic on paper, 18” x 24”, 2012

66

Ellen, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 54” x 56”, 2012

67

Ferdinand “Nando” Pellegrino MFA Low-Residency 2D fpellegrino1@cox.net nandopellegrino.com Chasing the Light A painting is a million moments of observation. When I make a painting I am amazed at how the light changes around the subject from moment to moment. The light moves through the object creating multiple illusions of colors. I take my brush from the paint and place the mark on the surface only to see the light has changed. I am intrigued how the colors and hues develop relationship between objects in the painting. I begin to chase the light. The game starts between me and the light of brilliant colors—together we create a literal abstract of depicted landscapes, cityscapes, figures and still lifes. The light moves quickly through the scenery connecting the organic and the architecture. It teases me, saying, catch me if you can. The painting then becomes connected together through a puzzle of geometric forms created from marks and colors. The end result becomes my magical world of observation. My purpose is to create a threshold that invites everyone into this world.

Domenica Mattina (Sunday Morning), Casein on linen, 36” x 48”, 2011

68

The Path I took, Casein and charcoal on linen, 30” x 40”, 2012

69

Jackie Reeves MFA Low-Residency 2D My work is rooted in my day to day experiences as a mother and artist raising three adolescent daughters. I’m interested in times of transition when things are moving from one stage of development to the next (in life and in the making of art). I use materials and processes that show evidence of chance and spontaneity. Whether it’s spills of paint on canvas, pooling watercolor on mylar or ink bleeding into rice paper, the unpredictable outcome becomes the playground where I bring abstract and figurative elements together to co-mingle in a space.

Through and Through, Acrylic and pencil on canvas, 17” x 24”, 2012 RIGHT: When You Entered My Life, Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”, 2012

70

71

Bonnie Saland MFA Low-Residency 2D bonniesaland@gmail.com Bonnie Saland is a practicing psychoanalyst and emerging artist based in Los Angeles, California. The interior and external journey provide subject and frame for her creative practice. Traversing an extensive archive of imagery from the personal and collective unconscious, she meanders through geographic, literary and spiritual references to provide an iconographic language with layers of meaning. A freely associated yet complexly organized body of work incorporates traditional patterning, abstraction, and the poetic use of color in an ongoing non-linear reconfiguration of journal, print, digitalized and textile format.

Cobra 19, Digitalized print on cotton sateen, 2012

72

Pages from Cobra journal, Mixed media on paper, 13.25” x 7.75”, 2011—2012

73

Janet Slom MFA Low-Residency 2D janetslom@gmail.com janetslom.com I paint the figure as a metaphoric living, breathing center that holds and releases dynamic tensions. A figure that erupts like a tornado, swarm, or vortex, where guts, bones, earth and sky all dance together as interchangeable parts of a whole. The act of making allows me to explore my vulnerability; what it means to be alive in the dark of night; what happens when contradictions, ambiguity, and the uncanny come together to hold a center that does not quite hold, but holds enough to call up the fleeting, improbable presence of life.

Creation, Mixed media on vellum, 96� x 108�, 2012

74

Cry for Peace and Tree Spirit, Mixed media scrolls, 120” x 36”, 2012

75

Lauren Y. Watrous MFA Low-Residency 2D laurenywatrous.com

Surface Stain, 6.5� X 8�, Rust, powdered marble, pigment, and hide glue on linen

76

Rough Cut, 10.25� x 11.25�, Ink, watercolor, and powdered marble ground on linen panel

77

Elise Wells MFA Low-Residency 2D elisewells.com These things go side by side and do not necessarily make sense. They tell stories. They are like props and puppets, theatrical, but theatre makes light of the human condition. These things can either be harmful or helpful. I like not knowing the ending.

Burial Mound, Cyanotype and mixed media, 4’ x 3’, 2012 RIGHT: Manhours, Lithography, 6’ x 12’, 2012

78

79

CREDITS: Editor and Creative Director: Jenny Gibbs, Assistant Dean of the Graduate Programs Photographer: Fabiola Menchelli (MFA ‘13) Photographer for MFAWC Thesis Show: Clint Baclawski (MFA ‘08) Production: Amanda Justice (MFA ‘13) Design: Maria Anna Stangel (MFA ’12)

©Copyright 2012 Massachusetts College of Art and Design All rights reserved; no part of this book may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher.

NGISED DNA TRA FO EGELLOC STTESUHCASSAM