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Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design Master of Arts In Teaching

SUMMER PROJECTS

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Introduction I have been assigning, for perhaps a decade now and during our summer course for Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) students, a studio assignment in preparation for their enrollment in my fall Mapping for Visual Arts Learning class. I first introduced the idea after having visited the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program at Middlesex University during a period of sabbatical research in England, where I was examining the structure of one-year art teacher programs in a select number of UK universities.

At Middlesex, I met with David Griffin, then Coordinator of PGCE Art & Design, and during our time together, I became instantly fascinated by the requirement that Middlesex Art & Design PGCE students introduce themselves to the cohort through the presentation of a piece of their studio work. I was struck by the power of such a requirement and especially by the fact that it reminded trainee art teachers that they were first and foremost makers and that their studio practice was core to their effectiveness as educators. I make this point because experience has shown me that it is all too easy for enrollees in art teacher preparation programs to lose the connection to personal work as artists and designers and thus, its potency in informing their instructional design and pedagogy.

The visit to Middlesex University’s program was so resonant that I resolved to incorporate its studio requirement for entering PGCE candidates into RISD’s MAT program. I wanted to use the assignment in such a way, however, that the studio work would become the platform upon which units of instruction and lessons would be designed and, indeed, taught in K-12 public school classrooms. So, each year the MAT cohort is required to produce a visual response to a specific theme. Among those explored in the past have been catalysts such as Journey, Memory, Time, Inside-Out, and Transformation. In addition to the creation of a piece of studio work and the documentation of its development, MATs are required to “research the work of three artists/designers who in their work have explored the assignment’s theme but in very different ways”. The MATs’ studio work, combined with their research, becomes the wellspring that informs each student’s curriculum design during the fall Mapping for Visual Arts Learning course, and which is then transposed as actual lessons during their clinical teaching practice in Rhode Island public schools during spring semester.

While MAT students each document this work in their e-portfolios, this is the first time I have compiled the evidence of studio responses and accompanying statements in book form. So, I need to thank Nitashia Johnson, MAT ’15, for so enthusiastically taking on my challenge to design this book showcasing the responses to the 2014 theme. Close-Up and for doing so in such an elegant fashion.

-Paul A. Sproll, Ph.D., Head January 17, 2015

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Table of Contents Introduction Francesca Lee Mackenzie Bonney Julia Byrne Michelle Cho Ashley Vivenzio Irene Bednarczyk Brianna Ouellette Nitashia Johnson Kathleen Spalty Lindsay Burrows

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Graduate students choose between two programs: the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), an intensive, one-year (summer through spring) cohort teacher preparation program for artists and designers that culminates in recommendation for teacher certification in art pK-12, and the Master of Arts (MA) in Art + Design Education, a one-year (fall through spring), practice-based program for art and design educators at all levels who are interested in renewing a connection to contemporary pedagogical and creative practices.

Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design Rhode Island School of Design

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FRANCESCA LEE Studio Practice: Painting

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Untitled, 2014 Oil on Canvas

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Francesca Lee Light, interior space and color- these aspects are what I want to explore in my new series of paintings. I started the series by first layering an aerial view of a pyramid full bleed on a canvas. The top triangle is lightest and the bottom triangle the darkest. Next, on each triangle, I painted stripes going in direction of a hypothetical light shining upon the canvas, as if the surface of the canvas was actually three-dimensional. I found that working on a square canvas is advantageous when paintings patterns. I decided to use only two colors on each canvas to balance out the complexity of many shapes present on the canvas. I chose pairs of colors that would lend the air of visual strength yet harmonious.

Through careful placement of these stripes, I wanted to create a symbolic image of light shining into an interior space, like light from a sunset entering one’s house through the front door, such that the floor is brightest and the ceiling darkest. I looked at Edward Hopper’s paintings for inspiration; I especially took note of how his choice of colors and the way he painted the spaces aided in delivering the tone and the context of his paintings. Thus, I painted lines that would create stripes alternating diagonally in order to create elongated trapezoid patterns on all four sides of the canvas. The thickness of the stripes change as they approach the rectangle “door”, which is centered. In addition the stripes are thinner approaching the door while they are thicker closer to the perimeters of the canvas.

After experimenting with interior space, I focused in on one “space” and also divided the canvas into two right triangles: painting one light, one dark. Stripes are painted horizontally on top and vertically on the bottom, meeting at a right angle at the diagonal. The overall image is a close-up one of a joint or a ledge.

As my paintings start to increase in size, I would zoom in on a subject. I have made conscious efforts to paint with clean straight edges as much as possible, similar to the details of Robert Indiana’s The Mother of Us All- his cut paper poster costumes were very crisp and exquisite.

Moreover, my paintings reflect on canvases filled with geometric shapes and patterns such as in Oscar Bluemner’s paintings, in which stylized brushstrokes create blocks of shapes that in turn form architectural planes.

To conclude, my current painting series focuses on playing with light and dark to convey space and structure – in and out - using colors I have selected.

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MACKENZIE BONNEY Studio Practice: Sculpture

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Variables, 2014 Recycled materials. Acrylic paint

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Mackenzie Bonney We all approach art from a different perspective, figuratively and literally. However, absorbed in this interaction between object and viewer, our minds are all working at lightning speed, organizing each component into a singular experience. Understanding our own visual perception from a scientific standpoint can present new meaning in the critique and creation of art.

Gestalt psychology is based on the theory that the mind perceives objects as a whole in its entirety before its individual parts. These perceptions are thought to be products of complex interactions amongst various stimuli. In this interactive piece, each viewer is given a set of eight objects. Amongst all of these sets, each contains the same eight forms, the same eight colors, and the same eight textures/surfaces. However, all of these variables are jumbled. For each of the same form, there is a different color with a different texture, and vice versa.

Instructions are as follows: each viewer approaches their set of unique but variably similar objects, and within the first 10-20 seconds, creates an arrangement or sculpture with as little or as many of said objects. A photo will be taken. Now the viewer can take a few minutes to really investigate and play, and make a more informed decision. Once complete, another photo will be taken. Now, the viewer will move to the next, different set of objects and repeat the same process.

The viewer is then asked to look back at these photos and reflect on the differences of each.

What changes in the more subconscious, gut-reaction version versus the well thought out, decisive arrangement? How do these compare and contrast with the other set of objects?

Does the content or context change? Did variations of color, texture, form or size influence any decisions?

This piece does not serve to answer these questions. It allows an almost elementary, nonthreatening way to make aware our ability to develop and retain meaningful perceptions amongst chaos. It studies the balance between play and intention in the art process.

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JULIA BYRNE Studio Practice: Drawing

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Untitled, 2014 Pen and Ink

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Julia Byrne My studio practice typically consists of realistic charcoal, graphite, or conté drawings with people as the subject. For the Close Up project, I decided to break out of my routine and try something different. I am very inspired by the work of Chuck Close, an artist who does largescale portraits. He focuses on minute detail and ends up with photo-realistic images of people.

When Close was a graduate student at Yale, he started off as an abstract expressionist painter.

However, he decided to switch it up and do something he had never done before, which led him to the work he does today. He states, “The choice not to do something is in a funny way more positive than the choice to do something. If you impose a limit to not do something you’ve done before, it will push you to where you’ve never gone before.” This is what I attempted to do with this project.

Still sticking with the human figure as my subject matter, I started off with a close up image of an iris of a human eye. I did a non-dominant hand, linear drawing of all of the shapes that I saw in the iris. The close up combined with the shakiness of the line quality created a very abstract image, different from anything I have done before. I then used pen to fill in all of the shapes. I ended up with a very two-dimensional, abstract image that looked almost more like a pattern than the actual thing that it represents.

This project was mostly a learning experience for me. The process was full of uncertainty and I was constantly unsure of what I should do next. My final product is very different than my typical studio work, but I think this was an important step to help me break away from my routine and to try new things. Although this might not be my new style of choice, it gave me other possible ideas of how I might represent an image like the iris. It also sparked my interest in the idea of taking a realistic image and abstracting it by looking at it from different viewpoints.

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MICHELLE CHO Studio Practice: Illustration

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@Ig_upclose, 2014 Mixed media

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Michelle Cho I imagined creating a series of illustrations of people in everyday moments that are not the most commonly featured on Instagram, such as sitting on the toilet, picking their nose, scratching their butt, etc. I thought of adding to the ever-increasing archive of pictures on Instagram to disrupt the mainly super polished, almost staged series of pictures that dominate the app.

As a participant who posts photos and scrolls through tens, if not hundreds, of pictures on Instagram, I was bored by highly edited pictures that highlighted and glorified certain life moments. They were meticulously staged and reduced to a 2” by 2” square that can only be seen with a smartphone and connection to the internet. Many pictures across accounts began to look the same… Well, they are all very similar, which led me to pull out the pattern that I see on Instagram in order to decode the purpose of this medium. My question was: What’s the point of posting pictures on a platform that is only accessible to individuals privileged with smartphones and internet access, that reduces photos into 2” by 2” square, or smaller, icons, and seems to capture the same scenes?

I created a list of typical pictures I see on Instagram and decided to create an account that acts like a template. I decided that disrupting such a large picture-based platform required presence as a non-photo. What I saw as a numbing simplicity in the recurring types of pictures was reflected in the way I created my Instagram posts. I wrote out each picture description then directly captured the words with my phone to post onto my account.

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ASHLEY VIVENZIO Studio Practice: Painting / Printmaking

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Untitled, 2014 Egg and tempera paint

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Ashley Vivenzio Using the theme Close Up as a springboard, I set out to create a piece that uses texture to elicit emotion. The piece is about summer, the smell of vanilla ice cream and the feeling of the sun on my face. It depicts rainbow sprinkles spilling across a surface. There is a chance the sprinkles could be swept up, the way the fall brushes away the summer. The subject matter is nostalgic for me. As a little girl, my mom would get me ice cream with sprinkles from a local stand. Even today, the colors of the candy pieces enchant me. They are bright and exciting, like a million tiny crayons.

At the same time, the challenge of painting textures is attractive. Often times my work investigates how things in a group can appear different then one thing on its own. For example, a lone sprinkle doesn’t look the same as a pile of sprinkles because one sprinkle is an object but many sprinkles create a texture. This piece is a “close up” examination of sprinkles, both their physical characteristic and my emotional connection to them.

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IRENE BEDNARCZYK Studio Practice: Drawing / Printmaking

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Untitled, 2014 Blue micron mancer on paper

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Irene Bednarczyk My work is a personal exploration and interpretation of natural organic forms. Much like the tradition of scientific drawing and illustration, I use my work as a way to search and understand.

I look for patterns and repeated phenomena that are present within every scale and aspect of nature: from the microcosm of my backyard vegetable garden to the macrocosm of the geological surface patterns of Mars.

I’m not interested in creating highly representational, natural imagery; instead, I mimic natural phenomena with the intention of furthering my understanding of the subject at hand.

That subject may be plant life, microbes or larger, encompassing systems like cloud or rock formations. I take what I see and then combine, reimagine or redefine it for myself. Interpreting through my own lens helps me understand but also gives me time to look at the details and evaluate my own relationship to nature. I am fascinated by the complexity that nature defaults to within its systems; therefore, my process, regardless of medium, is always slow and intricate.

It allows me to focus, look closely and fight against the urge to divide my attention among many things.

I work within the mediums of drawing, printmaking, paper cutting and installation. My most recent body of drawings explores the microcosm of a pond and its plant life. Each lily pad has a complex web of veins that sprawls over its surface, and it is highly satisfying to be able to trace this undulating system of lines throughout each organism. The drawings feature the constraint of a circle, present but not drawn. This device facilitates a look into a microcosm that is dually a macrocosm because of the vantage point. I chose to include the constraint because, firstly, it keeps things neat; however, it also creates a focus and gives the illusion of looking through a portal or a scope. This constraint gives the viewer a close up view and provides time for observing each organism separately and in relation to the others. The whole works together as a system, but each form of a pond‘s plant life is a system within itself if scale is taken into consideration. When the vantage point is changed, even small plants can be seen as complex and magnificent structures.

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BRIANNA OUELLETTE Studio Practice: Photography

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Robin and Michelle, 2014 Water color and found objects

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Brianna Ouellette “You just have to learn to be a horse again.” I received this advice during a moment where my worries were rapidly growing about where to begin with how to create something about “closeup”. My boyfriend noticed my blank stare and proceeded to explain that I have spent too much time being a racehorse, constantly to trying to finish a race. I should just be a horse again and enjoy running just to run. In other words, I should allow myself to just make work without any pressure hindering my enjoyment.

My processes in creating my “Close Up” work grew from that odd statement of becoming a horse again. One afternoon I was procrastinating on Facebook and noticed a picture of my older sister, Michelle. And for the first time in a long time, I drew it to simply just draw it. No expectation existed. It felt so freeing. I continued working with graphite and paper. A pattern began in which I focused in on two people that are always with me or in my thoughts. I drew from a collection of snapshots in order to create a stylized interpretation of how I see my sister Michelle and my boyfriend Robin. Doing a series of portraits of them allowed me to really focus in on the features and personality of these people that held so much weight in my life. I accompanied the illustrations with obscure objects that I have collected over the years that are connected to specific memories. By pairing these objects with the people that they hold a strong connection to, the meaning becomes so much stronger.

Process played a heavy role in this creation. I allowed my interpretation of my sister and boyfriend to grow along with each approach. I made a transition from graphite drawings to painting to found objects. It inevitably became an illustrated journal and/or storybook that allowed me to better understand who these grand characters in my life are.

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NITASHIA JOHNSON Studio Practice: Graphic Design

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The Mind, 2014 Mixed media

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Nitashia Johnson When a person thinks about the theme “Close Up,” one usually associates it with physical space, but the meaning could be interpreted in many different ways. I feel that “Close Up” relates to our mental thoughts and personal beliefs that others cannot see—essentially, abstract concepts of being. Being close up is about getting in someone’s head—figuring out what kind of person they truly are. For this project I created a piece of sculptural work that shows how my mind reacts to daily thoughts.

It was a relaxing process, I worked in silence for a short amount of time before later adding in the sound of music, to help ease my mind. The project is a sculptural representation of how I visualize my very own mind. To create it, I used plaster gauze and newspaper that I picked up from a local medical store. The material was going to be used on my body; I rubbed Vaseline on my face and soaked the cut up pieces of plaster strips into a bowl of warm water. For the brain, I balled up the newspaper, dripped in water and layered it with glue. After it dried, I covered it with the plaster strips and then painted it a dark maroon color. The crumpled ball connects with the cast of the bottom half of my face to help form an abstract sculpture. This is simply a representation of how I visualize my mind when something is weighing down my thoughts.

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KATHLEEN SPALTY Studio Practice: Painting

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The Nightwatch, 2014 Acrylic, dye, and ink on muslin

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Kathleen Spalty When I was five years old, George the alligator moved into my bedroom. Over the course of the following year, George was elected mayor of my renamed bedroom, Georgetown. Every inch of my room had been transformed into a fully functioning, complex town. My memories of this town and innumerable other narratives I invented as a child are often what I seek to reawaken through painting.

Recently, I have had the tendency to see my paintings of these memories as precious objects.

Each millimeter of the painting is equally considered, including the frame. While this sometimes is conceptually relevant, it can occasionally stop the painting short of its potential or make the atmosphere within the painting less approachable to the viewer. I am able to access the painting, but the viewer may not receive the same level of immersion that I do. The perspective of my paintings is often from a distance, looking in. I wondered how this would be different if the worlds were viewed from “close-up” and the viewer was in the midst of the painting.

I created a 2ft x 4ft painting that depicted the Night Watch of Georgetown. After filling the painting with contextual clues of his role, I cut the painting into pieces, organizing the parts in a conceptual hierarchy. Each piece provided a close-up view of the Night Watch’s life, without distancing or disconnecting the viewer. The pieces were visually abstract and articulated the experience, rather than the subject. I selected the one piece that best established the Night Watch’s role in Georgetown. This close-up, cropped image of the painting achieved an honesty that the full, original painting lacked. The preciousness I previously placed on my paintings had stopped me from cutting into or altering my paintings, but I now feel the exclusivity of the subject matter was removed. This was an exciting discovery and a technique I will continue to work with.

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LINDSAY BURROWS Studio Practice: Painting / Printmaking

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Untitled, 2014 Monotype printmaking

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Lindsay Burrows When thinking about the term, “close up,” my mind raced with many possible interpretations of the phrase. The interpretation I chose to explore was “looking at something on the microscopic level.” Many artists and designers find beauty in the microscopic world and after doing some research, I found that to be true for me as well. I didn’t want to focus on an arbitrary microscopic image or cell, so I returned to a subject matter I had dealt with in my work before--my absent kidney--that causes me anxiety and stress. I chose to render these beautiful human kidney cells close up through monotype printmaking, a process I find to be reflective and therapeutic.

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Rhode Island School of Design

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