Intersections 2021, Tyler School of Art and Architecture

INTERSECTIONS 2021 Tyler School of Art and Architecture Temple University

INTERSECTIONS

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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2021

Tyler School of Art and Architecture

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

INTERSECTIONS

Temple University

Foreword by Susan E. Cahan

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

INTERSEC TIO NS IS A N INTER DISCIPLIN A RY COLL A BO R ATIO N PRODUCED BY THE 2021 M A STER OF FINE A RTS C A NDIDATES IN PA RTNERSHIP W ITH THE CO NTIN UING A RT HISTO RY STUDENTS AT THE T YLER SCH O OL OF A RT A ND A RCHITEC TU RE, TEM PLE U NIVERSIT Y.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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FOREWORD

I W RITE THIS FOREWORD TO T YLER’S 2021 GR ADUATE C ATALOG SIX MONTHS AFTER THE STUDENTS’ OFFICIAL GR ADUATION. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS DISRUPTED TI M E A N D ALTE R ED R H Y T H MS. T H E A B R U P T SUSPE NSIO N OF N O R M AL S T U DIO AC TIV ITIES IN M A RCH 2020, H ALF WAY TH ROUG H OU R STUDENTS’ FIRST YE A R OF THEIR T W O -YE A R MFA PROG R A M, DEM A NDED TH AT W E A DJUST OU R AC A DEMIC C ALENDA R A ND E X TEND OU R SCHEDULE OF THESIS E X HIBITIO NS.

Returning to business as usual was not an option, and while many of our students came back to campus as soon as it reopened, some chose to postpone their return to school to focus on social justice work inspired by the political movements of the summer of 2020 or to take care of family members. Amid this volatility, the MFA students in Tyler’s Class of 2021 bonded as a close-knit community despite the distance imposed upon them. Those on campus worked in Tyler’s fortuitously spacious studios even as most other Temple University activities took place online. They worked with doors shut, and even though there were walls between them, they knew that others were nearby doing the same. Donning face masks and meeting at the prescribed distance of six feet, they visited each other’s studios and witnessed each other’s progress in the eerie calm and privacy of a nearly deserted campus.

The work produced during this time is stunning. Some of the artists engaged with the fragility of the body and the natural environment. Some with the paradox of ubiquitous absence—the absence of physical contact, the presence of longing, and the experience of feeling alone. Others explored themes of resilience, survival, and empowerment. Still others employed familiar materials charged with new meanings, such as sheets of plywood like those used to board up windows in neighborhoods where protesting had damaged storefronts. Most poignantly, one artist worked with jars containing the exhalations of family members, or as Mollie Schaidt put it, “My dad’s breath.”

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

SUS A N E. C A H A N

Dean, Tyler School of Art and Architecture

As we continue to adapt to new impacts of the pandemic, the Tyler School of Art and Architecture solemnly, joyfully, and proudly presents the work of its 2021 MFA class. A decade-long tradition, this publication is a collaboration between our graduate students in studio art and the continuing students in our Art History master’s and doctoral programs. This year, the collaborative process between the artists and art historians took on rich new dimensions. The collaborators met often via videoconference and shared materials electronically that reflected their interests and research. This unprecedented continuity in communication intensified the exchange and led to powerful insights among both groups.

During a year like no other, our faculty advisors provided extraordinary support and guidance. I express my profound appreciation to Mariola Alvarez, assistant professor of art history; Chad D. Curtis, associate professor of ceramics, associate dean, and graduate director; Philip Glahn, associate professor of critical studies and aesthetics; and Emily Neumeier, assistant professor of art history. Kati Gegenheimer, director of academic enrichment programs and a faculty member in painting, oversaw the production of the publication with exceptional creativity and perseverance. Our faculty and staff editors provided crucial guidance: Linda Earle, Philip Glahn, Leah Modigliani, Emily Neumeier, Wanda Motley Odom, Erin Pauwels, Gerald Silk, James Merle Thomas, and Zachary Vickers. For their excellent catalog design, I offer hearty thanks to Matt Bouloutian (BFA ’99) and Emma Lindsay (BFA ’18) of Modern Good.

Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to the artists and art historian who led this: Charlotte G. Chin Greene (MFA ’21), Rachel Hsu (MFA ’21), and Noah Randolph (PhD candidate). I am so grateful for all the work that went into this collaboration.

It is a testament to our students’ strength as individuals and as a community

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

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CONTENTS 6

A R T I S T S A N D E S S AY S

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Michael J. Ernst

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Annemarie Maag-Tanchak

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Sam Malandra-Myers

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Nicole Emser Marcel

María De Lourdes Mariño

Lauren M. McCardel

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Joanna Platt

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Noah Randolph

Erin Riley-Lopez

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Tyler Rockey

Emily Schollenberger

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

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CONTENTS

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MAX ADRIAN

W R I T T E N BY

E R I N R ILE Y- LO PEZ

As Nayland Blake explains in their essay for the exhibition

esting piece of furniture—furry elements, food, clothing,

Tag: Proposals on Queer Play and the Ways Forward, queer

toothbrushes, socks, shoes, eyedroppers, headphones,

play “…imagines utopias of various possibility and com-

among other items, manage to escape the organized

plexity” and constructs new modes of discourse in relation

boundaries of stacked plastic units. Fluids drip, seep and

to the self, and with others, outside of the mainstream.[1]

puddle around this installation, imbuing it with a decon-

Blake offers queer play as a way toward a possible future

structed corporeality. Short vignette videos embedded in

where queer lives are not marginalized but celebrated.

the furry cubes recall BDSM strategies, while in another

Max Adrian envisions this queer future by making objects

work a hanging fabric screen is reminiscent of the film Tron

in the medium of craft that challenge the traditional use of

and the video game Tetris – technologies that can unfold

textile materials by transforming them into playgrounds of

in both the physical and digital worlds by crossing over

tactile furries and inflatables that beckon viewers to closely

and through into real and imagined territories, imploring

“read” the work. Here in this playful space, the audience is

viewers to explore beyond the limits of our current world.

encouraged, not deterred, to experience architectures of

Visitors will also encounter a work that they can wander

queerness passing by or through them in relation to their

into by cruising around its layered construction of interior

own bodies. Towers, archways, cubes and hanging screens

holes and outlines, filling its voids with their own bodies.

dot the queer landscape as do fluids, furs and clothing,

Adrian’s installations activate an arena in which visitors

reminding viewers of the messiness of queer bodily

can participate in taking up space by entwining themselves

frameworks that playfully reject normative structures. In

with the work to insist on the visibility and inclusion

one work—animating an otherwise banal and uninter-

they deserve

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

A FA LLIB LE COMPLE X

A FA LLIB LE COMPLE X

Nylon ripstop, blower.

Nylon ripstop, blower.

92” x 136” x 76”.

92” x 136” x 76”.

(top)

(above)

MAX ADRIAN

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TH R E SH O LD FO R TH E C YB ER CITIZEN (above)

Nylon ripstop, fans, LED lights, extension cords, monitor, projector, videos.

Installation.

Dimensions variable.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

MAX ADRIAN ENVISIONS THIS QUEER FUTURE

BY MAKING OBJECTS IN THE MEDIUM OF CRAFT THAT CHALLENGE THE TRADITIONAL USE OF TEXTILE MATERIALS BY TRANSFORMING THEM INTO PLAYGROUNDS OF TACTILE FURRIES AND INFLATABLES THAT BECKON VIEWERS TO CLOSELY R “ EAD” THE WORK.

SELF- PISSIN G CO NSUMP TIO N U N IT (left)

Faux fur, foam, vinyl, rope, oat containers, oat milk containers, almond milk containers, strawberry containers, blueberry containers, toothbrushes, floss, funnel, cornstarch, water, food coloring, spandex, underwear, socks, cheap boots, cheap sneakers, love letter, boxed wine bladders, beads, dildo, enema tool, fart putty, shower cap, loofah, body lotion, packing tape, batteries, tassels, headphones, iPhone, coffee maker, charging cords, found glass object, Easter-themed wind-up toys, comb, brush, lint roller, bike mirror, chain, PVC pipe, fake dynamite with smiley faces, solar eclipse glasses, safety goggles, sequins, yarn, hand sanitizer, shelving unit.

108” x 40” x 26”.

MAX ADRIAN

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TH R E SH O LD FO R TH E C YB ER CITIZEN (left, installation view with lights on)

Nylon ripstop, fans, LED lights, extension cords, monitor, projector, videos.

Installation.

Dimensions variable.

MAX ADRIAN

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ALLISON ANDERSON W R I T T E N BY

N IC O LE E M SE R M A R C EL

Feminine. Pussy hats. Frivolity. Punk rock. What comes to

tives of a singular figure. The effect is overwhelming,

mind when you see the color hot pink? In her paintings,

dizzying and acutely conveys the way the media con-

Allison Anderson plays with the multi-layered associations

sume these women and their stories. It also implicates

we have with the color. Her paintings are as bold and brash

us in our participation in the culture of tearing women

as the women they depict and deftly link notorious women

down, gaslighting them and ultimately discarding them

throughout history. Anderson explains, these are “wom-

when we are finished.

en who have refused to shut up at the mercy of powerful men. I paint women who ultimately embrace being called a ‘FUCKING BITCH.’ ” Accordingly, her choice of subjects is not always “palatable;” Monica Lewinsky and Stormy Daniels are mixed in with feminist heroes like Nancy Pelosi and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

Her work is both historical and personal, suggesting that these women are due a redemptive arc in the public narrative, while also allowing her to reference her own story of childhood sexual abuse in an oblique way. Anderson often leaves areas of her work unpainted, save for the hot pink outline. This gesture is reminiscent of coloring

Anderson paints these women as strong characters,

books, as well as a nod to the fact that these women’s

devoid of any moral judgment. Many of her works fea-

stories are yet to be fully finished or fully colored in.

ture the women filling and encompassing the canvases, rendering them heroes of their own stories and erasing their male counterparts in the narrative. In others, she renders the faces of several women or multiple perspec-

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

Anderson’s work reminds us that the personal is always political, and that hot pink can often be considered saccharine. But like the bold women she paints, Anderson is reclaiming that color, her past and her future

SOMETIME S PA INTIN G IS TH E B E ST R E VEN G E (title wall)

Silk ribbon, gelatin.

115” x 144”.

SELF PO RTR A IT Oil on canvas.

12’’ x 9’’.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

ANDERSON'S WORK REMINDS US THAT THE PERSONAL IS ALWAYS POLITICAL, AND THAT HOT PINK CAN OFTEN BE CONSIDERED SACCHARINE. BUT LIKE THE BOLD WOMEN SHE PAINTS, ANDERSON IS RECLAIMING THAT COLOR, HER PAST AND HER FUTURE .

ALLISON ANDERSON

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CO LL AG E WA LL #1 (above)

Acrylic on paper; gouache, acrylic on paper; oil, acrylic, glitter on canvas; ink on Dura-lar.

115” x 138’’.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

CO LL AG E WA LL #2 (above)

Acrylic on paper; oil, acrylic on canvas; silk ribbon, gelatin; acrylic, glitter on canvas.

168’’x 366’’.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

JU D ITH SL AYING H O LO FER N E S 2021 (left)

Acrylic, oil on canvas.

120’’x 92’’.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

ALLISON ANDERSON

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MELANIE BERNIER W R I T T E N BY

E R I N R ILE Y- LO PEZ

A deep sense of anxiety pervades Melanie Bernier’s work,

into beeswax candles. The shapeshifting characters float atop

perpetuated by our present Capitalocene moment in which

ice-dyed quilted fabric. The glove could serve as protection

climate change, pandemics and other disasters populate our

against the elements, working in either extreme heat or cold.

landscape. As T.J. Demos laments in his book Beyond the

The felted bricks could be assembled as a structure either

World's End: Arts of Living at the Crossing, “We are entering

providing softness on the inside or, perhaps in their original

the endgame—” and yet Demos remains hopeful that with

form, protection from the outside. The beeswax candles

enough collective action we may be able to stave off the

could be a light or heat source or utilized as a distress signal.

end of our world through “…hopeful futurity, where hope

Whether the planet becomes an icy or fiery orb, Medieval

joins speculative imagination to the material practice of living

Boots will come in handy as foot armor as Bernier personifies

otherwise…”[1] What are the tools and technologies we will

the past as boots made of used denim and baby blankets.

need to not only survive this future world, but to make it more

Juicy Fruit Community Orchard is more hopeful in its outlook,

sustainable for generations to come? Bernier’s visual lexicon

suggesting that we have nurtured our world rather than

of recurring motifs, characters and colors borrow from the

depleted it. Hand-built porcelain fruits, with chewed Juicy

past, haunt the present and imagine a future where these

Fruit gum stuck to them, are suspended from the ceiling, a

transformed everyday objects may just be useful as potential

way of, as Bernier says, “…leaving one’s mark, saying ‘I was

tools to be utilized in a world to come. Endless Comic Strip

here.’ ” With humor, Bernier’s work offers a way to cope with

begins with a red and yellow six-fingered glove seemingly

the liminal space of our present. With tentative hopefulness,

floating in a sky of blue clouds. In the following panel, the

she offers a way forward

glove has transformed into felted wool bricks and then again

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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E VERYO N E SAYS (detail, left)

Laura’s cotton curtain dyed using snow and MX; cotton batting, hand embroidery, pirated death metal font, found cotton yarn, tencel, thread.

E VERYO N E SAYS (previous page)

Laura’s cotton curtain dyed using snow and MX; cotton batting, hand embroidery, pirated death metal font, found cotton yarn, tencel, thread.

WITH HUMOR, BERNIER’S WORK OFFERS A WAY TO COPE WITH THE LIMINAL SPACE OF OUR PRESENT. WITH TENTATIVE HOPEFULNESS, SHE OFFERS A WAY FORWARD.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TH E PO PCO R N GA ME

DO A N EG GY

Still of digital video.

Still of digital video.

Written, performed, co-directed by Melanie Bernier.

Edited, co-directed by Peach S. Goodrich.

Written, performed, co-directed by Melanie Bernier.

Edited, co-directed by Peach S. Goodrich.

(above)

(following page)

Music by Emeen Zarookian.

MELANIE BERNIER

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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JAMES BETTS W R I T T E N BY

M IC H A EL J. E R N S T

Technology holds primacy of place in the work of James

The evolution of Betts’s work began in his teens with simple

Betts. Using the program Z-Brush to generate designs

metalwork jewelry. While an undergraduate student at the

and 3D printing to execute them, Betts creates works

Tyler School of Art and Architecture, he began to experiment

that evoke natural forms such as sea anemones, crystals,

with different techniques, including electroforming and 3D

fungi and even viruses. All of his pieces have a luminous

printing. This led to an interest in his work relating back to

quality that instantly draws the viewer not only to the

visual phenomena. His final MFA project involves several

design but also to the material composition of the piece.

wearable objects as well as works with vacuum-forming sheet

Metals, resin, rubber and powder coats are his usual

plastic over larger objects. Thus, this project is consistent with

media, and he uses them to explore visual perception and

his use of power coats on metals and polymers to create the

evoke pareidolia—the tendency to see familiar shapes in

luminous quality characteristic of his other work. By using

abstract forms. Indeed, he views his pieces as 3D forms of

layers of materials, Betts allows the viewer to experience

the Rorschach Test, inviting the viewer to see such familiar

quotidian shapes and forms in a new light and adds magic to

shapes and forms in his computer-generated designs.

the mundane. He brings to life familiar forms and lets us view them anew with the wonder of a child

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

SU B LIM IN A L

(detail, above)

Mixed media, wearable objects.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

SU B LIM IN A L #2

(right)

Polylactic acid, pigment.

7” x 7” x 2.5”.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

JAMES BETTS

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SU B LIM IN A L (detail, above)

Plaster, flock, steel.

96” x 96”.

Photo credit:Bridget K. Rogers.

SU B LIM IN A L (opposite page)

Plaster, flock, steel.

96” x 96”.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BY USING LAYERS OF MATERIALS, BETTS ALLOWS THE VIEWER TO EXPERIENCE QUOTIDIAN SHAPES AND FORMS IN A NEW LIGHT AND ADDS MAGIC TO THE MUNDANE.

JAMES BETTS

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KATHLEEN BRISSETTE W R I T T E N BY

J O R D A N G R YS C AVA G E

The work of Kathleen “Kat” Brisette is ultimately human-

and, in particular, its impact on children. For this initiative,

centered, with multiple projects aimed “to shine a light on

Brisette created an installation in the main stairwell at the

people who have been forgotten.” Brisette’s designs are

Alex and Ani Art Center at Rhode Island College that de-

often “kid-oriented”—she has created a project for an app

picts hundreds of images of children’s faces all surrounding

named KINDer, which encourages kind behavior in children

plaques that present a variety of shocking statistics about

through games and daily reflections. She has also written

young people living in the state without a permanent place

and illustrated a children’s book, entitled Short Tall Tales,

to call home.

that explores the challenges of being tall or short, serving as a tool for young people to develop empathy through an awareness of the struggles of others. Brisette’s works tend to lean toward the public art sector, as she often designs projects within and for different communities. Among her Philadelphia-centered projects is her work with St. James School. In this collaborative project, Brisette and her team focus on the mental and physical health of the students who attend St. James and their families by creating a space called the Wellness Center. The project aims to increase health education and mental health literacy. Brisette has also developed projects from her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, such as “1031 Homeless Children in Rhode Island,” which serves to raise public awareness about homelessness

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

Brisette’s projects are critical in that they point to art’s potential for social impact. Her most recent project with the “Porch Light” program highlights the need for underrepresented communities to be seen and heard. In this initiative, organized by Mural Arts Philadelphia, Brisette worked with those facing opioid addiction and dealing with homelessness. In response to this experience, she created book covers highlighting the lives of each individual in the program. The concept stems from the importance ascribed to those who are depicted on the front of a book—typically a place of privilege. Through this project, Brisette illustrates her purpose as an artist: “everyone has a story and everyone’s story matters”

SH O RT TA LL TA LE S (above)

Children’s book, written and illustrated.

7” x 10”.

E “ VERYONE HAS A STORY AND EVERYONE’S STORY MATTERS.”

KATHLEEN BRISSETTE

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K IN D ER A PP (above)

UI/UX, branding, design research, app prototyping.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

WELLN E SS AT ST. J A ME S (above)

Branding, print, environmental graphics, design for good.

O PEN BOO K WO R K SH O P (left)

Curriculum, branding, posters.

KATHLEEN BRISSETTE

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VATINA CANGELOSI W R I T T E N BY

V I N C E N T FO R SELL

In the words of contemporary artist Louise Despont, “thinking

growth within practices of making kin; squeezes oranges for

with my hands is a form of deep listening”—a multi-sensorial

juice, reaping the benefits of such growth, and waters a patch

approach to living in and engaging the present moment. If we

of clover in a cardboard house that she found in a neighbor's

combine this idea with the concept of “making kin” first postu-

trash, connecting concepts of maintenance to the practice

lated by prominent scholar Donna Haraway, who argued that

of “making kin.” In the gallery space, paper that Cangelosi

our understanding of “kin” can be changed from the given

crafted by hand is exhibited, relating to the recordings in the

to the chosen, we arrive at the work of Vatina Cangelosi. The

way each substance—the mud, the oranges, the clover—stain

artist explains that she pulls from Haraway’s ideas by utilizing

the paper just as the actions of others impress upon our own

“strategies for building and rethinking kinship” that “require

ways of connecting and creating kin. Atop the paper, hand-

play, cultivation and commitment,” strategies that form the

made tools—gloves, a spray-painted trowel—connect the

central concept for her current practice.

abstract of the recorded performances to the concrete of the

In her recordings of performance works, and the objects that accompany them, Cangelosi investigates conventions of familial connections and the creation of such connections with our own chosen kin. The performances metaphorically explore the concepts of making family: Cangelosi digs in mud, metaphorically relating to concepts of cultivation and

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

gallery space by showing the tools which Cangelosi used to “think with her hands,” and, therefore, participate in the act of “deep listening” that allows for her to truly live in the present moment. In doing so, Cangelosi can better focus on those she surrounds herself with, better understanding her own practice of “making kin” in doing so

IN HER RECORDINGS OF PERFORMANCE WORKS, AND THE OBJECTS THAT ACCOMPANY THEM, CANGELOSI INVESTIGATES CONVENTIONS OF FAMILIAL CONNECTIONSAND THE CREATION OF SUCH CONNECTIONS WITH OUR OWN CHOSEN KIN. O PEN IN GS (below)

Video with handmade paper, gloves, trowel, jars, soil, clover.

4:52 minutes.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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O PEN IN GS (above)

Video still, handmade paper, gloves, trowel, soil, clover.

Video. 4:52 minutes.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

O PEN IN GS (above)

Video still, handmade paper, gloves, trowel, soil, clover.

Video. 4:52 minutes.

VATINA CANGELOSI

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NICK CARTER W R I T T E N BY

N O A H R A N D O LP H

Stretched across the wall, a kaleidoscopic array of colors

Just as the swatch is a sampling that represents a larger

dash across a piece of textile in alternating diagonals, stripes

whole, Carter's engagement with scale, units, fabric and

and checkerboards. Emitting a sense of tactility, the fabric

dye figures into a larger artistic and conceptual investiga-

and the strokes that cover it invite touch through multiple

tion into gestalt theory and its influence on aesthetics. In

textures. As opposed to gesture, the resulting “strokes'' are

another series, Carter works from the preparatory sketches

patterns created from complete probability, the effect of a

of 19th-century artist William Morris. In a departure from the

chemical dyeing process achieved through smocking—a

original source, Carter presents a single form—an instance

method of gathering and tying the fabric before dyeing that

of a constitutive part, prompting the viewer to imagine the

creates an undulating surface through the distribution of the

pattern that is formed when the interlocking tessellations

pigments, an outcome of chance filled with intent.

are repeated. Sewn onto the swelling surface of the dyed

Through such technical processes, Carter both engages with and departs from traditional categorizations of painting and textiles—separating the stained and dyed fabric from the artist’s gesture and the hand from the handmade. With the same process, he also creates “swatches,” rendering the dyed paintings in miniature. These smaller works also employ stitching practices that simultaneously divide the space as well as guide the eye of the viewer, spiraling out from the center from the wave of a zigzag stitch.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

fabrics, the resulting forms are trance-inducing. With illustrations of the offset painted faces of Violent J and Shaggy Too Dope or the effects of sunlight and shadows, these adjacencies look to reveal latent connections of disparate sources. Taken together, Carter's practice assumes a form different from that of its constituent parts—created in the space between visual theory, fabric design, stitching, staining, illustration and painting, his works deny the ornamental and decorative to present a prismatic study on ways of making and seeing

NICK CARTER

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TO N IG HT IS N OT TH E B EG IN N IN G O R TH E EN D O F TH E WO R LD “ SN A K E” (above)

Dyed cotton napkin, thread.

21” x 18”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

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CU CKOO

(previous page)

Dyed cotton bedsheet, thread.

108” x 82” x 10”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

L A N DLIN E “SN A K E” (left)

Dyed cotton napkin, thread.

20.5” x 19”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

CREATED IN THE SPACE BETWEEN VISUAL THEORY, FABRIC DESIGN, STITCHING, STAINING, ILLUSTRATION AND PAINTING, HIS WORKS DENY THE ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE TO PRESENT A PRISMATIC STUDY ON WAYS OF MAKING AND SEEING .

NICK CARTER

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

B IG BA N G (left)

Dyed cotton bedsheet, thread.

72” x 60”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

NICK CARTER

45

CHARLOTTE G. CHIN GREENE W R I T T E N BY

T Y LE R R O C K E Y

Charlotte G. Chin Greene’s work poses questions about

Opposing this idea of stripping, removal or loss is the

the place of artifacts and objects in past and future contexts

violence of combination. Other aspects of the installation

and the divide between material and immaterial in the digital

visualize the force of the impact of objects and artifacts

age. In the installation “What Remains when Everything Is

injected into new settings. This is seen most poignantly in

Stripped Away,” Greene synthesizes the seemingly divergent

the assemblage of a 9/11 memorial plaque and an image

elements of the artifact and the digital, two concepts that

of a bald eagle, the latter crumpled and askew as if it had

may seem to be moving in opposite directions through the

been blown by the wind before smacking onto an object

linearity of time. The haunting blue light of the space—rem-

with a shared ideology. This violence is repeated in images

iniscent of a server farm—clashes with the rough surfaces,

of prehistoric cave paintings from Lascaux that have been

exposed plaster and aged brick of a basement setting, un-

struck onto suspended, decaying cardboard, again with a

dercutting the expectation of a streamlined modernity with

shared connotation, albeit here of time and what is lost to

signifiers of age that harken to a tomb or a ruin. On display

time through the loss of material. But all of this decay and

here is a hard-edged, rectangular tablet, a seeming relic in

temporal confusion is bathed in that blue light of the digital

this space but put there with intention. Inscribed with a code

age that carries the promises of memory and repositioning,

that if processed through proper computational means, the

a digital space for preservation when the material is stripped

tablet would reveal the image of light as a particle and a

away. But this digital space also contains the potential for the

wave. Yet without the correct software to process the data,

breakdown of meaning as forms are put into new contexts.

the significance of the material—the hardware—escapes

Pieces and parts may be preserved yet the essential inter-

and perplexes us. In a sense the image is indexed on this

pretive tools—the social practices behind cave paintings

object but the image is missing; it has been “stripped away”

or the computer to unlock an image code inscribed on a

until the code remains.

tablet—may be lost to time

46

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

GA ZIN G (left)

Plastic pear, plastic eye.

3.5” x 4.25” x 3”.

CHARLOTTE G. CHIN GREENE

47

IN A SENSE THE IMAGE IS INDEXED ON THIS OBJECT BUT THE IMAGE IS MISSING; IT HAS BEEN S“ TRIPPED AWAY” UNTIL THE CODE REMAINS

WH AT R EM A INS WH EN E VERY TH ING IS STR IPPED AWAY (left)

Installation (artist’s basement in South Philadelphia).

Photo credit: Kaitlin Santoro.

CUT TIN G O BJEC TS ( T WO SAWS) (opposite page)

Track saws, steel die, duct tape, gel medium, rubber latex.

18” x 13” x 11”.

48

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

.

CHARLOTTE G. CHIN GREENE

49

MADELEINE CONOVER W R I T T E N BY

E M ILY S C H O LLE N B E R G E R

Presence and absence intertwine in Madeleine Conover’s

Like the lone pacifier, the inextricably interconnected

work. What is silent and unseen speaks as persistently as

garments evoke absent bodies. Their materiality bears the

the visible objects and text. Evocative materials and familiar

artist’s touch, while inviting viewers to imagine using and

forms prick viewers: bright red silk and paper punctuate

touching them. Conover uses brief pieces of text to further

empty gallery space with vivid colors and textures. Com-

probe the question of what, or who, is absent, asking “How

monplace, quotidian objects resonate with viewers, while

is it possible to miss someone you cannot remember?” The

their materiality both evokes Conover’s Chinese heritage

question falls into the quiet of the gallery, hinting at the

and disrupts the objects’ functionality: a paper pacifi-

works’ backstory: Conover’s artwork has grown out of her

er would turn soggy with use, while two crimson shirts

experience of finding her biological sister in China via Face-

connected by their sleeves would be impossible to wear.

book. In spite of the poignancy of this story, her work allows

Conover’s works hang suspended from the ceiling or sit

viewers to experience longing, absence and connectedness

alone on pedestals in an otherwise empty space: the literal

without spelling out her personal history. Instead, Conover

absence around them sets them apart, making them pre-

gives both her work and her viewers space in which to

cious, if cryptic, signifiers.

breathe and quiet in which to reflect on their own relationships and histories

50

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

LU CK Y GA R MENT (FO R T WO SISTER S) (above)

Stitched Unryu paper, madder-dyed silk.

56” x 18” x 148”.

DOU B LE H A N G ER (S) (above)

Porcelain.

5.25” x 14” x .25”.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

CONOVER’S WORKS HANG SUSPENDED FROM THE CEILING OR SIT ALONE ON PEDESTALS IN AN OTHERWISE EMPTY SPACE: THE LITERAL ABSENCE AROUND THEM SETS THEM APART, MAKING THEM PRECIOUS, IF CRYPTIC, SIGNIFIERS .

MADELEINE CONOVER

51

FO RTU N E O N YE A R N IN G (below)

Double-sided screenprint on mulberry paper.

8.75” x 32.75”.

Edition of 2.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

52

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

FO RTU N E O N YE A R N IN G (above)

Double-sided, screenprint on mulberry paper.

8.75” x 32.75”.

Installation view.

Edition of 2.

LU CK Y GA R MENT (FO R T WO SISTER S) (above)

Stitched Unryu paper, madder-dyed silk.

Installation view.

56” x 18” x 148”

DOU B LE H A N G ER (S) (above)

Porcelain.

5.25” x 14” x .25”.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

MADELEINE CONOVER

53

MARILLA CUBBERLEY W R I T T E N BY

J O A N N A PL AT T

Marilla Cubberley creates sculptural incursions through del-

contact. Cubberley questions how the language of the form

icately woven works that animate and engage with space.

shifts in the translation between materials. After scanning,

Inspired by Boris Arvatov's concept of the "socialist object,"

the surfaces of the woven objects acquire a digital slickness,

Cubberley’s art honors the mundane objects that generate

a residue that cannot be sanded off or disrupted.

culture and transform everyday life. Working with bread tags and rubber bands, she moves beyond formal concerns to question the life and afterlife of these objects. These prosaic elements are carefully incorporated into her room-scale pieces, eliciting intimate surprises that reward the viewer for looking closer. In these visceral montages, elements converse and converge, constructing new totalities. Flashes of recognition bind us to familiar forms as tiny pieces sublimate their meaning and transcend their materiality.

Like the semantic satiation of repeated words, Cubberley’s animations transform these digital elements. In one, bread tags hatch from their paper casts, multiplying across the surface of the screen, shifting the language of forms.

Another resembles an early science fiction set, with woven elements dancing through cast paper caves. The viewer is invited to peer through windows into animations that evoke natural forces and cycles, such as wind, clouds, birth and rebirth. The mediation of the frames mimicking the dis-

Faced with the pandemic challenge of producing tactile

tancing of the screen gives rise to a sense of storm clouds

works that would only be seen through a screen, Cubberley

on the horizon. Only now, there is no horizon, just a state

began to make 3D models and animations, translating the

of perpetual impermanence

woven forms for digital display. With titles like Sprouting Fodder, Withering Fodder and Static Oozing, the pieces echo the feeling of isolation imposed by the lack of physical

54

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

INSPIRED BY BORIS ARVATOV'S CONCEPT OF THE S " OCIALIST OBJECT," CUBBERLEY’S ART HONORS THE MUNDANE OBJECTS THAT GENERATE CULTURE AND TRANSFORM EVERYDAY LIFE.

D IG ITA L CO LLEC TIO N (above)

3D scanned objects in Blender.

MARILLA CUBBERLEY

55

N ET TIN G PR EFER EN CE (above)

Paper clay, spray paint, felt, plastic, cotton, netted fruit packaging.

24” x 12” x 8”.

56

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

A R R A NG ING MYSELF INTO A SWIN G (above)

Paper clay, acrylic paint, paper berry baskets, polymer clay, wool roving, resin, spray paint, string.

12” x 22” x 8”.

MARILLA CUBBERLEY

57

NICOLO GENTILE W R I T T E N BY

N O A H R A N D O LP H

In the center of the gallery sits a large black industrial cube.

queerness through the reanimation of past spaces and

On the front, a steel ball chain curtain shows a close-cropped

experiences for the critical reimagining of the future.

image of two men in a passionate kiss. The rippling surface shimmers in the light, urging a closer look. Suddenly pixelated, the abstracted image is no longer a surface, but a threshold to another space. The neon glow and a pulsing rhythm tempt the viewer to enter. Upon crossing, the heavy steel balls drag on the skin—enveloping the viewer in a cold embrace before passage into the radiant warmth.

Thorough research and engagement with the politically motivated abstraction of the 1990s that responded to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and subcultural queer archives is both a site of inspiration and reclamation for Gentile, bridging intergenerational aesthetic concerns to adopt tactics of abstraction that transform queerness from a marker of difference into one of familiarity. Just as quotation and reference

In his 2009 book Cruising Utopia, the late critic and

were important to Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Tony Feher, Roni

theorist José Esteban Muñoz states: “We may never touch

Horn and a generation of postmodern theorists and artists,

queerness, but we can feel it as the warm illumination of

the same is true for Gentile. As opposed to the weightless,

a horizon imbued with potentiality.”[1] The installations of

metaphysical properties of a plastic beaded curtain, this

Nicolo Gentile insist upon the possibility of both—trans-

steel curtain declares its presence and content. In this, the

planting conditions of 1990s queer club culture into

quotation of Gonzales-Torres becomes a reflection toward

the gallery space, accessible through an architecture of

the prospective—working, as shared by Gentile, “to bridge

cruising painted with an image sourced from a 1991 issue

the irretrievable past with the unimagined future”

of Drummer magazine. Engaging with theories of nostalgia and queer futurity, Gentile’s practice seeks to radicalize

58

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

59

QUEER AND NOW | ISSUE 1

QUEER AND NOW | ISSUE 1

Offset lithograph on newsprint, polyethylene bag.

Offset lithograph on newsprint, polyethylene bag.

9” x 12”.

9” x 12”.

Edition of 1,000.

Edition of 1,000.

(above)

(previous page)

ENGAGING WITH THEORIES OF NOSTALGIA AND QUEER FUTURITY, GENTILE’S PRACTICE SEEKS TO RADICALIZE QUEERNESS THROUGH THE REANIMATION OF PAST SPACES AND EXPERIENCES FOR THE CRITICAL REIMAGINING OF THE FUTURE. 60

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TOU G H LOVE

D RO P MY BO DY

Nickel-plated steel ball chain, automotive enamel, plywood, latex paint.

Paraffin wax, leather dye, cotton wicks.

(above)

(following page)

Installation view.

Installation view from group exhibition at Atelier Art Gallery.

144” x 124” x 112”.

4” x 36” x 24”.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

NICOLO GENTILE

61

62

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

NICOLO GENTILE

63

ANNA GRAVES W R I T T E N BY

A N N E M A R IE M A A G -TA N C H A K

Is it possible for humans to engage with nature without

Graves’s resulting art manifests in two ways, which can be

leaving a mark, to archive natural infrastructures without

divided into “collecting” and “wayfinding.” Regarding the

leaving environmental spaces bare, or to responsibly

former, Graves has recently created a series of clamshell

navigate ecologies? These questions linger on the mind

boxes, each containing an insert with a hollow form in the

of—and present in the artistic practice of—Anna Graves.

shape of the traced objects that they are meant to but will

Trained as a printmaker and currently exploring interdisci-

never hold. The boxes are made of bookbinding materials,

plinary work in three-dimensional form, she interrogates

a nod to traditional methods of archival record keeping,

what it means to sustainably occupy and preserve mem-

and although they are physically empty, they contain the

ories of natural space. Graves is fascinated with city park

presence of objects engaged with but not alienated. The

systems as unique natural structures that are wild and

boxes are bound in cloth that matches the colors of the

refreshing, yet manicured and maintained specifically for

original objects and their found environment—a spectrum of

human use. Working with a “leave no trace” core principle,

muted grays and greens. Regarding the concept of wayfind-

she ventures into parks and nature preserves to record

ing, Graves makes drawings and prints of trail markers spray

rocks, pebbles, sticks and trail markers on trees. In essence,

painted on trees, cropped in such a way that they are re-

she collects them—not through picking them up and

moved completely from their original purpose, highlighting

removing them from their site but through the creation of

the artificiality and absurdity of human-oriented, prescribed

tracings, imprints, photos and drawings. She collects sig-

navigation in nature.

nifiers and indicators rather than the original objects, such that the signifiers become objects themselves.

Within the dichotomy of collecting versus leaving, between categorizing infrastructures and rejecting the archive, Graves finds the space where art engages with the natural sciences, separating the two and reuniting them in radical ways

64

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BOXE S FO R O BJEC TS FOU N D IN WISSA H ICKO N VA LLE Y PA R K

(below)

Handmade boxes.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

IN ESSENCE, SHE COLLECTS THEM—NOT THROUGH PICKING THEM UP AND REMOVING THEM FROM THEIR SITE BUT THROUGH THE CREATION OF TRACINGS, IMPRINTS, PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS. SHE COLLECTS SIGNIFIERS AND INDICATORS RATHER THAN THE ORIGINAL OBJECTS, SUCH THAT THE SIGNIFIERS BECOME OBJECTS THEMSELVES. ANNA GRAVES

65

66

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TR ACE (right)

Trace monotype animation.

10:03 minutes.

U NTITLED (D EB R IS) (left)

Stone lithography and serigraphy on Somerset Satin paper, clipboard.

9” x 12”.

U NTITLED ( WISSA H ICKO N VA LLE Y PA R K ) (opposite page)

Photolithography on Somerset Satin paper, clipboard.

9” x 12”.

ANNA GRAVES

67

RACHEL HSU W R I T T E N BY

E M ILY S C H O LLE N B E R G E R

Deep blue appears repeatedly in Rachel Hsu’s work, evok-

Feminist historian Rebecca Solnit questions whether desire

ing the hazy blue of distant horizons and the inky, inacces-

can be cherished as a sensation in its own right rather than

sible blue of the ocean. The blue that characterizes far-off

as a problem to be solved. This question permeates Hsu’s

vistas is incorporeal, always retreating and leaving behind

work, as she invites her viewers to look slowly and to enter

mundane earth tones as one approaches it; at the same

into the experience of longing, of “the blue of distance,”

time, it is permanent, forever tinting the still-distant horizon.

in Solnit’s words. Hsu extends this invitation through color,

Like the longing that comes with displacement, this blue is

through materiality and through language. How Beautiful

both elemental and ungraspable. Throughout her work, Hsu

You Are, an audio recording of Hsu’s mother speaking

explores this yearning that stems from physical distance,

about her life, allows viewers to sit with the complexities of

cultural and linguistic differences, and relational ruptures.

language and slippages in translation by confronting them

In some works, she gently lays open the aches caused by

with her mother’s voice speaking Mandarin. Likewise, Fetch

cultural and racial differences as she explores her parents’

the Moon from the Seabed (

experience of immigrating from Taiwan and her own Asian

poem written in Chinese characters in a workbook format

American identity. Other works bear witness to longing for

on large, deep blue pages. The graceful sweep of the white

intimacy and connection: in Blue Aches, the narrow rift that

characters on the azure background is lyrical, while the grids

splits the gently suspended bed sheet speaks to interper-

remind us that loss and longing intertwine with mundane re-

sonal distance and ruptured intimacy.

ality, such as the hard work of learning a language. In Hsu’s

) presents viewers with a

work, the practical blends with the poetic, drawing viewers into longing and absence and allowing them to linger in the blue of distance

68

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

B EFO R E TH E R IVER B ECOME S TH E SE A (top)

Installation.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

TEN D IN G (above)

River rocks, wood, print on paper.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

RACHEL HSU

69

FETCH TH E MOO N FROM TH E SE A B ED ( ) ( TO WISH , TO M ISS , TO TH IN K , TO B ELIE VE)

FETCH TH E MOO N FROM TH E SE A B ED ( ) (R ETU R N , TO CIRCLE , TO A NSWER )

Inkjet print (one from a series of 30).

Inkjet print (one from a series of 30).

(above)

(above)

TEN D IN G ( TA K E AWAY )

(opposite page)

Print on paper, endless copies.

Edition of 1,000.

IN HSU’S WORK, THE PRACTICAL BLENDS WITH THE POETIC , DRAWING VIEWERS INTO LONGING AND ABSENCE AND ALLOWING THEM TO LINGER IN THE BLUE OF DISTANCE. 70

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

71

WENSI HUANG W R I T T E N BY

V I N C E N T FO R SELL

An adage tells us that “blood is thicker than water,” and in-

through the tactility of the material that makes up its being.

deed it can be said that the connections formed in familial

Sharp edges tactilely relate to concepts of anxiety, insecu-

bonds are some of the strongest the average person will

rity and stress, supported by weak, tenuous structures that

have in their lives. As such, the stability of these relation-

symbolize toxic, unstable patrimonial attachments and the

ships come to influence the connections that we make

strife that emanates from such foundations. Soft, smooth

with other people in our lives. Psychologically, it has been

edges reflect concepts of tenderness and comfort, support-

shown that strong, loving bonds beget similarly stable ones

ed by strong, sound bases that represent stable relationships

with others, while toxic, insecure bonds beget unstable

and the support, protection and consistent growth that such

ones. These connections and the consequences of their

connections beget. Viewers are encouraged to interact with

varying statuses come under investigation in the works of

these works through touch, adding a sense of attachment to

Wensi Huang. They explain that these works were inspired

the works that reflects the intimate construct of our connec-

by their time studying abroad in Italy, a time of isolation for

tions with family. Indeed, these works do not seek to provide

the artist that allowed them to become introspective about

answers but instead ask the viewer to consider their own

their relationships with family. Huang explains that, through

connections, asking both what concepts they believe to be

this project, they sought to ultimately “present my under-

stable or unstable in their own relationships with family, and

standing of what elements/characters would exist to lead

how these concepts have come to influence the ways they

to a healthy relationship.”

connect with others in the present day. Through symbolic,

Huang’s hand-crafted and three-dimensionally printed works investigate the stability of familial bonds and how these connections influence our connections with others

72

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

abstract construction, Huang investigates human interaction and the ways in which our familial bonds affect these connections in unique, creative ways

THROUGH SYMBOLIC, ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTION, HUANG INVESTIGATES HUMAN INTERACTION AND HOWOUR FAMILIAL BONDS AFFECTS THESE CONNECTIONS IN UNIQUE, CREATIVE WAYS.

SU PPO RT V (above)

Stainless steel wire, bronze, felt burr, stainless-steel piercing, glass.

10” x 9” x 24”.

WENSI HUANG

73

TH E BO N D I (above)

3D-printed resin, baby oil, magnet.

2” x 5” x 6”.

74

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TH E BO N D II (above)

3D-printed resin, silver-plated electroformed copper, alcohol dye.

3” x 6” x 6”.

WENSI HUANG

75

OSSIE JON-NWAKALO W R I T T E N BY

N O A H R A N D O LP H

Ossie Jon-Nwakalo’s investigations of color and space

a two-dimensional vertical expanse. In this environment,

follow a melodic structure and engage with the aesthetic

the artist's work grew syncopated—arriving at the form,

legacies of Minimalism and Color Field painting. “I am just

color and shape of his stacked panels.

always interested in color, sticking with primary and secondary color relations as my North Star,” Jon-Nwakalo says. Like crafting a musical score, he expands from a root note—a main color from which to explore the harmonics and dissonances of scale.

Organized and described as independent units, these panels address the concerns of Judd and other Minimalist artists but recast the sculptural in a painterly language, bringing the late modern into the present. His panels, with their geometric shapes and modular seriality, embrace a

Just as the pristine canvases of Ellsworth Kelly have served

familiar rhythm. However, the contrasts and sharp edges

as an inspiration for his fixation with color scales, an en-

of the works follow a different tempo altogether, spilling

counter with Donald Judd’s stacks inspired a completely

out from the confines of the panels and onto the wall be-

different confrontation with physical scale. An ensuing

hind. “By using the modulation of independent units I am

period of intense experimentation led the artist to paint

looking to stretch the perceived bounds of what this space

directly on the studio wall to understand how this disrup-

permits,” he says. “Within this order [of units] I’m letting

tive phenomenological experience could be translated

one element be chaotic, the form of color.” In this engage-

into painting. To facilitate this, Jon-Nwakalo painted the

ment, Jon-Nwakalo’s work creates a bright resonance that

entire space black, using darkness to examine how the

projects itself into the viewer’s environment, inviting clarity

three-dimensional gradients of color could be captured in

and contemplation within the chaos

76

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

OSSIE JON-NWAKALO

77

O R A N G E INTO B LU E (left)

Vinyl on panel.

2” x12”x 7” each.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

YELLOW INTO PU R PLE (previous page)

Vinyl on panel.

11” x 36” x 4” each.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

78

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

R ED INTO G R EEN (above)

Vinyl on panel.

12” x 12” x 7” each.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

OSSIE JON-NWAKALO

79

JUSTINE KELLEY W R I T T E N BY

J O A N N A PL AT T

Justine Kelley's exquisite illustrations investigate person-

personal narratives with the language of self-help books, at

al narratives through vibrantly colored transcriptions of

times funny but also raw, endearing and honest. Journaling

raw experience, using humor to break down the barrier

becomes therapeutic both for the artist and the viewer.

between the viewer and the work. Her characters balance a

Exposing raw emotion, Kelley discloses her vulnerabilities

mix of specific and generic features to engage with a broad

in service to others, using design to effect deeper interper-

audience. As part of a more extensive dialogue aimed at

sonal bonds.

dismantling social barriers between people, her works create new structures of meaning and connectivity. Avoiding the mediation of the tool preset, she hand-draws most of her work, infusing it with an honest, intimate quality. Like a craftsman inventing tools to produce more unique compositions, Kelley imparts to the illustrations an authenticity not available through the homogenization of the Adobe Creative Suite.

To escape the mediation of the screen, Kelley has been exploring the vernacular of Philadelphia signs. The sign is not only a name; it is also a landmark, linking people across time and remaining extant after the original indicator is gone. She calls the sign project a love letter to Jeff Cold Beer. The beer shop window is a frame through which the store owner fashions a composition, conveying meaning with many small instructions. By adding text collages from

During the isolation of the pandemic, Kelley sought new

found Yelp reviews to images of the storefront, Kelley

communication methods. Works such as Cruel Summer

reanimates the shop window. These recontextualized cu-

and Is Love Real are zines that explore the psychologi-

rations—a collaboration between the artist, Jeff Cold Beer

cal connections between people through the discourse

and anonymous reviewers—demonstrate what our post-

of self-discovery and self-care. In them, she infuses her

screen world might resemble

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

WE A PPR ECI ATE YOU R BUSIN E SS (above)

Poster series.

18” x 24”.

JUSTINE KELLEY

81

COO L PA RT Y

IS LOVE R E A L

Board Game.

Book.

18” x 18”.

9” x 12”.

(above)

82

(below)

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

JUSTINE KELLEY'S EXQUISITE ILLUSTRATIONS INVESTIGATE PERSONAL NARRATIVES THROUGH VIBRANTLY COLORED TRANSCRIPTIONS OF RAW EXPERIENCE, USING HUMOR TO BREAK DOWN THE BARRIER BETWEEN THE VIEWER AND THE WORK.

WE A PPR ECI ATE YOU R BUSIN E SS (left)

Poster series.

18” x 24”.

IS LOVE R E A L (following page)

Book.

9” x 12”.

JUSTINE KELLEY

83

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

85

NAOMI LEMUS W R I T T E N BY

LI A M M AC H A D O

Repetition, the maintenance and repurposing of old things,

has placed a replica of this construction, supported by cinder

and a valuation of hard work and long days all find their way

blocks and with used articles of clothing sandwiched between

into Naomi Lemus’ increasingly installation-based practice,

the springs and wooden slats. Functional and familiar, La Cama

a sensibility that finds its roots in the gendered Chicana

echoes the original bed that Esther holds clearly in her mind

aesthetics of domesticana. Stuffed nopal cacti peek out

to this day as a space of love and safety, next to her mother, for

from refurbished vanity dressers, old family photographs

whose sacrifices she remains grateful. “Te agradezco, mamí,”

slip in and out of worn apron pockets, and the warmth and

Esther addresses Abuelita Silva in the video’s denouement,

refuge of childhood bedrooms extend into the gallery. It is

now absent yet always present. “I think I never could have had a

an intimate iconographic compendium not just of one life,

better mom than you.”

but of many: a visual map of the artist’s childhood memories and those borrowed from her predecessors.

It is an achingly tender moment, and one that crucially points to Naomi’s long-held preoccupation with generational ex-

Naomi's mother, Esther, figures heavily in the artist’s work, a

pressions of resilience, survival, and care. From Abuelita Silva

frequent collaborator always willing to lend her stories to the

to Esther, on through to Naomi, her nieces and future women

project at hand. Perhaps the purest expression of this is the dual

in her family, the sharing of oral histories—and simultaneously,

video and assemblage installation La Cama, in which the elder

the reconciliation of deep-seated generational traumas—of-

Lemus recounts her early childhood in Reynosa, Mexico, and

fer an ever-brighter future. A project like La Cama, then, does

the efforts of her own mother—Juanita Silva, Naomi's grand-

not just represent a documentary reconstitution of memory.

mother—to provide for Esther and six siblings. In a 12-minute

For Naomi, aware that her artistic practice affords unique

monologue recorded from her home bedroom in Houston,

opportunities to reflect on her family's experiences and the

Esther recalls how despite experiencing poverty, she and her

women who preceded her, it is also a way of honoring every-

siblings held onto a sanctuary in the form of their bed: a bare,

day acts of love—and a way of paying them forward. “Each

secondhand box spring filled out with bundles of old, discard-

generation tries to make it better,” she says. “And in some

ed clothes for support. Fittingly, below the projection Lemus

ways we always fail but we keep trying”

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

L A CO CIN A (above)

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

I“ THINK I NEVER COULD HAVE HAD A BETTER MOM THAN YOU.” IT IS AN ACHINGLY TENDER MOMENT, AND ONE THAT CRUCIALLY POINTS TO LEMUS' LONG-HELD PREOCCUPATION WITH GENERATIONAL EXPRESSIONS OF RESILIENCE, SURVIVAL AND CARE. NAOMI LEMUS

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EL VE STIDO R (above)

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

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EL VE STIDO R (detail, above)

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

NAOMI LEMUS

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WENQING LIU W R I T T E N BY

J O R D A N G R YS C AVA G E

Wenqing “Wen” Liu’s designs, besides being aesthetically

Liu has also dedicated her work to public health through her

pleasing, all revolve around a mission to improve everyday

project “Hospital How-To,“ a website and collection of 3D

life. Her visual aesthetic leans toward a muted pastel color

illustrations that model hospital layouts. The project focuses

scheme, as well as rounded shapes and objects. She has

on educating young teenagers in China about what to ex-

created multiple projects that are directed toward mental

pect when visiting a medical professional. Liu expressed her

and physical health, especially by working to overcome

concern for Chinese teenagers: “There’s a lack of medical

boredom and promote calmness. For example, Liu is cur-

education. So, I think it’s really important to let them know

rently developing an app called “Pause,” in which users are

[that] if you feel uncomfortable, you need to know how [and

reminded through notifications to take a moment and focus

when] to see a doctor. If you are afraid of seeing a doctor,

on their breath. The app also prompts the user to complete

it will get worse.” Liu’s convictions extend to both mental

an activity, such as doing the dishes or spending time with a

and physical health. The website provides a smart check-in

pet. The goal of “Pause” is to give users a moment of reset

service and a basic introduction to each department as well

and reflection. Liu further highlights the importance of

as gives the user a list of what they need before they arrive at

tactile experience in a project that demonstrates her ability

their local hospital. The visual aesthetic of the website is very

to create a branding campaign for a hypothetical institution

purposeful in its calming muted colors but also in its playful

called the Hands On Museum. Her visual aesthetic for this

designs that are part of an effort “to ease their anxiety.” Liu

portfolio are clean and modern, yet playful and toy-like,

focuses on work that improves daily life, public health and

which encourages kids to explore and learn through play.

improving ourselves as humans. Her goal is to have a career in user experience: “We [have] to know what’s the best solution or how it functions, how we can work better for humans or for our habits”

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

PAUSE A PP (above)

User Interface.

Dimensions variable.

PAUSE A PP (right)

Branded merchandise.

Dimensions variable.

WENQING LIU

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HOSPITA L HOW-TO (above)

3D illustration.

Dimensions variable.

13, 2 3 (right)

Poster.

Dimensions variable.

HOSPITA L HOW-TO (opposite page)

Website.

Dimensions variable.

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“W E H [ AVE] TO KNOW WHAT’S THE BEST SOLUTION OR HOW IT FUNCTIONS, HOW WE CAN WORK BETTER FOR HUMANS OR FOR OUR HABITS. ”

WENQING LIU

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GILBERTO LÓPEZ-ELÍAS W R I T T E N BY

S A M M A L A N D R A- M Y E R S

Gilberto López-Elías’ body of work consists of striking formal

The concept of veiling meaning is furthered by the lack of

images ripped from sources unknown that set to create sacral

value the artist gives toward the “final edition,” which is so

landscapes. These constructed spaces act as a stage for an

highly praised in the printmaking world. López-Elías con-

image that is meant to give, but also deny, access to the artist's

fronts the ideas of preciousness within his work by refusing to

likeness. His identity as a queer male interjected into a Catholic

consider something complete, instead challenging himself to

space that denied his entry into priesthood is central to under-

recontextualize images, sometimes months after last touching

standing the power dynamics that are being fought within the

a piece. This allows for new meanings to be found within his

contrast-rich, black and white, intricate compositions. The act

work that advance as he performs what he titles “personal

of preserving a part of the self from the religious space that

capriccios” (Italian for a short, freeform performance) through

his reflection inhabits is a type of protest and a reclamation of

which his audience can have religious experiences. This as-

autonomy and power over self-representation. That represen-

pect of performance has expanded as his work has adapted

tation is never meant to be complete, even beyond the layers

beyond only physical printmaking techniques and enters the

of manipulation that shroud the queer male identity from the

foyer of digital reproduction and video, which has become

audience. Rather, viewers are meant to take a long time to

integral to the overall manipulation process

untangle the image and ultimately may never be able to. In order to emphasize the maze-like concept, López-Elías scaled up the work and created an inhabitable landscape, in which the viewers become participants and shapers of the art in real time as their shadows interact with the work, adding another dimension to the obfuscation of the message.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TR E A SU R E S O F TH E N IG HT (left)

Digital projection.

Dimensions variable.

Installation view.

TR E A SU R E S O F TH E N IG HT (following page)

Prints on high-density polyethylene.

Dimensions variable.

Installation view.

THE ACT OF PRESERVING A PART OF THE SELF FROM THE RELIGIOUS SPACE THAT HIS REFLECTION INHABITS IS A TYPE OF PROTEST AND A RECLAMATION OF AUTONOMY AND POWER OVER SELF-REPRESENTATION.

GILBERTO LÓPEZ-ELÍAS

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DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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LIZ ASHLEY MARTIN W R I T T E N BY

N O A H R A N D O LP H

Trained as a ceramicist, Liz Ashley Martin's practice is

alone that are impacted by issues of sustainability, includ-

driven by research and systems thinking—employing a

ing trash or pollution. What’s important is that there isn’t an

breadth of transdisciplinary theories and methodologies.

“end”—the ultimate goal is to spark discourse so that we may

The following is a discussion about her recent work, edited

collectively address the slow violence that we as humans

for length and clarity.

have inflicted and continue to inflict upon the environment.

Noah Randolph (NR): Your work centers on the site of

NR: How do you define “slow violence” and how is it ad-

Wissahickon Valley Park. What brought you there?

dressed in your work?

Liz Ashley Martin (LAM): Going to Wissahickon was a direct

LAM: Rob Nixon’s theory feels like the most apt way to dis-

response to the pandemic. Like many, I felt trapped trying to

cuss this issue. In an interview with scholar Ashley Dawson,

stay safe and isolating alone in my apartment. Finding myself

he explained it as “a violence that is neither spectacular nor

without a studio, the only logical place to turn to was nature.

instantaneous, but instead incremental.”[1] As a new resident

NR: How has the time you have spent there affected the art you produce and what is the end goal of your current project?

LAM: I have temporarily put aside ceramics and other tactile materials in exchange for the digital, mostly photography and writing. Initially, I had envisioned the end goal of my ongoing project as “completing” the Wissahickon—walking the 50 plus miles of trails that exist within that park. However, there are endless spaces and landscapes in Philadelphia

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

to Philadelphia, I am constantly shocked by the amount of trash strewn and left to accumulate on the streets. To see how blind and accepting we have become that we are allowing it to bleed into our “natural spaces” is disheartening and alarming. My response is to use media—in this instance photography—to witness, document, catalogue and freeze moments of slow violence as they occur in Philadelphia, almost as though I’m investigating a crime scene

WISSA H ICKO N VA LLE Y PA R K (PH IL A D ELPH I A , PA ). D EB R IS - M A NY PL A STIC SCR A PS C AU G HT U P IN TH E BA N K’S B RUSH . (above)

Archival inkjet print.

36” x 24”.

LIZ ASHLEY MARTIN

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WISSA H ICKO N VA LLE Y PA R K (PH IL A D ELPH I A , PA ). D EB R IS - A B RO K EN , RUSTED G R ILL A N D B R ICK- PAT TER N ED PACK AG ING L AY B EN E ATH FO R B IDDEN DR IVE . (above)

Archival inkjet print.

36” x 24”.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

WISSA H ICKO N VA LLE Y PA R K (PH IL A D ELPH I A , PA ). D EB R IS - A SIN G LE PL A STIC BAG H U N G FROM A TR EE N E X T TO K ITCH EN ’S L A N E B R IDG E . (above)

Archival inkjet print.

36” x 24”.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS THAT THERE ISN’T AN “END” — THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO SPARK DISCOURSE SO THAT WE MAY COLLECTIVELY ADDRESS THE SLOW VIOLENCE THAT WE AS HUMANS HAVE INFLICTED AND CONTINUE TO INFLICT UPON THE ENVIRONMENT. LIZ ASHLEY MARTIN

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BRIAN MCNAMARA W R I T T E N BY

E R I N R ILE Y- LO PEZ

Brian McNamara describes his existence as interstitial,

their identities intertwine with one another crossing over

straddling worlds, cultures and ethnicities as they converge

between texts/scenes. What becomes clear from the textual

to form his Irish-Mexican identity—what Gloria Anzaldúa

narratives is that in order to show their mutual affection for

would refer to as the “borderlands.” As Anzaldúa notes, it

one another the luchadores must be in disguise. Masked

can be an uncomfortable place, both psychologically and

up in Lumberjack, set in a diner, and The Long Drive, situated

physically, from which to operate and yet occupying this

in the desert, the two negotiate the borderlands of their

in-betweenness can empower by refusing normative ways

shared identities in a conversational sparring match. In the

of being in the world.[1] McNamara’s work negotiates the

texts, words such as strongest, manliest and hungriest are

borderlands as he grapples with his own masculinity and

used to describe Hermano—the seemingly older and wiser

Mexican heritage as an adult. Working in ceramics, the

luchador—and his derogatory use of a Spanish word for a

small-scale, sculptural installations are three-dimensional

prostitute leveled at Montaña suggests he is merely acting

renderings of text-based narratives, which seemingly pop

out the heteropatriarchal culture that has come to define his

from the pages of a comic book. The 3D scenes animate

existence even if secretly wanting to transcend this limitation

texts about male companionship with the heroes of these

imposed on him. Hermano’s and Montaña’s leisure time

texts/scenes costumed as two luchadores, Hermano and

spent sharing a diner meal or a box of donuts in the desert

Montaña—Mexican wrestlers masquerading as super-

requires the armor of the highly choreographed masculinity

heroes. The two characters represent both the artist and

of masked luchadores alter-egos permitting them to play

an unspecified male figure from his life simultaneously as

out their friendship

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BRIAN MCNAMARA

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TH E D IN ER

LU CH A LIB R E FIG HT POSTER

PAG E S 5 A N D 6

Ceramic, wood, paint, prints.

Plaster, paint.

Ceramic.

16” x 8” x 4”.

32” x 16”.

17” x 11” each.

(below)

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(previous page)

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

(following page)

MCNAMARA’S WORK NEGOTIATES THE BORDERLANDS AS HE GRAPPLES WITH HIS OWN MASCULINITY AND MEXICAN HERITAGE AS AN ADULT. WORKING IN CERAMICS, THE SMALL-SCALE, SCULPTURAL INSTALLATIONS ARE THREE-DIMENSIONAL RENDERINGS OF TEXT-BASED NARRATIVES, WHICH SEEMINGLY POP FROM THE PAGES OF A COMIC BOOK.

BRIAN MCNAMARA

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DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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SARAH MONTAGNOLI W R I T T E N BY

M A R Í A D E LO U R D E S M A R I Ñ O

Sarah B. Montagnoli’s jewelry design combines metal, fiber

layers of emotional states that inform Montagnoli's practice.

and textiles in an attempt to create a world of forms inhab-

This medallion-shaped pin, bursting and piercing red orific-

ited by the tension between silhouettes and voids, a tension

es, recreates the dual experience of objects of protection

that informs her perception of reality. Moving through the

and vessels of curse and deviance. Each incision signals a

ambiguity of physical sensations where pleasure and pain

transgression within the physical limits of the body, perhaps

are combined, her creations transform the worst nightmares

aspiring to an ideal transcendence made of corporeal

into objects of desire, the fright into sparks of beauty, and the

forces. Nothing appears casual in Montagnoli’s objects;

experience of subjugation into a liberatory rite of passage.

the plasticity and softness of the Furribieee, part of the

Montagnoli carefully considers each pattern drawn from

same series of works, mixes the crucifix form with the hairy

Christianity's symbolic forest as a critical statement against the

thrill of animal petting. Positioning mocking and loving as

centuries-long practice of biopolitics within this institution. In

part of the same contradictory thoughts, the artist rebuilds

a piece like Sacrificial Lamb, where her use of the hydraulic

the memorabilia of childhood experiences lived in fear

press and powdercoat intersects with leather and faux fur,

of temptation. Nonetheless, as the artist reminds us, these

the bleeding lamb becomes an amulet for protection and

are meant to be wearable objects, not relics of the past or

the beginning of a new personal healing ritual. The softness

symbolic structures, which means that carrying these pieces

and warm sensations of furry materials collides with the metal

can become a personal ritual of satisfaction and desires.

structures created to touch, caress and satisfy our anxieties.

According to the title of a series still in progress, Montagnoli

Although Montagnoli’s first impulse is to identify the patterns she will use in each piece, usually these are organized into series that share the same inquiries. In her last series, "Seeking Sensation," Red Velvet encompasses the many

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

believes she is “speaking as a sinner.” Even so, her pieces communicate liberation and tenderness, proposing an idea of humanity that begins in the experience of the flesh, "almost as though I’m investigating a crime scene"

SARAH MONTAGNOLI

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SPE A K IN G A S A SIN N ER (opposite page)

Mixed media, wearable objects.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

THE HOLY & THE HE ATHEN (below)

Copper, aluminum, steel, leather, rabbit fur, cement powder coat, wearable objects.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

R E STR A IN IN G & R ELE A SIN G (above)

Copper, aluminum, steel, leather, powder coat, wearable objects.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

CLE A NSIN G WA N DS 1 & 2 , BU N N IE (previous page)

Cleansing Wands: PLA Prints, flock faux fur. Bunnie: Sterling silver, copper, rabbit fur, powder coat, objects for the hand and body.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Bridget K. Rogers.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

MOVING THROUGH THE AMBIGUITY OF PHYSICAL SENSATIONS WHERE PLEASURE AND PAIN ARE COMBINED, HER CREATIONS TRANSFORM THE WORST NIGHTMARES INTO OBJECTS OF DESIRE, THE FRIGHT INTO SPARKS OF BEAUTY, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF SUBJUGATION INTO A LIBERATORY RITE OF PASSAGE.

SARAH MONTAGNOLI

111

COOPER O’BRIEN W R I T T E N BY

L A U R E N M. M CC A R D EL

Every space we encounter requires negotiation—accom-

cating the complex matrix of their sourcing, processing and

modation, a reciprocal exchange of information. We

use. Still, he grapples with this schematizing impulse, revealing

ascribe meaning to the objects, surfaces and structures in

a sense of responsibility to explore his own limitations and

our physical environments, a meaning that shapes and is

those of his media. Undulating curves of rich black glass

shaped by our lived experiences. Cooper O’Brien’s glass

caught fast on a series of vertical iron axes, a fraying grid of

sculptures uncomfortably prod at this process of spatial

copper pipes submerged in a clear block atop a monolithic

and cognitive mediation, taking advantage of the material’s

plinth, an opaque sheet suspended mid-air by a seemingly

capacity for creating a phenomenological tension that

haphazard arrangement of iron legs: each disturbs our

requires both intuition and care to navigate. Glass, when

expectations of transparency when looking through an

juxtaposed with the ductile qualities of steel and copper,

opening. These are warped, distorted windows symptomatic

enables O’Brien to explore the lengths to which things can

of the fracturing infrastructures we all navigate.

bend before they break. His work picks away at the veneer of stability we build up around ourselves through sight and perceived understanding, testing our expectations of what is familiar, what is tenable.

The unease driving O’Brien’s work makes it intensely personal, and the anxiety reflected back at us requires our own negotiation between structure, material and space. It asks: How does the visible speak to what is hidden? What

O’Brien’s practice probes the boundaries of his own physical

is the relationship between engineered form and intuitive

and intellectual limits, a process guided by what he describes

understanding? To O’Brien, glass is the material that allows

as an insecurity about his control over his materials. O’Brien’s

him to examine and render these parameters in the physi-

interactions with those materials are fraught—he keenly feels

cal world. Sharing space with his work forces us to decide

their constraints; their industrial, decorative and utilitarian

whether we will share in this labor and risk asking those

histories; and the challenges (or impossibility?) of communi-

same questions ourselves

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BOW

(detail, left)

Glass, copper, brass, steel, concrete.

90” x 30” x 14”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

COOPER O’BRIEN

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BOW + U NTITLED (CO R N ER SK ETCH)

U NTITLED (CO R N ER SK ETCH)

Installation view.

Glass, copper, brass, steel, plasti-dip, poplar.

(above)

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

(opposite page)

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

HIS WORK PICKS AWAY AT THE VENEER OF STABILITY WE BUILD UP AROUND OURSELVES THROUGH SIGHT AND PERCEIVED UNDERSTANDING, TESTING OUR EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT IS FAMILIAR, WHAT IS TENABLE.

COOPER O’BRIEN

115

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

SCH EM A (left)

Glass, copper, brass, poplar, steel.

144” x 120” x 120”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

COOPER O’BRIEN

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VICTORIA RAVELO W R I T T E N BY

M A R Í A D E LO U R D E S M A R I Ñ O

In Victoria Ravelo's artwork, memory is less an inevitable

that transcends our limited lifetime, that the experience of

encounter with the past than an ever-present jungle of rites

a place can travel through generations in a single touch, a

and symbols we are continually trying to solve. Rave-

certain “look,” or even the smell of the sea.

lo’s identity as a Cuban American relies heavily on family stories, particularly from her mother, to make sense of an experience of Americanness traversed by the feeling of absence. According to Marianne Hirsch’s definition of memory as a collective process, the mother-daughter relationship is crucial in creating the sense of belonging to the past that defines “postmemory.” This is the participation in a transgenerational structure where victims’ descendants, although not having lived the conflict, still participate in an entangled set of emotions and narrations related to it. In an art piece like Study in Translation, three images of different places—Miami, Baracoa (Cuba) and Philadelphia—inhabited by the artist create the confluence of space-time in a similar appearance. The familiarity with a particular place is translated from Cuba to Miami to Philadelphia, crossing physical boundaries in order to create an image of unity instead of loss. Ravelo’s postmemory practice comes from the profound certainty that there is a knowledge of history

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Together with family bonds, religion and language animate the reenacted memories that Revelo displays through her objects. The use of Spanish in many of the titles and the reference to Afro-Cuban religious practices complete her alternative vision of the world. Furthermore, Ravelo’s memory exercises happen in the proclivity to trace and erase the same forms until the resulting image conveys the sense of irreality that dominates her own personal experience. In the series “21 Caminos,” the vast traditional knowledge of Afro-Cuban religions is displayed through the use of materials such as iron or in references to medicinal plants’ names along with corresponding mythologies. However, this world of specific allusions does not supply a detailed guide to unlocking Ravelo's practice, so much as it proposes the continuous assessment of two interrelated questions: Who am I? Where should I go next?

SELF PO RTR A IT (above)

125 lbs. Domino sugar, human hair, stones sourced from Philadelphia and Miami, seashells, jewelry, underwear, book, pennies, handwritten note, imitation gold leaf, railroad spikes, eleke beads.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

SELF PO RTR A IT (detail, right)

125 lbs. Domino sugar, human hair, stones sourced from Philadelphia and Miami, seashells, jewelry, underwear, book, pennies, handwritten note, imitation gold leaf, railroad spikes, eleke beads.

Dimensions variable.

VICTORIA RAVELO

119

RAVELO’S POSTMEMORY PRACTICE COMES FROM THE PROFOUND CERTAINTY THAT THERE IS A KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY THAT TRANSCENDS OUR LIMITED LIFETIME, THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF A PLACE CAN TRAVEL THROUGH GENERATIONS IN A SINGLE TOUCH, A CERTAIN L“ OOK,” OR EVEN THE SMELL OF THE SEA.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

C A RG O DE CO NCIENCI A O R TH E WEIG HT O F CO NSCIOUSN E SS (above)

Ocean rocks and seashells from Miami seashore, glass plate, palm oil on straw mat.

72” x 36” x 10”.

A STUDY IN TR ANSL ATION (opposite page)

Gel transfer, Google Street View images of Miami, Baracoa (Cuba), Philadelphia; acrylic, ink, human hair on watercolor paper.

22” x 30”.

Photo credit: Evan Rosato.

VICTORIA RAVELO

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

A PL ACE FO R US (floor)

Cargo de Conciencia or The Weight of Consciousness Ocean rocks and seashells from Miami seashore, glass plate, palm oil on straw mat.

72” x 36” x 10”.

IN FIN ITE H O R IZO NS (FO R D ER EK WA LCOT T ) (wall)

Reclaimed wood, acrylic, drywall screws.

144” x 288”.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

VICTORIA RAVELO

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KAITLIN SANTORO W R I T T E N BY

N IC O LE E M SE R M A R C EL

Kaitlin Santoro’s work is at once intensely personal, yet whol-

The concepts Santoro is wrestling with may seem bleak but

ly accessible. Her art references personal stories of family

they can also offer us a sense of hope. While the overall

dementia, and themes of impermanence and loss are at the

idea of ephemerality looms large, many of her works can

forefront. Her body prints, rendered on various materials like

be read as an act of memorialization. Despite the passage

beds and plastic sheets, express fears we all have of losing

of time, our images and memories cannot be fully erased

loved ones, aging and losing control of our own bodies and

or washed away, something will always remain somewhere.

alienation/loneliness. Santoro’s Erosion exemplifies these

As such, her imprints on beds, while again dealing with the

fears; this video work features a clear plastic sheet imprinted

absence of the physical body, leave a ghostly residue that

with her body in black ink. The residue left behind is what re-

symbolizes both the profound loss that has occurred but

mains of her corporeal body, which Santoro posed in a fetal

also the memory of the body, suggesting it will remain and

position, indicative of our need for protection and preserva-

thus live on

tion. However, over the course of the nearly 42-minute-long video, the print is slowly washed away by water, leaving no trace of the bodily mark. This reminds us that life, and ultimately, memory, are impermanent, mutable states.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

KAITLIN SANTORO

125

WH AT R EM A INS (above)

Oil, sand, graphite powder body print on acrylic, wood, ice, aluminum.

3 panels, 36” x 72” each.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

WH AT R EM A INS (previous page)

Oil, sand, graphite powder body print on acrylic, wood, ice, aluminum.

36” x 72”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

THE RESIDUE LEFT BEHIND IS WHAT REMAINS OF HER CORPOREAL BODY, WHICH SANTORO POSED IN A FETAL POSITION, INDICATIVE OF OUR NEED FOR PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION.

WH AT R EM A INS (right)

Oil, sand, graphite powder body print on acrylic, wood, ice, aluminum.

36” x 72”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

WH AT R EM A INS (far right)

Oil, sand, graphite powder body print on acrylic, wood, ice, aluminum.

36” x 72”.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

KAITLIN SANTORO

127

MOLLIE SCHAIDT W R I T T E N BY

L A U R E N M. M CC A R D EL

Mollie Schaidt holds up an unlabeled Mason jar, saying:

to maintain ownership of (and the right to memorialize) her

“This is my dad’s breath.” She has jars for each of her family

experience of being in and of the world. She is a collector of

members, containing their exhalations. They are some

fragments, using objects and images with which she is inti-

of the most recent objects in a body of work that narrates

mately connected to write her history—an archive of detritus

the story of her life, the lives of her loved ones and the

turned icon, a legacy of her own making.

systems in which they live, work and believe. For Schaidt, the choice of material holds an almost sacred value—while her

From dust to dust.

degree is in Photography, much of her work relies heavily on

Schaidt carries the weight of sustained toil, inherited through

found objects to which she feels viscerally bound through

generations of striving for a “better” life. What is it, exactly,

memory and physical association. Residual byproducts of

that we’re striving for? Why do we resign ourselves to a life-

a life—lint, scrap wax, remnants of bars of soap, burnt-out

time of struggle for the hope of eternal reward at the end?

tea lights—become relics in Schaidt’s hands as she works

Schaidt is driven by the spectral vision of a heaven on earth,

through questions about religion and faith, the struggles

a peace that passes all understanding—an inkling that, if she

of living in poverty, and how to protect and provide for her

can just work hard enough, she can create for herself what

family. Her photographs challenge the external gaze that

has never been offered to her by the institutions and systems

has formed typical narratives of suburban poverty, exposing

that have shaped her life. By surrounding herself with ves-

her own reality. Photography has the power to reshape, to

tiges of her parents and siblings, Schaidt labors to build her

replace memories; Schaidt’s photographs reveal an effort

own never-finished home, one of warmth, security and light.

To protect what is vital—to keep it from being lost

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

A SCENSIO N A N D A N U N USA B LE L A DDER (D ETA IL , SELF- PO RTR A IT ) (left)

Two lit clamp lights, found wooden ladder, extension cord, remains of fallen steps.

72” x 18” x 18”.

JE SUS K N E W H E WA S G O IN G TO D IE . . . H E WA S JUST WA ITIN G, SO WA S MY B ROTH ER (below)

Found ceramic figures, scrap wood, cinder blocks, dryer lint from home, scrap wax, “cookers” (heavily used candles and round tins to heat brother’s heroin).

48” x 30” x 30”.

MOLLIE SCHAIDT

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WE D ID N 'T H AVE G OO D H E AT (above)

Wall insulation, latex house paint, barrier, frosted clear paint.

72”x 108” x 4”.

“My dad would chop wood every day to prepare for the winter.

He was already exhausted from working all day, but he had to keep us warm. I still hear him using an ax to split the wood. Every weekend my parents would stack, gather, and cut wood.

The wood stove helped and kept the central part of the trailer warm, but I was on the end.

I remember I could see my breath some days, even with the space heater. I would layer the blankets and make a cocoon.”

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SHE IS A COLLECTOR OF FRAGMENTS, USING OBJECTS AND IMAGES WITH WHICH SHE IS INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO WRITE HER HISTORY— AN ARCHIVE OF DETRITUS TURNED ICON, A LEGACY OF HER OWN MAKING. TR A PPED

(detail, right)

Digital photograph of mom behind a screen, torn screen, scrap wood.

24” x 16” x 2”.

RO CK S I COU LD BUY A N D SO IL FROM L A N D TH AT I COU LD N 'T (detail, below)

Prints on tea bag paper anointed with holy oil, scrap wood, bought rocks, soil from rented land, clothesline, clothespins, work clothes, white garments stained from water.

Dimensions variable.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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ISAAC SCOTT W R I T T E N BY

N IC O LE E M SE R M A R C EL

Isaac Scott is best known for his black-and-white photo-

His other ceramic work is likewise deeply rooted in themes

graphs of the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of

of empowerment. These ceramics, created before the

2020, which were published in the New Yorker. His photos

riot cups, are vessels and jugs in which he recreates and

captured a sense of community amongst the protesters, as

plays with the idea of selfhood, casting himself as different

well as depicting their humanity, something that Scott feels

characters. Scott uses this work as a vehicle to reimagine

is often missing from these types of frontline photographs.

his environment, the people around him, events he has

Scott is, however, predominantly a ceramicist, and his two methods of art-making inform one another and converge in his “riot cups,” small, handheld, free-form vessels.

Scott shoves debris into the clay, both found and created, which forms glass-like shards throughout. These pieces are reminiscent of the raw emotions Scott captured in his documentary photos of the protests: the sharp anger, bitter disappointment and courageous hope felt by the protesters.

The riot cups are craggy, multi-colored and have slashes throughout, indicative of the vast emotions felt by protesters as they fought for their basic rights while having their humanity denied through the violent struggles and throwing of tear gas by police into the crowds. Yet Scott chooses to emphasize resiliency, what he calls “the beauty in the struggle.”

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experienced and people he holds as icons, such as Malcolm X or James Baldwin. Through this type of work, Scott elevates his heroes to iconic, mythological status and holds them up as beacons for himself and his community, both present and future. His goal for his documentary photography work is similar: to “capture the voices and stories of the Black Lives Matter movement and amplify them past this moment so that they can speak to generations to come.” The riot cups function harmoniously with his earlier ceramic pieces and photographs, documenting the voices, stories and emotions from the Black Lives Matter protests and preserving them within the space of a small clay vessel. All of Scott’s pieces work in tandem to express the humanity and rich stories within the Black community

U NTITLED (detail, left)

Ceramic.

42” x 10” x 10”.

Photo credit: Dominic Episcopo Photography, courtesy of Wexler Gallery.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

133

THESE PIECES ARE REMINISCENT OF THE RAW EMOTIONS SCOTT CAPTURED IN HIS DOCUMENTARY PHOTOS OF THE PROTESTS: THE SHARP ANGER, BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT AND COURAGEOUS HOPE FELT BY THE PROTESTERS. THE RIOT CUPS ARE CRAGGY, MULTI-COLORED AND HAVE SLASHES THROUGHOUT, INDICATIVE OF THE VAST EMOTIONS FELT BY PROTESTERS AS THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR BASIC RIGHTS WHILE HAVING THEIR HUMANITY DENIED THROUGH THE VIOLENT STRUGGLES AND THROWING OF TEAR GAS BY POLICE INTO THE CROWDS. YET SCOTT CHOOSES TO EMPHASIZE RESILIENCY, WHAT HE CALLS T “ HE BEAUTY IN THE STRUGGLE.”

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JU N E 3R D, 2020. CECIL B MOO R E AVE A N D B ROA D ST (above)

Archival pigment prints on Hahnemuhle FineArt Pearl 20” x 30”.

Photo credit: Dominic Episcopo Photography, courtesy of Wexler Gallery.

U NTITLED (3 CO LUM NS) (opposite page)

Ceramic.

42” x 10” x 10”.

Photo credit: Dominic Episcopo Photography, courtesy of Wexler Gallery.

ISAAC SCOTT

135

U NTITLED

(detail, right)

3D-printed resin, baby oil, ceramic.

42” x 10” x 10”.

Photo Credit: Dominic Episcopo Photography, courtesy of Wexler Gallery.

U NTITLED

(detail, opposite page)

Ceramic.

42” x 10” x 10”.

Photo Credit: Dominic Episcopo Photography, courtesy of Wexler Gallery.

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DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

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ELLEN SISTI W R I T T E N BY

L A U R E N M. M CC A R D EL

Inhabiting the space at the intersection of craft and

Sisti uses carefully considered materials to ask questions of

technology, Ellen Sisti’s work invites us to participate in a

us as viewers and to urge us to challenge our own assump-

conversation about access, traditional gender roles and

tions about what we think we know. Some pieces are printed

the relationship between the visible and the unseen. With

in photopolymer resin, with support structures visible so

a clear focus, she has carved out room for herself in a

that we can see and understand how they were fabricated—

STEM-related field, an area that is (still) frequently unwel-

these are our primers, our introduction to what Sisti wants us

coming to women. Recognizing that historically craft has

to learn. As we begin to understand, her work in nylon pulls

been more accessible to marginalized groups, Sisti has

us forward—light seeps through the translucent material and

developed her process with the intent to leverage familiar

negative space requires the eye to fill in the gaps to com-

forms most often associated with craft, whether utilitarian

plete the form we know we are meant to see. The barrier

or decorative, to gain a foothold into the world of technolo-

to understanding begins to break down as Sisti probes this

gy. The entry point? Computer aided technology (CAD).

boundary line, testing how much material she can remove

For Sisti, CAD is a Rosetta Stone, the key that enables her

before we are lost again and asking us to look further.

work to exist. The process of fully designing an object on

This is the core of Sisti’s work—filling in the gaps. Providing

a virtual platform and then printing it into being is one Sisti

intellectual access, bringing materiality from conception to

compares to giving birth. The maternal nature of 3D printing

embodiment. Experimenting with the limits of what we can

itself comes into focus—the need to monitor and care for

and cannot see and asking us to do the same: to look for

an object as it takes shape, its delicate structure requiring

what is present and what is possible

constant oversight and attention.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

ELLEN SISTI

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TH E E SSEN CE O F FO R M (above)

Dimensions variable.

Installation view.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

TH E E SSEN CE O F FO R M (detail, following page)

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

TH E E SSEN CE O F FO R M (detail, previous page)

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

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THE BARRIER TO UNDERSTANDING BEGINS TO BREAK DOWN AS SISTI PROBES THIS BOUNDARY LINE, TESTING HOW MUCH MATERIAL SHE CAN REMOVE BEFORE WE ARE LOST AGAIN AND ASKING US TO LOOK FURTHER.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

141

MARISA WATANABE W R I T T E N BY

A N N E M A R IE M A A G -TA N C H A K

Within the span of a few years, graphic designer Marisa

Watanabe’s designs are straightforward and geometric

Watanabe completely jumped the gap from her print media

in form, yet unafraid to give equal play to bold colors and

training to working in the digital design industry; she now

sharp typography. She oscillates between print and web

exists in the space between, building bridges to make the

with a throughline of experimental layouts, invisible grids

leap less daunting for others. Design is often difficult to

and meticulously placed text. Sensitivity to sound is also

describe in the context of fine arts education—it’s both an

important in her practice. In one of her projects, “Signal

art and a science, equal parts creative and corporate. Like

to Noise,” the viewer is asked to engage in a programmed

many graphic designers, Watanable has adjusted her prac-

conversation with a digital friend—an exchange that grows

tice to adapt to the ever-digitizing design world. Through

increasingly complicated to navigate depending on the

an envisioned career in design education, she hopes to

noise level of the viewer's space. As the noise level goes

redefine the way foundation skills and design theory are

up, so does the visual overstimulation. She uses p5.js, a

taught, most importantly by making coding more accessible

JavaScript software coding library, as a programming tool

for novice designers and demystifying digital-based media.

to mimic the experience of those with auditory processing

She sees print and digital as working better in tandem than

disorders. In contexts where the incorporation of sound is

as separate entities. In her own work, she explores the ways

not possible, such as printed media, the artist uses typogra-

in which design principles are applied in both media spaces

phy to create a similarly disorienting effect, causing the eye

to varying degrees of similarity.

to jump around and absorb information from every corner of the page. Watanabe’s most exciting work is created when combining analog and animation at the intersection of principled design and sensory stimulation

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

TH E SPLIT (above)

PDF. 8.5" x 11".

Poster. 12" x 18".

Video. 10 minutes

MARISA WATANABE

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DESIGN IS OFTEN DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE IN THE CONTEXT OF FINE ARTS EDUCATION— IT’S BOTH AN ART AND A SCIENCE, EQUAL PARTS CREATIVE AND CORPORATE.

N ATIVE

(right)

Model of Exhibition Concept, Zine.

5.75" x 8.75".

EMO -TIO N A L

(opposite page)

Interactive Timeline Website N ATIVE

(below)

Model of Exhibition Concept, Zine.

5.75" x 8.75".

MARISA WATANABE

145

MATT WITMER W R I T T E N BY

M IC H A EL J. E R N S T

The slow drip of Matt Witmer’s artwork acts almost like a

icism, his intent is to provoke both discomfort and a sense

water clock calling attention to the shortage of time and

of urgency to act. His piece Humidifier allows water from the

immediacy of issues affecting the natural world. Witmer’s

Schuylkill River to slowly drip from a zip-tied plastic bag onto

work deals primarily with water as a force of nature that is

an empty electric skillet. The viewer is left to wonder wheth-

difficult to control and hard to contain. Water is the great

er or not the empty skillet will combust or if the drip of water

equalizer that decays and rots man-made structures. It is the

will be enough to prevent this from happening. Witmer’s art

penetrating force of nature trying to insinuate itself into our

also aims to highlight the ephemerality of structures. Other

lives to disrupt them with a reminder of its presence and our

unsettling works involve dirtying white wall space or having

vulnerability. This disruption is what Witmer tries to capture

water pour out of wall vents. In this way, he is pushing the

with his art as a metaphor for disaster.

viewer to contemplate wasteful consumption, the temporal-

Other directions taken by him explore a radicalized environmental-activist agenda utilizing a fake FBI dossier on eco-terrorists. Skirting the line between activism and fanat-

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

ity of structures and the relationship between indoor space and the environment

SKIRTING THE LINE BETWEEN ACTIVISM AND FANATICISM, HIS INTENT IS TO PROVOKE BOTH DISCOMFORT AND A SENSE OF URGENCY TO ACT.

CL A SSIFIED SLF DO CUMENT (left)

42 pages.

BACK A LLE Y WATERWO R K S (below)

Dimensions variable.

Installation view.

STILL FROM PL A STIC FO RG IVEN E SS (following page)

Still from video. 6:28 minutes.

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

147

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

149

YUYE ZHANG W R I T T E N BY

M IC H A EL J. E R N S T

Following formal cues from chromosomal structures, DNA

For Zhang, the inherent mutability and limitations of the

chains and medical implements, Yuye Zhang’s wearable

human body find vivid expression in her jewelry. She seeks

designs emphasize a physical awareness that might other-

to emphasize the preciousness of a corporeal experience

wise be taken for granted. Each of Zhang’s adornments are

applicable to disabled and able-bodied folk, as well as the

constructed from pliable 3D-printed plastic resin. While

healthy and the infirm, bringing hidden structures into the

some are meant to hang from the wearer’s clothes and

light and linking one's spiritual existence to their physical

others conform closely to the body—such as a chromo-

form. Her designs, consequently, revel in a kind of elegance

somal lattice forearm bracelet, which serves as a prototype

that defies the stereotypical coldness of medical equipment

for a larger but similarly-structured cloth form—others

or the hard and fast rules of science. Cellular brooches

are polyfunctional and modular. Users are able to freely

accented with gold and silver details multiply and bloom,

manipulate Zhang’s plastic objects into new and myriad

becoming supersized extensions of the body's internal sys-

configurations by twisting off and rotating connecting

tems, while other pieces, based on the curvaceous outlines

segments. The resulting adornments can then be affixed

of intravenous bags and plastic tubing, are made to rest over

to the user’s clothes or body, with the potential for no two

the wearer's heart. In a pandemic-conscious world where

designs to share the exact same shape; they are free to

the miniscule has become suspect and we are acutely aware

mutate into something new.

of our bodies' potential to betray us, Zhang provides us with a sorely needed infusion of beauty, right into our veins

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

IN FIN IT Y STATEMENT (left)

3D-printed resin.

Dimensions variable.

IN FIN IT Y STATEMENT (left)

3D-printed resin.

Dimensions variable.

IN FIN IT Y STATEMENT (left)

3D-printed nylon.

Dimensions variable.

YUYE ZHANG

151

HER DESIGNS, CONSEQUENTLY, REVEL IN A KIND OF ELEGANCE THAT DEFIES THE STEREOTYPICAL COLDNESS OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENTOR THE HARD AND FAST RULES OF SCIENCE.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

IN FIN IT Y0 01 (left)

3D-printed resin, silver, clear EKG node.

Dimensions variable.

IN FIN IT Y – FEEL WITH H A N DS (opposite page)

3D-printed resin, PLA. Dimensions variable.

YUYE ZHANG

153

SIXUAN ZHU W R I T T E N BY

T Y LE R R O C K E Y

One of the salient features of Sixuan Zhu’s current work

In the large-form sculptural peanuts, as part of the installa-

is the conceptual multivalence and material creativity

tion “There Is An Escape Called Ideology,” there is a haptic

surrounding the form of the packing peanut. This object

softness and a texture recalling the look and feel of velvet.

ties her work together with a remarkable sense of stylistic

This softness is echoed in the gentle shade of pink as texture

clarity. Yet her exploration of this form raises several diver-

and color that connote the feminine. The undulating, recip-

gent questions that create unexpected layers of meaning

rocating form of the peanut is in contrast to the harshness of

in what is otherwise a common, thrown-away object. Zhu

the oversized T-shaped pin fastening it to the wall, its form

uses the shape in varying scales, materials and juxtaposi-

folding back on itself like a kind of closed loop as opposed

tions, including actual packing peanuts, glass peanuts, large

to the open and receiving peanut. In other words, the work

blanket-wrapped foam peanuts, vibrating aluminum peanuts

may suggest a critique on the stereotypical opposition of

and laser-cut curtains made of peanut shapes. Through this

the feminine soft and pink peanut with the masculine metal-

packing material, dialogues open up with the viewer about

lic and phallic pin.

globalization and the place of China as a maker and distributor, tensions between Chinese philosophical traditions and ideologies and modernity, and ultimately femininity, through the unrelenting use of the color pink.

Found objects play a role in Zhu’s work as well. In the same large installation, a small pink glass jar with a piece of plastic turf and a small pink packing peanut made of glass are displayed on a shelf. Here the color pink takes on another level of meaning, that of rose-colored glasses or rosy retrospection; an idea of pleasant perception in spite of a contrary reality, which is an especially apt metaphor for Zhu’s critiques of femininity and Chinese ideology

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

BUT, TH ER E IS A PACK IN G PE A N UT (above)

Mixed media.

Dimensions variable.

THIS OBJECT TIES HER WORK TOGETHER WITH A REMARKABLE SENSE OF STYLISTIC CLARITY. YET HER EXPLORATION OF THIS FORM RAISES SEVERAL DIVERGENT QUESTIONS THAT CREATE UNEXPECTED LAYERS OF MEANING IN WHAT IS OTHERWISE A COMMON, THROWN-AWAY OBJECT.

SIXUAN ZHU

155

TH ER E IS A N E SC A PE C A LLED ID EO LO GY (above)

Found objects.

5.25” x 6” x 5.25”.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

LEMO N JU ICER (above)

TH ER E IS A N E SC A PE C A LLED ID EO LO GY

Cristalica Glass, sticker, paint.

(following page)

Mixed media.

Dimensions variable.

Dimensions variable.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

Photo credit: Neighboring States.

SIXUAN ZHU

157

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

DILMAR M. GAMERO SANTOS

159

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

CONT RIBUTING AUTHORS

MICHAEL J. ERNST

VINCENT FORSELL

JORDAN GRYSCAVAGE

ANNEMARIE MAAG-TANCHAK

Michael J. Ernst is a second-year doctoral student studying Islamic art history. His primary research area is the Islamic visual culture of the former Soviet Union, in particular that of Azerbaijan and the Greater Caspian Region. Intersecting with this area is an interest in digital images, video games, quotidian art, affect theory, affective computing, semiotics, nationalism, national narratives and national identity formation. He holds a bachelor's and two master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Vincent Forsell is a second-year PhD student at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, where he received his MA in art history in 2019. His research examines queer methodologies, specifically queer semiotics and its applications to the function of art within the broader spectrum of HIV and AIDS activism. Forsell holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from East Stroudsburg University.

Jordan Gryscavage is a first-year MA student at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, where she also received her BA in art history in 2018. In addition to working on her MA in art history with a specialization in arts management, she is also earning her certificate in Community Arts Practices. Currently, she is an art teacher in secondary education. Gryscavage hopes to pursue working in community arts and museum education long term.

Annemarie Maag-Tanchak is an MA student in the art history arts management track. Her areas of study include the history of graphic design, German and American art and design of the Cold War, environmentalism and the effects and future of digital technology. She holds a BA in art history from Binghamton University, SUNY, with minors in graphic design and German.

161

LIAM MACHADO

SAM MALANDRA-MYERS

NICOLE EMSER MARCEL

MARÍA DE LOURDES MARIÑO

Liam “Li” Machado is a second-year PhD student specializing in modern and contemporary Latin American and Latinx art. Their current research focuses on political art and transnational identity formation in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands, especially in queer Chicanx communities.

Machado earned a BA in art history from University of La Verne, studying Brazilian modernist painting, and an MA in the same field from University of Oregon, where their thesis addressed the visual culture of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

Sam Malandra-Myers is pursuing their MA in art history, with a focus on the importance of community archives, specifically working around the notions of knowledge production as a byproduct of this access. Before beginning their graduate career, Malandra-Myers earned their BFA in photography at the University of the Arts in 2018. Their background is diverse in both academic and artistic endeavors, including working at the Peters Valley School of Craft as a studio assistant and lecturing for student-run organizations at the University of Cape Town.

Nicole Emser Marcel is a PhD student studying modern and contemporary art with a focus on Caribbean art. Her research interests include iconoclasm, geography, feminist theory and religion. She holds a MA in art history from American University and a BA in history from Xavier University. She previously taught at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and worked at the National Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC.

María de Lourdes Mariño is an art historian specializing in modern and contemporary Caribbean and Latinx art, with a particular interest in memory and identity building through art and politics. Mariño holds a MPA in nonprofit management focused on art and culture institutions. She is currently an art history PhD student at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University. Before attending Tyler, she was a professor at the University of the Arts (ISA) and an independent art curator in Cuba.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

LAUREN M. MCCARDEL

JOANNA PLATT

NOAH RANDOLPH

ERIN RILEY-LOPEZ

Lauren M. McCardel is a PhD student focusing on 19th-century art, design and material culture. Her research interests concern the social functions of art and architecture, exploring themes related to gender, labor, authorship and trauma. She holds an MFA in architectural history from Savannah College of Art and Design and a BA in art history from Messiah University.

Joanna Platt is a PhD student specializing in modern and contemporary art history. Her background is in bronze casting and fabrication; she balances an active studio practice with research into the representation of labor and the economics of art and production, especially in relation to issues of class and social status.

Platt earned a BFA from Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University and an MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Noah Randolph is a PhD student specializing in modern and contemporary art and visual culture, with current research focused on the intersections of monuments and public art with issues of memory, race and their re-signification by artists in the 20th and 21st centuries. He holds a BA in art history from the University of Louisville (2016) and a MA in art history from Temple University (2020).

Erin Riley-Lopez is a doctoral candidate and Future Faculty Fellow specializing in contemporary art with a focus on queer/feminist theories, exhibition histories, institutional critique and performance art. She is transitioning to academia after serving as a curator at the Freedman Gallery, Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania as well as associate curator at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York. Riley-Lopez received her MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College.

163

TYLER ROCKEY

EMILY SCHOLLENBERGER

Tyler Rockey is a PhD student studying the Italian Renaissance. His research pursues the labile conceptions of temporality and originality in works “after the antique,” and the physical and semiotic instabilities of Classical sculptures and fragments in early modern collections. Underpinning these are interests in Renaissance philosophy and theories of art. He received his BA in art history from Penn State University, with a minor in classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, and his MA in art history from the University of Massachusetts.

Emily Schollenberger is a PhD student studying modern and contemporary art. Her research interests include collective memory, the archive, trauma and colonial photography. She received her BA in art with a concentration in art history and a minor in French from Covenant College. She has interned at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and worked as a Museum Educator at the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee before moving to Philadelphia.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

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Tyler School of Art and Architecture 2001 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122 tyler.temple.edu/tylers-2021-mfa-thesis-exhibitions Graduate Catalog Advisors Mariola Alvarez Chad D. Curtis Philip Glahn Emily Neumeier Graduate Catalog Coordinator Kati Gegenheimer Graduate Catalog Student Representatives Charlotte G. Chin Greene Rachel Hsu Noah Randolph Faculty Editors Linda Earle Philip Glahn Leah Modigliani Emily Neumeier Erin Pauwels Gerald D. Silk James Merle Thomas Copy Editors Wanda Motley Odom Zachary Vickers Catalog Design Modern Good Matt Bouloutian, Tyler BFA ‘99 Emma Lindsay, Tyler BFA ‘18 Liz Paglia, Tyler BFA '20 Printed by Sea Group Graphics, Inc. Copyright © 2021 Tyler School of Art and Architecture All rights reserved Copyright for individual images belongs to the individual artist as listed on each page.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the artist or the Tyler School of Art and Architecture.

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TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE CATALOG 2021

Tyler School of Art and Architecture 2001 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122 tyler.temple.edu