Graduate Work
Indiana University- Bloomington
2009-2012

Integrated Structures was a project born of frustration and challenge. I was building a 10' x 20' wall for a new critique space in the sculpture studio. As I completed the project, I began to realize just how much infrastructure and time goes into supporting a smooth, thin layer of paint (0.0000039" thick). The imbalance sparked the idea of each of us rarely give a moment's thought to the immense the disparity between creation and the use of systems we regularly rely upon.

I imagined that one of the greatest distances between such massive infrastructure and its relatively insignificant patron is that of a person whose only company is the glow of a computer screen animated by the Internet.

I projected my design onto the newly built wall and traced it in graphite. I then used painter's tape to make off the boundaries , through which I pulled a thin layer of drywall joint compound. Once the tape was pulled and the joint compound dried, I would sand it to blend the various layers to be a uniform thickness (about 3/32").

I enjoyed the challenge of creating a large mural of illusionary space with two-point perspective in the form of relief sculpture; extremely low relief. The documentation does not do the final image justice as it was difficult to photograph a 20' wall from only 8' away, along with the harsh under-lighting necessary for the cast shadow image to exist. As with many graduate school experiments, this work no longer exists. Since I created the mural on a communal critique wall, I sanded the work clean off the wall two days after my critique.

Integrated Structures in process.

Completed Integrated Structures mural.

As part of a rapid-prototyping class, I modeled the interior of a didgeridoo using Rhino 3D. I then used a CNC router to mill the two halves out of 60" x 8" x 4" cedar. The resulting sound is surprisingly bright and crisp, given the softness of cedar.

The ceramic maquette is based on the final drawing of the series, although aspects of every drawing can be found in its form.

Rosetta Stone looks at how, unlike tablets of history, our modern tablets have little chance of surviving into the future. What possible message could be transmitted through a tablet when the battery is exhausted and the screen is black. As I ironically honor the iPad 1 as the world-changing device Apple would like you to believe, in reality is already becoming outdated. Just wait until iPad 4, the first might as well be made of stone.


Rosetta Stone
Limestone, graphite, steel
9.56″ × 7.47″ × 0.75"
2010

 I scanned the screen of an iPad 1 while displaying CNN's home page for that day in early December. I used that image to hand-cut a rubber stencil through which I sandblasted into the stone. I used a wash of graphite powder for contrast.

 

I was interested in communicating in more direct way using, what I considered, commonly understood symbols. I wanted to have the viewer question who is responsible for protecting and caring for those in need; whether it be handicapped or elderly. 

 

Red oak plywood, insulation foam board, found objects

Dimensions variable

2011

Powers of Association is more of a social experiment than a fully realized work. Due to the unique nature of our graduate program's critique space, I was able isolate two seperate sets of drawings for the participants to view as he or she walked to the downstairs. I wanted to find out to what extent I can alter the viewer's perception by manipulating the association of an object using a contrived series of drawings. I set up a certain amount of expectation by carefully removing the chair from each drawing in a literal and dimensional way. Once the viewer assesses the drawings, he or she is then confronted with nothing more than a solitary chair and the images he or she was exposed to. I chose this particular chair as it was less likely to hold much previous historical context.

 

Charcoal drawings on foamcore, chemically stripped and sanded wood chair.

2011

 

The resulting critique was very animated as the participants discovered that there were two different perspectives of the chair through the drawing's influence. Many felt that there were not enough drawings to override previous associations, or that the drawing set with chldren lacked to visual power to create a lasting impression. Ultimately, a number of the partipants later reported seeing a similar chair on campus, only to have the contrived association return and affect his or her viewer of the chair. 

False Memories of the Past was the result of the bronze pour featured in the video above. Much like the Brontosaurus, I create an ill-conceived fossil of a creature that never existed. The forms are taken from a cow vertebrae and a tree root.

Bronze, steel wire, steel wool

2011

An Offering to Drink is a functional mug that was also a result of the featured pour. I made this from an algenate cast of my hands and is cast in aluminum. 

Following my 10+ year love of the didgeridoo, I continued to make them any way possible. I crafted this didgeridoo holder out of a walnut plank and steel plate. The steel was carved with a carbide rotary cutting tool (not a highly recommended method). 

Starting from left to right, the didgeridoos are made of welded steel, walnut and CNC routered cedar.

Born of several iterations of parabolic dishes (both as focused sound speakers and sound collectors), this ceramic toungue drum featured eight tongues that were cut and tuned to a diatonic scale using diamond cutting bits. 

Cone 6 stoneware

24" x 24" x 14"

2011

Ignorance Is Bliss is a relief carving in walnut. I arranged the wood grain to ephasis the different areas in the scene (darker grain for the distant tree line, smooth clear grain fir the frozen lake and figured wood for the underwater currents.

Ignorance Is Bliss

Walnut

12" x 12" x 1 1/2"

2010

For a summer class in Plein Air painting, I quickly abandoned paint for a slab of clay. I proceeded to work the rest of the semester on Plein Air relief sculputre in clay. 

Griffy Lake

Stoneware

16" x 10" x 1 1/2"