UCF Finals 2

Posted on by Thor

At the UCF Finals at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr. Visual Arts Building 140 Orlando, FL) each masters art student would speak about their work in turn. Once a presentation was finished, another artist would present in front of their work and everyone would move their folding chairs to the new location.

In this sketch an artist is presenting her digital painting on a large screen TV on the back wall. Her work has a classical feel tying into ancient myths. I was impressed with her highly polished work and her explanation of where her work was going. Since I am often working digitally I appreciated her accomplishments in the medium. To me the medium isn’t as important as the message and her message resonates. When it came time for questions from the audience, a professor cut into her work hard saying it looked to much like other polished digital art. There was a clear bias against the use of the digital medium. No other artist was presenting work that was digital. To me, this bias seemed unfounded and the artist defended her work with absolute grace. Her defense proves that she has a message that will resonate in the future.

The B-29 Super-fortress is also visible in the sketch. I decided to have it visible in each sketch I did.

Colorful soft sculptures cover one wall. These are done by Abigail (@artby.AMF) a female artist whose work was largely about women’s reproductive issues. The multi media work glows with bright pinks and reds. For some women the egg does not make the journey down the Fallopian tubes each month. This would result in the woman not having a period for that month. The eggs just congregate in the ovary like pearls. I say that since some of her soft form sculptures have pearls sewn onto the ovaries. The conversation was fascinating and her work helps bring to light issues that even many doctors are unfamiliar with.

In the center of the room were painting that are about the all too common school shootings which happen in America. A large dark painting showed school children evacuating the school. None of the paintings show the grisly details of the shooting but they intend to keep the issue in the forefront of people’s minds. The question arose about where the work should be shown. One person suggested the work should be shown guerilla style on the streets rather than in galleries or museums. I know work has been shown in U-Hauls or driven around billboard style on the side of trucks.

Since I have sketched so many of the survivors and family of those shot at the Pulse Nightclub massacre, I identified with the work. The rest of the world is shocked at how crazy America is to allow children to be shooting children. In America the insane  solution seems to be more guns.  In March 2013, a former UCF student, James Seevakumaran, planned a mass shooting in a campus dorm, which was thwarted, resulting in his suicide.

 

UCF Finals

Posted on by Thor

I went to the UCF Masters Finals presentations at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr. Visual Arts Building, 140 Orlando, FL  32816-1342). Here Masters degree students display their work in the main gallery and get a chance to explain their process and meaning behind their work. The public is invited to sit in the gallery and hear each student describe their work in turn. Each presentation is kept short and to the point.

In the foreground of this sketch is the work of Ally Artistic. One piece resembles an opulent and exotic flaming crown. It is laser cut and then the negative spaces are filled with colorful clear resins that look like stained glass. Her work is often bright opulent and regal. A second piece of hers is a sculpted airplane. She described the physicality of carving the body of the B-29 plane which was an entirely new process for her. The masters program encourages student to work large and to experiment with new processes.

The B-29 Bomber was used primarily by the United States during World War II. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat. One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, which made the atomic bomb. The B-29 program was the the most expensive of the war.

Back in World War II America set up concentration camps for Japanese American citizens. Detaining American citizens seems to be an ongoing theme of American politics as ICE detention facilities are being set up all across America.

The body of the plane was sculpted with a large flat foam piece cut to shape the profile. From that half moon shaped pieces were added to create the 3D shape. Thin cardboard strip from things like cereal boxes were added to create a mesh to fill out the form. The whole thing was covered with silica and then coated with a hard resin. What was on display at this Masters Finals was the base before final coats were added. The wings would ultimately get a wild painting of pink wavy patterns covered with what looks like wedding cake icing and mini candies. Written along one of these wavy line was the saying, “Bite the hand that drops the bomb.”. A small disk said, “Perfectly moist.” Another said, “Floss sugar.”  For such a threatening military plane it looked delicious. The final piece had  a bite taken out of a wing.

Masters Thesis Defense

Posted on by Thor


By Thomas Thorspecken

I went to the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr, Orlando, Fl.) to sketch Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón, who presented her thesis defense at the UCF Art Gallery 

The sculpture in the foreground of this sketch is called The Broken Woman. To create this piece a  mannequin was busted open with a sledge hammer. The distressed surface is covered in gold and hot pink. A sacred heart is in the open chest cavity representing sacrifice. Golden beams radiate from the heart. The crotch is busted open and dollar bills rest chaotically, illuminated from inside, representing the commodification of woman. The broken cage where the head would be is also broken open while a cell phone played static until it shorted out and died.

Stella talked about the concept of a work’s aura, of bringing the presence of it into your life. Her work is about healing. When asked if the healing is for her or others, she pointed out that she hopes to connect to others, but as she is not one of them, she can not know what a person viewing her work might feel. She just wants to be honest about what she feels. She hopes the work will be healing to others.

The Cathedral, was set up on the lawn outside the gallery. It is comprised of over 20 foot high bamboo stalks arranged in a circle outside the gallery. In The Cathedral the visitor is greeted by the sounds of chirping birds when they enter into the circle, which would usually  be silent in the evening. The feeling is of being engulfed by nature. Several people I overheard at the opening, expressed a sense of peace. The person is meant to feel elevated as if transported elsewhere. One thought to make the piece more permanent, was to recreate the cathedral with live bamboo, but the artist is also considering the option of recreating it in bronze. The Cathedral reminded me of the bird cage which was broken open above The Broken Woman.

Some work in the exhibition was small in size like intimate etchings of Memories of a Dead Love. Whereas The Cathedral was monumental in size. Stella feels that her work is moving from the micro to the macro. The larger work can be seen and experienced by more people. Each piece dictated its size. She wanted to experience the labor of chopping down the bamboo with a machete, it is physical sweet labor. Much of the bamboo was already collapsed in her yard, after hurricane Milton. When discussing the materials she used, she said, “This is me, I am the cell phone, I am that bamboo. The choice of materials is important to each piece.” The perfect home for The Cathedral would be as a permanent installation in a garden or museum. She also feels a good location would be in a large city where it could have a large outreach.

In 2020, the artist walked the whole length of the Florida Scenic Trail which is over 1,100 miles, and it was a reset for her after the trauma of divorce. Her work reflects her journey of healing and growth. Soon after walking the trail, she created a persona called The Nature Goddess. She wore a black gown, had horns and a found animal skull on her staff.  She performed in a park lying on the ground and crying for the devastation of nature imposed by humanity.  She was asked why she does not do more performance art. She feels the action of physically moving the materials is in itself a performance. Painting is a private act of performance. These acts of performance are done as the work is created. She does imagine more performance art in her future.

Her work has begun to act as an advocate for the preservation of nature. The job of stopping humanities destruction of nature is too large for one person, so she has become a part of a movement. She wants to help make people aware so they can heal themselves and the earth they are a part of.

The artist is a semi finalist for the 2025-2026 Fulbright Grant and hopes to research the role that technology and media play in an indigenous community there. She wants to share her knowledge of 2D animation and sees herself as a tool. She is part indigenous herself and wants to contribute to the empowerment and dissemination of their voices, while they author their own stories.

The work shown is just the beginning of her artistic journey. The work will continue to evolve. Three years ago she had no idea she would be producing the monumental work that is on exhibit today. She is excited to see what is yet to come. The art is intending to spark peoples empathy. Even a one degree shift towards empathy can make a difference in a world intent on division. Her work lets the viewer know that there is a way out, and there is hope. Anyone can overcome feelings of entrapment. When she moves her studio back to her house, the work might scale down, but  she knows that as life happens, she will continue to grow and large scale work will take form and evolve as she does. For her, monumentality contributes to the presence of a piece.