MFA Thesis show

Rhode Island Convention Center

May 14-30, 2009

Prototype

Polystyrene foam, plaster, Bondo

66 x 32 in.

Retread

Tire shard, ArmorAll protectant

105 x 14 in.

Detail of Retread

deadpan for a downspout

concrete, 24 x 12 x 2 in

The Crooked Timber of Humanity

A steel stud, hammered into a ball and then restored

96 x 3.5 in.

Detail of The Crooked Timber of Humanity

The Crooked Timber of Humanity in process

Me as a Curator

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Striving for a "higher plane" in an idyllic setting

Traveling Light/ Preparing for War, 2008

All the tools I brought to my residency.

Table is 4' x8'

An untitled material study.

A slice of Parallam joist (engineered beam) nailed to the wall beside the beam.

Beam is 96" L

Grass, 2008

Polystyrene, up to 96" H

I planted lengths of foam that were scraps from another project.  The longer lengths swayed slowly and dramatically with the wind.  The shorter lengths vibrated rapidly.   I think I'll make another version of this at some point.

The Urge to Tunnel Out, 2008

A rusty pipe pierces the corner of a wall.  Pipe is 50"L

It rained for a week straight in Vermont and I became a bit violent.  

Funny how this act seemed so renegade, when it took about five minutes to repair the wall.

 

view through the pipe

Partially Refinished Chair #1, 2008

One slat removed, sanded, polished and replaced

Vermont

Some pictures of my month at the Vermont Studio Center

The Red Mill (main building, dining hall, etc.)

Main Street. Johnson, VT

Lumberjack roundup at the Lamoile County Fair

projo

projo, 2008
paper mache, rubber mulch, bolt

I can't shake the nature I see in busted elements of city infrastructure.
"projo" is the abbreviated local rag, the Providence Journal. Rubber mulch is made from tires and other rubber waste. It retains its color and doesn't decompose. I've "planted" this pathetic, denuded signpost in synthetic landscape mulch both as portrait and monument.

Square Peg Round Hole

Square Peg Round Hole, 2008
wood, soil, sod


Laser cut MDF tree grate, flocked with sawdust references cast iron texture and biodegradable planters. One square foot of lawn is caged within it. A reflection on the contrived spaces for "nature" in urban environments and the friction between the built world and wilderness.

The Difference Between a Cinderblock

The Difference Between a Cinderblock, 2008
Ash, epoxy putty, foam, rebar, cast concrete.

Two "prototypes" of the voids within a cinderblock are "weighed" and compared. Directly below sits a cast concrete form. The cast form matches the dimensions of a cinderblock, but solid of course. The thin shelves cantilever about 4' off the wall with a 1/4" space between them. The space is dramatized by a black-burned edge. The vertical element of the shelf is invisibly attached to the wall.
(This is a bad studio shot.)