Cabinet of Curiosity

                                                 

The Dragons: air dry clay, inks, acrylic paint, epoxy putty, wire, paper, foam board

(14in x 16 x 8in)

    The concept for this sculpture was influenced by "the dragon", a writing about a collection of obscure taxidermy creatures. The work consists of two sculptures intended to reflect on the variety of odd creatures contained in the collection, by creating freaks of nature with a variety of animal features that don't typically go together. For the top sculpture the goal was to give more of a patchwork style to the features, complete with mix-matched parts, stitches, and scratches and tears along the skin of the dragon. The bottom sculpture combined features in such a way that it comes off as a more believable, yet still outlandish creature. The intent of the piece was to create a sense of interest and hopefully a form of disgust through freakish creatures that look mashed together.  

Memento

 

Camping Trips: cloth, wood, yellow paint (3in x 5in x 1.5in)

The sculpture represents camping trips I would take with my grandfather, the bottom half mimicking a campfire and the top half a tent. 

The wood represent the rustic feelings of going out camping, as well as the crafts we would do outside during these moments. The cloth represents the softness of the memory, as I cherish the moments spent with my grandfather. the yellow of the paint represents the warmth of both the fire as well as the memory.

                                                 

Figurative Busts Sculptures

 

Oilspill and Burnout: 

Air dry clay, acrylic paint, wood, ink, PLA printing plastic

(left sculpture) 10in x 3in x 5in

(right sculpture) 3in x 6in 6in

The sculpture on the left, titled "burnout" reflects the burnout caused by college classes

The sculpture on the right, titled "oilspill" relects the the destruction on the enviornment by corrupt oil companies.

The sculpture on the left was inspired by 3D printer failures, where the layers shift to the side before creating a mass of molten plastic

the sculpture on the right was based off of how oil spills appear overtop of water, like it does when oil spills into the ocean

the right bust was based off of a stereotypical businessman, leaking oil from his eyes and mouth to represent the destruction they cause.

                                                  

Experimental Sculpture Collection

 

Ramshackle: wood, ink, masking tape, metal pins (2in x 3in x 6in)

Sharp noggin: wood, ink, masking tape, wood glue, metal pins (4in x 6in x 5in)

gateway: wood, masking tape, paper, wood glue (4in x 2in 6in)

Water Fountain Replica

                                                 

Crisp Ellert Gallery Artists Talks

 

Photo taken during the talk M. Florine Demosthene

photo from the talk by Erin Kendrick

To Have and To Hold

By Philipp Blom:

Three Old men:

"Three Old Men" follows the experiences Philipp Blom had in interacting with three different men as he took interest in their passions, that being the collecting of knowledge, artifacts and curiosities. Each had significance in being elderly as they he was able to look back on the collection that these men had spent a lifetime curating. 

Willem  Eldert Blom was the great grandfather of the author, who died before he had a chance to have much personal experience with him. Much of what Blom knows about his grandfather is based on vague memory, assumption, and the assorted books and bric-a-brac that his family had inherited after he died.

Georg Moritz was a wealthy old man who lived in the school Blom attended. Moritz had also accumulated a vast collection of books to which Blom had taken an interest in.

Wolf Stein was the last of the three men that Blom had talked about. Much like the other old men, Stein had an obsession with collecting books. As the passage goes on it is explained that Stein was a jewish man that had been a survivor of a concentration camp during world war 2. Stein was explained to have missed out on traditional education in his youth, and so even well into his later years he sought to collect knowledge and pursue education. 

The Dragon: 

"The Dragon" revolves around the collection of Ulisse Aldrovandi, who specialized in collecting and studying strange creatures. A juvenile creature that could only be described as a dragon was killed by a bystander. Aldrovandi preserved the creature to study it, and this led to him collecting odd specimens across the animal kingdom that he curated into a museum. although the original dragon no longer exists, the remains of his collection are now in the Museum of Palazzo Poggi.

https://sma.unibo.it/en/the-university-museum-network/museum-of-palazzo-poggi/collections/gallery-museo-di-palazzo-poggi

The photo shows what survived of Aldrovandi's collection in the Palazzo Poggi. There is a wide variety of creatures as well as a handful of items and paintings.

https://sma.unibo.it/en/the-university-museum-network/museum-of-palazzo-poggi/collections/gallery-museo-di-palazzo-poggi

A closer look at some of the specimens preserved in the collection, including a large monitor lizard

https://sma.unibo.it/en/the-university-museum-network/museum-of-palazzo-poggi/collections/gallery-museo-di-palazzo-poggi\

A metal etching from Aldrovandi's collection of a different dragon from the one that he had preserved, as this dragon was labeled as a "draco aethiopicus", while the specimen he had was labeled as a "vlylsis aldrouandi"