Laurel Roth

BiodiversityReclamation Suits for Urban Pigeon
Carolina Parakeet - 8" x 9" x 13" - 2009
Crocheted yarn, hand carved pigeon mannequin

I think the first work of Laurel Roth's that caught my eye was one of her Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeon  pieces. Being a lover of needle craft I was instantly drawn to these beautifully crafted works. In reading more about this project I leaned that these suites are representations of extinct birds that can be worn by the every day common pigeon, Love it!

Laurel's connection with nature is no doubt due in part to her background as a park ranger. I really enjoy the parallels she makes between nature and man. In particular her "Peacock " series is quite stunning. Laurel has created, highly detailed sculptures of peacocks out of beauty products like fake finger nails, barrettes, false eyelashes, nail polish, and custom jewelry.

Paradise - 8" x 12" x 35" - 2008
Fake Fingernails, Barrettes, False Eyelashes, Nail Polish, Jewlery

My first impression of these sculptures was that they represented women. In "Beholder", two beautifully "made up" figures are captured in mid fight. I saw a connection of what we adorn to make ourselves attractive and the battle for attention from the opposite sex. I thought it was very interesting, upon further reading, to find that the two birds are actually one male and one female. The artist said she left the action teetering between mating and fighting, purposefully ambiguous. Although some men also go to great lengths to be "attractive", I can't help but notice that both birds are made of women's beauty products and that fact pushes me toward a slightly different interpretation.

Beholder - 24" x 36" x 59" - 2010
Mixed media including Fake Fingernails, Barrettes, False
Eyelashes, Nail Polish, Jewelry, Walnut, Swarovski Crystal

Regardless, Laurel Roth's art is beautifully executed and time and time again, I find that artistic skill is what often captures my attention initially. What I am also realizing is that skill alone is not what keeps me pondering a piece. Content is key.

What drew me into natural resource conservation, even before I was a park ranger, was the idea that humankind and nature could work together and that I could be a part of that process. It was a mediation between society and the wild, a spot that felt somehow very fitting to me, and I continue to explore it in my current work. - Laurel Roth

Gregory Sale

I's Not Just Black and White - Social Art Project
February - May 2011

Recently artist Gregory Sale came to BSU to discuss his latest project "It's Not Just Black and White". Gregory's art takes an approach I have never seen before. He explores what he refers to as "socially engaged art" in his projects and talked passionately about the idea of "relational esthetics", which I find very interesting.

He explores the idea of art being the catalyst for deeper discussion on a given topic, with the possibility of affecting positive change. As he talked about "It's Not Just Black and White", a piece challenging the effectiveness of the prison system in his home state of Arizona, it was clear the the project did have some significant positive impact. What I'm still wrestling with, is what part of the project was "Art".

I feel like art opened the doors to get things rolling. It allowed barriers to be broken down and gaps in our social structure to be bridged, but just because it was the catalyst, dose that mean everything coming out of the project automatically can be or should be labeled art? In some ways I wonder if labeling every aspect of the "It's Not Just Black and White" project "art", diminishes the significance of things that transpired.

Im in no way saying that I think the work that Gregory is doing is not important or valuable. Im just not sure were I think it fits into contemporary art. I had the chance to look at a hand full of his other socially engaged art and I really like the concept.

Love Buttons, Love Bites Series - 2008 -2011

Between 2008 - 2010 Gregory did a series of projects called "Love Buttons, Love Bites" in which he took thousands of buttons with fragments of poems and passed them out at different festivals. As per his website "The series is part psychological experiment, part collaboration with strangers, and part compulsion to elicit intimacy."  I love this idea, but I wish he would have gone into more detail on the outcome. I would have loved to hear about peoples reactions, and interactions to get a sense of the overall impact of the work.

I'm glad that I got a chance to learn more about Gregory's art. It will differently be something I continue to ponder.

Moving Forward With Awareness and Compassion - 1996

“I’m part of the experiment. Can a museum operate much as an open studio? Can it accommodate being really messy?” - Gregory Sale

Michael Murphy

Katie - 2011
Hand cut Acrylic

My first thoughts of Michael's work are about the way they are constructed. Perspective is an important part of his work and I love how that plays into the overall meaning. The project that I am working on currently also has to do with perspective so I find it interesting to see how other artist handle it in their own work. The thing that I find myself getting hung up on is Michael's choose of medium. He uses a lot of manufactured materials like acrylic and to me it seems to add a coldness, a sense of detachment, to his portraits. I like the overall effect, but wonder at the significance.

Red Cross for Health Reform -2010
13' x13' x 8' - Hand cut birch, mono filament and steel

"Red Cross for Health Car Reform" is a piece that I think successfully incorporated the materials used into the overall theme of the work. Michael used both birch, mono filament and steel. I really love the visual impact of this piece and the way it captures your attention. A good portion of his work seems to be political in nature.

Osama Bin Laden -2011
24'' x 32" x 8" - High tension wire, wood and enamel

An important part of this class is leaning to "read" art. I have learned a lot from the critiques we have done in class and I attribute them to a deeper understanding and appreciation of art. Something that has been on my mind lately has been the mediums that contemporary artist use in their work. When reading art we contemplate every aspect of the piece and often the mediums used, play a critical role in the overall impact. So what if the materials used, don't have meaning? What if we see that an artist uses Popsicle sticks in their work and we infer a connection because of it, but in reality the Popsicle sticks were just a cheep and effective way to convey the overall shape? Why do we just assume that the medium always holds meaning? We may be giving the artist more credit than they deserve or infer a meaning quite different then intended. I don't know the answer but, I do know that from now on, in my own work, I'll always make sure to create with intent.

Twist - 2012
22" x 10" x 10" - Craft sticks and urethane