“Horse Blinders and Saddle”
This artwork, through its use of horse blinders and a saddle, shifts its commentary from the themes of blind conformity to societal norms, loss of personal agency, and willful ignorance, to a profound exploration of the reduction of humans to mere physical functions. It delves into issues of dehumanization, the burdens of labor, and the historical context of chattel slavery.
🎨 Medium and process: Cardboard sculpture
📏 Dimensions: TBD
🗓️ Date: September 2023
Assignment: “Body & Scale”
Prompt: “Make a work that connects to, is supported by, and modifies, your body in a way that addresses scale, armor, armature, or prosthesis.”
“Timed Group Life-Size Drawing: Frankenstein Abstraction”
In a group, create a life-size drawing featuring a "Frankenstein Abstraction" using actual, scaled, and abstracted human body parts, along with one animal body part.
“Under the Henna-Dyed Weaving”
...A weaver with the intention of getting married would complete her kilim and sit on it on her henna night celebration (bridal shower). That night, the same kilim would serve as a blanket for the soon-to-be bride. Inspired by this tradition, I stained the provided canvas fabric and various fabric pieces with natural henna. I then curated my own set of 10 symbols to represent the story of my parents’ marriage and our family’s coming into being. I bought a yard of kilim-patterned fabric to further reinforce the message. I made a mannequin that mimics a sleeping woman and covered it up with the kilim and the canvas fabric.
🎨 Medium and process: Cotton fabric glued on canvas, found fabric, crumpled paper wrapped in plastic
🗓️ Date: October 2023
Assignment: “Site + Place”
Prompt: “Using the fabric provided as base material, create a work that represents your experience of a Site/Place based on the ideas you have gathered and developed.”
“Site Exercise”
Start with a 2D data collage including the elements you gathered from a site on campus.
Then transform your data collage into a 3D object.
By width, by depth, by height - totaling 72” minimum inches
In our site exploration, our group was intrigued by the harmonious integration of rustic decorative elements with contemporary safety standards at the site, including features like neon EXIT signs, braille labels, caution tape, and 'slippery when wet' signs, showcasing a unique blend of aesthetic charm and modern compliance.
“Letter to My Grandfather - Haci’ya Mektuplar”
After the pandemic, I wrote letters to my late grandfather and, from one, extracted all the punctuation – periods, commas, apostrophes, exclamation and question marks, quotation marks, colons, slashes, strikethroughs, and ellipses. These symbols, rendered in clay, were placed on a tablet within a wooden frame. As the clay dried, it cracked, echoing the fragility and impermanence of communication and memory.
🎨 Medium and process: Clay
🗓️ Date: October 2023
💬 Personal Statement: “I want the audience to try deciphering the emotions by reading the meanings of the punctuation marks. The punctuation marks eventually falling off and the clay cracking are significant to the passing away of a person and the fading of memory and emotions. The meaning of language aside, language literally degrades over time.”
Assignment: “Repetition//Multiples//Embodiment//Clay”
Prompt: “Design and produce 100 clay objects based on extensive sketching and research, exploring how repetition and scale affect perception and meaning, while also planning for their display.”
“Body and Clay and Iteration”
In a group, select one body part and collaboratively create six variations of it out of clay, focusing on exact replication, abstraction, angular representation, symmetry, and its functional action, then document and display all versions.
“Flood of Insanity”
This artwork addresses the pervasive issue of school shootings in the United States, representing the impact of gun violence on children and teenagers through a transparent backpack overflowing with bullets. It moves beyond mere statistics, depicting the widespread threat and the education system's struggle to contain this crisis, personified by the backpack's torn and overburdened state.
🎨 Medium and process: Insulation foam, clay, cardboard, clear backpack
🗓️ Date: November 2023
Assignment: “Cultural Moment/Cultural Conditions” - ART 105
Prompt: “Identify a "Cultural Moment" significant to your generation and create an artwork in your chosen medium, incorporating elements from previous class assignments, to express how this moment influences your generation, yourself, and your practice.”
