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Altered States Project

Three Sketches

Final Piece + Neutral Setting Documentation

100-Word Reflection: The goal of this assignment was to build upon an already manufactured object that had a level of connection to myself to create an original art piece. The object(s) needed to be changed in a way that would render it useless in terms of its regular purpose. For my project, I chose to use a couple of the numerous TidyCats litter containers on my back porch as bodies for four cardboard characters. Sam stands frontmost with a friendly smile next to the constantly anxious Robby on his left and the usually skeptical Trent on his right. Behind the three is Ricky, the most short-tempered in the squad. Second to my supersized White-Out, this project took a lot of time to finish. For the future, I learned that I should invest in other glue options, like gorilla glue, as the hot glue I used would raise and break off the facial features of the characters. It felt like I took more time regluing than progressing on the project itself. I greatly enjoyed making the faces for my characters. I wanted to avoid any basic appearances, which I believe I accomplished with the addition of mouth creases. Label: Title Box Boys Materials Cardboard, Tidy Cats Litter Containers, Black Permanent Marker Dimensions Sam (Front): 18” x 20.5” Robby (Left): 22” x 25” Trent (Right): 26” x 23” Ricky (Back): 31”x 32.5”

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Project 3: Biomorphism

Aluminum Foil Sculpture Exercise

3 Biomorphic Abstraction Sketches

Final Piece + Neutral Setting Documentation

100-Word Reflection: Even though I have never worked with plaster, this project was a great success for me. The goal of this project was to make a structure with plaster that referenced an organic form, while also maintaining ambiguity. Inspired by the synapse from the neuron, I aimed to make a smooth, plump design that curved into itself. Based on my sketches, I executed my idea quite successfully. Even after knowing that my piece was referenced from the synapse, many viewers still related my design to other forms (The letter P, a horn, odd-shaped glass bottle), which evidences its ambiguity.

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QCQ 3: The LONDON Magazine

Q: When we walk in the world we connect to our surroundings, on a basic level our feet tread the paths that many have taken before, looking from afar we become a moving and present part of the earth we live on, we acknowledge our place in it, even through the notionally insignificant movement of simply getting a breath of fresh air. “This relationship between figure and landscape is vitally important to me” she declared “I cannot feel it in a city”. It’s a truism that despite the vast concentration of human bodies in the meccas of London and New York and similarly vast cityscapes the number of people actually dehumanizes those bodies around us..." C: These feelings from Barbara Hepworth reveal the vital connection that I believe all artists need in order to create—an acknowledgement of their environment(s). Whether it's referencing exactly from the world around you or subconsciously creating a piece that appears just vaguely familiar to the real-world, artists must have some sort of connection to reality. In this specific quote, she expresses that metropolitan areas dull this important artistic sense for her, which is completely understandable and valid for many people. Q: When Barbara stated how urban areas restrict her creative senses, it made me wonder, do artists from rural areas find it easier to make art than those from urban backgrounds? And also, would their art be more appealing than urban art?

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Project 2: UPSIZED (Everyday Monuments)

Backpack Sculpture Exercise Photo + Label List

3 Items as Everyday Monuments Sketches

Final Piece (Completed June 20th, 2025)

Neutral Setting Documentation + 100-Word Reflection

Reflection: Once again, 3D art has satisfied my creative drive with this project. The amount of time and effort it took to finish this piece was unreal. Making chicken wire work with cardboard for this structure in particular was a battle. A lot of problem solving took place and I'm happy with how it turned out. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to finish all the lettering for the white-out bottle, though I'm sure I did enough to make people notice that it is a white-out bottle. Despite the struggle, this was a lot of fun. I like the fact that I have this as a huge, physical representation of my creativity, contrary to my graphic design work. It has many flaws, for sure. But I really do feel happy when I look at it standing so tall and prominently in my room

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QCQ 2: PBS

Q: "For me, there's a limit to how big you can make a human figure. I remember having seen David in Florence and I was not happy with it. I thought it was too big. Cause it's a human figure and there's a limit to how big you can blow up a human figure. It begins to look uncomfortable. " C: As a digital artist, I never gave sculptures much critical thought. When I heard I. M. Pei say this, however, it did make a lot of sense to me. If I did see a sculpture in-person that was 20-stories high, I would feel overwhelmed (and probably pained with how much I'd have to tilt my neck). At a certain point, a human sculpture could be considered comically huge imo. Also, bigger sculptures of humans do give a vibe of self-aggrandizement. I'm not sure how I'd react to walking towards a statue of Lebron James and realizing that the length of his foot can stretch halfway down the street I live on and that the top of his head literally gets lost in the clouds. At that point, what is the sculpture's purpose? For aliens to see it from space? Q: Lei mentioned that abstract works that slightly resemble human figures could also be scaled infinitely alongside our cityscapes. Though, at what point would an abstract work look "too human" and therefore be "uncomfortably large"? (For example: If I made an abstract sculpture with cubes that looked like a real-life pixelated mess, but could be seen as an almost perfect human figure when you looked at it from a certain angle, would that make it "too human" and consequently uncomfortably large?)

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Do It! Ice Breaker

Results:

Reflection: For my Do It! assignment, I chose the instructions set out by Roald Hoffman (Reference Number: H-008A) which state the following:

1. Find a scientific textbook, a good dictionary, a pad of paper 2. In the textbook find a place where an concept (for instance work, entropy, mass) is defined in words with the greatest precision. Write out the definition of the term on a piece of paper, call this "the hub". Put it on floor, or paste on wall 3. Look up in dictionary the definitions of every word in the definition, i.e. in the hub. Copy these out on a piece of paper and arrange radiating out from the hub. 4. Keep on doing this, looking up the definitions of the definitions. Stop when you see a word in the hub used in any definition. I found a biology textbook and used Merriam Webster's online dictionary. I may have confused "precision" with "conciseness", as I used the word "Biology" (my Hub) because of its short definition. I stopped at the definition of "study", which had the word "the" in it. I got pretty excited about these set of instructions specifically since I really enjoy learning new words. Even though it was short-lived, I liked this little hunt.

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Site-Speci-Fit Assignment

Cardboard Box Practice + Photo Exercise

3 Different Locations + Sketches

Final Piece + Neutral Setting Documentation

100-Word Reflection: Despite the many problems I faced with creating this project, I managed to complete the design and install it. Unfortunately, it's not exactly in the middle of the light fixture as it's supposed to be but just getting it up there successfully was a massive triumph in itself. My idea was to have a sharp-toothed creature hanging from the ceiling, with the ceiling light serving as its throat and uvula. The arms I made for it to hang from was the hardest part. I needed a more exact distance and height known for me to have it move more towards the middle, but I had made some miscalculations. Overall, I think 3d art in general is starting to stick to me. I like it. I actually have some 3d art experience from my 3d printing class in high school, which was pretty fun. I'm glad I was able to make an original design with everyday material and connect it to a building somehow. Super cool project!

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QCQ Assignment

Q: "There is nothing wrong with polyester sculpture or giclées — we judge art on its aesthetic merits — but the effort to mask what they are made of with imprecise language suggests that the artists and dealers of this work aren’t confident that buyers really want to know." C: I found this a bit interesting because, personally, if a fantastic piece of art was made using basic equipment and items available in everyday life, I'd be impressed by how the artist thought of a way to use what was available to create something so aesthetically pleasing. I remember watching a short documentary on a man that immigrated from Cuba to America and made 3D artworks from trash. I didn't scoff and snub my nose at the screen after I heard that. I instead became genuinely fascinated by the man's creative ability. Though, the more I think about it, I guess buyers do have an ego about themselves when it comes to purchasing art that they believe would be worthy of being in their house. Q: If it is true that buyers would be put off from purchasing a work of art that isn't named in a special way, then would that mean that they actually don't appreciate art? Why "Site-Specific" Isn't So Specific