ivyhowell

[ivyhowell]

fish out of water

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summer nights snanogram

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under the sea scanogram

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[ivyhowell]

For this still life I wanted to make a very busy and whimsical combination of items that I collect and value. It includes my favorite pair of rain boots which I have a very special memory attached to. I wanted to make the horses on these rain boots more prominent in the picture so I used the lasso tool to cut and paste them running out of the boot. I also included some of my favorite pieces of jewelry with shapes of sun, moon, and stars that I edited into the sky. I wanted the theme of this still life to be very nature-y but also very whimsical and magical, one of my inspirations for this still life is The Last Unicorn animation movie. The star pendant had a pattern on it that reminded me of water so I cut and pasted that into the dish on the right to make a lake/pond and placed the swan jewelry dish swimming in it. I also took that same pattern and put in in the left foreground and used the blur and smudge tools to make water that the horses are running to. I wanted to have flowers in the vase but I did not have any live ones so I used the flower pattern from my lamp to fill the vase with stained glass flower cut outs. I also added the skull face from a lighter to stack on top of the zombie plant holder to create a surreal and playful aspect.

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Walking through my dreams

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In my head...

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Ivy Howell

Curatorial Statement 

Building Blocks- An Imitation of Life and Energy Through Objects

            This exhibition explores ideas of objects imitating life and the creation of energetic, lively forms from inanimate items. The works vary in form and include photographs, sculptures, mixed media, and painting. The dates in which these artworks were made also vary, ranging from 1913 to 2024. None of these pieces look similar to each other or evoke the same emotions. Some are playful and include multiple prints and colors, while some are much simpler including muted colors or just white. The theme bringing all of these artworks together is that they all resemble some sort of life, energy, and movement. 

The sculpture to the right of the room (Pawel Althamer, Ari, 2011) shows a very literal display of objects imitating life as plaster and plastic create the form of a moving body. The bat figure at the top right of the room (Klaudua Janusko and Masa Sallai, YOUTH 4, 2024) exhibits a mixed media piece including a clock as the face and bright colors and patterns forming the body of the figure. The chromogenic print below (Ana Mendieta, Anima, 1977) shows a wooden outline of a human figure lit up using fireworks. The work sitting on the table is a multimedia sculpture of a human (Alexander Archipenko, Medrano II, 1913-14) and the work above is a painting depicting many doll-like figures interacting in a lively manner (Suanjaya Kencut, In Frame Series- Breifing, 2022). Although these works vary, they are brought together by the setting they are in which is a children’s playroom with toys on the ground. 

This exhibition worked to create an energetic representation of the different worlds and realities that can be created using almost any medium. An inspiration for the theme of this exhibition was children’s building blocks and how imaginations are used by children to create their own worlds using plastic toys. The objects, mediums, and toys are brought to life through one’s imagination and not the items themselves just like the artworks here. 

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