Artist Statements!

One paragraph concise:

Katrina McCann

Artist Statement

Using the vehicle of geometry, I have produced a series of six forms that can be rearranged to create a variety of different compositions. The forms can be stacked, flipped, placed side by side in many different ways, and each arrangement conveys its own sense of emotion or character. Some compositions have an unyielding sense of power, while others are more protective and require a closer investigation in order to view the cautiously hidden or intimate spaces created by the arrangement between two or three forms. The mood of each arrangement depends on a variety of design elements. Scale, line directionality in the texture, symmetry or non-symmetry, and depth or a sense of openness all play key parts in the sensations felt when viewing each arrangement.

Two paragraphs, more depth:

Katrina McCann

Artist Statement

Generally, my past hand built ceramic work has been amorphous, natural and very free. I've explored unconventional means of creating functional wares in order to make things that look hand made. More recently though, finding a voice through this natural and almost disorderly means of working has proven itself unsatisfying in a way. The work craves more attention. Thusly, recent works of mine have taken on a process that fully requires a more organized way of not only doing, but thinking.

Using the vehicle of geometry, I have produced a series of six forms that can be rearranged to create a variety of different compositions. The forms can be stacked, flipped, placed side by side in many different ways, and each arrangement conveys its own sense of emotion or character. Some compositions have an unyielding sense of power, while others are more protective and require a closer investigation in order to view the cautiously hidden or intimate spaces created by the arrangement between two or three forms. The mood of each arrangement depends on a variety of design elements. Scale, line directionality in the texture, symmetry or non-symmetry, and depth or a sense of openness all play key parts in the sensations felt when viewing each arrangement.

Three paragraphs, detailed:

Katrina McCann

Artist Statement

Generally, my past hand built ceramic work has been amorphous, natural and very free. I've explored unconventional means of creating functional wares in order to make things that look hand made. More recently though, finding a voice through this natural and almost disorderly means of working has proven itself unsatisfying in a way. The work craves more attention. Thusly, recent works of mine have taken on a process that fully requires a more organized way of not only doing, but thinking.

Using the vehicle of geometry, I have produced a series of six forms that can be rearranged to create a variety of different compositions. The forms can be stacked, flipped, placed side by side in many different ways, and each arrangement conveys its own sense of emotion or character. Some compositions have an unyielding sense of power, while others are more protective and require a closer investigation in order to view the cautiously hidden or intimate spaces created by the arrangement between two or three forms. The mood of each arrangement depends on a variety of design elements. Scale, line directionality in the texture, symmetry or non-symmetry, and depth or a sense of openness all play key parts in the sensations felt when viewing each arrangement.

The process that ultimately led to this body of work took a long time to finally figure out how to utilize. It started out being a puzzle themed project where each piece would be composed of multiple parts that fit together. The feeling that the pieces exuded would be based solely on how the pieces interacted when they were placed together in one intentional way. Dissatisfaction led me to take the multiple parts of the piece I was working on, and start moving them around. A realization that about twenty or thirty different sculptures, each just as interesting as the last, were possible from one intended sculpture, led me to my ultimate theme. Everything can always be something else, or there's always another way to look at it. The natural instinct to work freely and without boundaries was still incorporated in my orderly work.  

  

Second homework summaries.

Katrina McCann

2/1/11

Catherine Scala

Professional Artist

Summaries of Chapters 1 and 11

Chapter one is all about overcoming the struggles that artists face in making a career out of a BFA. It goes through from grade school into that crucial time after highschool graduation when you need to ultimately make that decision. The chapter talks about how some art students make it all the way through art school and then end up questioning if they can make a living off what they've been paying to learn for four or so years.

It then goes on to talk about money and how more often than not, artists are required to spend money in order to earn money. This is especially true in my field. Kilns, wheels, and other such tools used in the art of ceramics don't run cheap. The chapter ends with a brief note on realizing that once an artist decides to sell their artwork, art is now becoming a business.

Chapter eleven gets more into gaining the courage, as an artist with your own ideals, to put yourself and your work and your ideas out there for people to view and dealers/curators to purchase or display in their gallery. The chapter then goes on to explain how paranoia can get the best of a lot of artists, causing them to never want their art to be displayed to the public. Some artists will show their artwork, but they will not go to every distance to advertise the fact that it's being shown in the particular gallery that's showing in out of fear that the “wrong people” will go look at it.

The chapter also talks about the matter of competition in the art world, overcoming it and not letting it get the best of you, as well as dealing with rejection. So many artists these days give up simply because of how many times they get rejected by galleries and collectors. This, the book explains is a good reason to get an agent to deal with rejection for you. They don't feel the pain you would if you were directly told you weren't good enough, or what the gallery is looking to sell under their name.