Art + Sound Portfolio

Industrial Ageing

Photograph. March 2019.

In my first year living in the Cortland NY area, I had little knowledge about places I could visit around me. I took this photo when I went to the old Corset Factory, which has since transformed into an area for local artists, comic enthusiasts, and a professional photography studio along with other personal studios belonging to people in the area. Walking through this space for the first time was intriguing and eerie. The building has mostly kept the structure and interior that it was built with. As I navigated the building, I listened to the sounds of the pipes and the floors creaking and tried to capture that same feeling from those noises with this image I took. I also liked how the texture of the wood is emphasized by the contrast between the deteriorating white brick walls and the darkened background behind the wood. The line up was too perfect to not document.

Night Drawing

Charcoal on Stonehenge Paper. 20 x 30 in. September 2022.

Alfred University Foundations Fall 22’ Project.

Tasked with rendering a light source at night from direct observation, this project contained many difficulties for myself and my peers. Provided with only 1 week to create the drawing, each student had to find a location to draw and work around the rainy weather that had been occurring during the timeline. I chose to create my drawing on a rooftop, as it gave me a unique composition that blends interior and exterior environments in addition to giving me enough light to see smaller textures such as the wood and brick, and my paper as I worked. I did not use a ruler for this drawing, which required my arm to have enough mobility to manually create the straight edges. Overall, this is my favorite piece I’ve created in the Alfred Foundations Program thus far.

Charcoal Still Life

Charcoal on Stonehenge Paper. 20 x 30 in. September 2022.

Alfred University Foundations Fall 22’ Class Assignment.

Previous to “Night Drawing”, students constructed sculptures using white cardboard which were then used to create a still life to practice observational skills, additive and subtractive methods in 2d media, and drawing with charcoal. This piece is one of many charcoal drawings made from this still life. This process of this work includes toning the paper completely using the charcoal, then erasing the highlighted areas and darkening shadows if needed. I chose this structure for my composition due to my limited area to work within and the contrast the sculpture had to the background. Similar to “Night Drawing”, I relied on my arm movements for my lines and did not use a ruler. The time given for this drawing was one hour.

Looking Through

Photograph. April 2022.

Object: Opalite Stone

The purpose of this photo was to experiment with exposure, brightness, and color with a natural composition. Using the stone to magnify a light source, the impurities within the opalite create mysterious organic textures that remind me of solar flares. I love how naturally created abstract forms provide numerous questions to the viewer that may have an answer that is hidden to them unless they further investigate the work beyond what they can see. I also love the process of giving my media the freedom to create its form while I figure out how to discover it.

Light, Time, and Motion

Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper. 16 x 20 in. October 2021.

Objects used: Glass Cup with Water, Chains, Wire, Paper, Warped Glass.

Homer Senior High School Studio 4/5 Independent Project.

I came across cyanotype exposures a few months before my first attempt with the medium, which was this project. For independent projects, the student chooses the parameters for the project which the teacher reviews before the student begins working. I chose to attempt a cyanotype sun exposure for my project since I had many ideas on how to use the cyanotype properties to create experimental photography. This piece showcases objects placed directly onto the paper prepped with the cyanotype mixture and exposed to the sun for twenty minutes. Halfway through the exposure, I slightly moved the paper with the objects to get the ghostly look behind the objects which helps the image from being completely flat. I made another attempt with the cyanotype exposure on silk after this one, using regular and inverted images on clear acetate sheets. Unfortunately, the image completely washed off when I went to rinse the silk to stop the exposing process despite many measures taken to try to avoid that from occurring. Sometimes ideas don’t work, and that’s okay! I would like to attempt that idea again with a different material at some point. I’m satisfied with the image I did create, especially with having no previous experience with it or anything similar.

Carved Kaleidoscope

Acrylic Mirror Kaleidoscope with Exterior Etchings. 4 x 12 in. June 2022.

Homer Senior High School Adv. 3d Stained Glass Project.

After learning about the process of creating stained glass, I was assigned to either create a flat stained glass image or a sculpture. I decided to go down an unconventional route with this prompt and create a glass kaleidoscope with my focus being on the internal viewing experience. Although the space I had to work within did not have the tools to achieve this with regular glass as I had hoped to do originally, I adjusted my material to acrylic glass mirrors which gave me the ability to laser cut my mirrors to the same size and provided me with colored mirrors. From the colors, I used blue, purple, and regular mirrors. I then used an x-acto knife to carve the majority of the etchings into the mirrors by scraping off the mirror finish from the back. The portions where the mirror layer was removed allow for light to come into the kaleidoscope, and the colored acrylic would filter the light which would then reflect off the other mirrors inside. When I displayed the final product, I placed it within a box that contained gold foil, lights, and transparent stones that added another reflecting element to the piece. This was one of the coolest projects I’ve made, and since creating it I have wanted to incorporate the manipulation of light and its reflections within my art.

Stone

Graphite Drawing. 9 x 12 in. February 2022.

Prop for Homer Senior High School’s production of “Newsies”

While I was involved with the theatre clubs at Homer Senior High School, I became more involved with being a performer and with the technical aspects that lead to creating the final performances that the community watches. In my senior year, I was playing the lead, “Jack Kelly” in addition to helping with building and painting the set. I received two awards, MVP, and Silent Star for my performing and tech work within the show. Along with the work I did on stage, I also created this drawing that was used in a scene to depict my character drawing the lead actress while I sang. I believe this is one of the best portraits I’ve drawn so far. This piece took me around 4 days to finalize before becoming the prop used in the show. I could not be happier with the work I did while involved with this production, and the moments I had with others who helped me with the set pieces I painted made the whole experience even more special. This show is the reason I want to keep working in the performing arts whether it be as a performer, tech, or designer.

Colorful Still Life

Acrylic Painting. 20 x 30 in. September 2022.

Alfred University Foundations Fall 22’ Project.

A different focus from the same still life in “Charcoal Still Life”, students were given one week to paint the still life using acrylic. The still life was surrounded by various colored lights pointed at the sculptures. The lights challenged students in skills of observation, color theory, and color mixing using a basic 12 color kit. My composition had the added challenge of pairing the opposing colors of red and green without either color becoming muddy. I worked in thin layers, using one color in all areas I could see the same or similar tone, then repeating the process with another color. Though this method is time consuming, I love the brush texture and depth that can be achieved with it.

Essentially, Myself

Mixed Media Portrait. 16 x 20 in. September 2021.

Materials Used: Acrylic Paint, Fabric, Imitation Foil, Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper, all on Papyrus Paper

Homer Senior High School Studio 4/5 Project.

This project was my first assignment of my senior year of High School. The guidelines were to create a self portrait using four different mediums of choice. I chose my mediums based upon mediums that are difficult to control, and using their natural unpredictability to become the elements in the portrait. This project allowed me to follow a perspective of letting the materials guide the art rather than a pre-planned, calculated concept. I started with a sketch, separated my sections, then began with the acrylic paint on the portrait. I originally planned to have the colors match my skin tone in this portion, but as I painted in the color tones, I liked the idea of keeping the vibrant color bases. I then made five images using the alcohol ink on 6 x 8 in. yupo paper, experimenting with moving the ink around, blending, and using a blow dryer to dry the ink faster. A few of these could have been kept as artworks of their own, but because I needed them for this project, I photo documented them and proceeded to cut them into little pieces following the edges created by the ink. I organized the pieces by color and glued them where I felt they fit best within the section. I moved onto the imitation foil after, and used a combination of silver, gold, and copper foil to attempt shade with a reflective medium. This medium was even more meticulous than the alcohol inks due to filling in large areas with small bits of foil. I approached this challenge by putting glue on all the areas I knew a color was and creating foil flakes that I placed on the ares I placed glue on. I let it sit for a minute or so before brushing it off and repeated with the next color and ended with the smallest details. Finally, the fabric was a nice relief to the previous mediums as I could use the folds of the fabric to create texture while covering larger sections. I attempted to recreate the look of the folds with the other mediums in the background as well. Having all of these unique elements on the Papyrus paper completes the complex composition I ambitiously pursued.

Aurora Borealis Tree

Ink Colored Pencil on Illustration Board. 16 x 20 in. June 2022.

Homer Senior High School Studio 4/5 Project.

The project assigned to the studio class was to make a drawing using watercolor colored pencils or water-soluble ink colored pencils. I chose to draw a tree that I photographed during a hike earlier in the year. I liked the flow of the colors in the image and the focus I could have on expressing the wood textures of the tree. I had minimal experience with the medium previous to this work, but I found my technique fairly quickly into the process. Although this was one of my longest projects of that year, taking me around 4 weeks to finalize, I enjoyed every second of working on it. I love how the color of the pencils would layer vibrantly. I loved watching the image slowly appear as I blended my colors with water. For color drawings, this medium easily became one of my favorites to use after working on this project.

Collage Sculpture

Mixed Media Foamcore. 36 x 12 in.

Materials used: Paper, Acrylic Paint, Alcohol Inks, Imitation Foil, Fabric.

Alfred University Foundations Fall 22’ Project.

The first part to this project consisted of creating a collage on foam core using magazine cutouts, newspapers, books, other printed media, and/or 2d mediums over two days. Students then had to cut at least 15 pieces from their collage, and were encouraged to trade pieces with their peers. After obtaining the 15 pieces, students were assigned to use them to create a sculpture within a 3 day timeline. I traded several pieces of my collage, each with a different student. I find collaborative artworks exciting because seeing another individual’s creative vision provides insight into their working process and another perspective to influence my own creative choices. When I began to think of building my sculpture, I wanted all viewpoints to have a design, which brought me to use silver and gold imitation foil on the blank side of my pieces. The interior foil also blends with the exterior of some of my own pieces that contained smaller amounts of copper imitation foil. Not only did this choice provide more content to the viewer, it also manipulated the reflection of light within the structure itself. Although constructing 3d abstract sculptures has not been an active interest of my art, I enjoyed the project and I am happy with the final product I created.

Vibrant Growth

Photograph. April 2022.

This photo originates from the same hike that led to my photo reference in “Aurora Borealis Tree”. The weather was nice, and the sunlight seemed to bring out all of the colors naturally occurring in the environment. This tree stood out to me because of the navy blue and bright moss on it, in addition to the rainbow rings on the edges of the tree. Nature works in mysterious ways, and I find that beautiful.

Copper Heart

Copper Embossing with Enamel Accents. 12 x 12 in. January 2022.

Homer Senior High School Studio 4/5 Project.

The Studio 4/5 class was assigned to create a copper embossing that could exist as a 2d or 3d work. Students used magazines, their hands, and pens to move the copper into their forms. I chose to use an abstract drawing I created as my design base, and placed a portion of it within the shape of an anatomical heart. I also created smaller patterns that received coats of glass enamel and were then fired in a kiln. These pieces surround the main form. Firing these thin sheets of copper was more experimental than calculated. I did not know how they would react, though I am pleased with the outcome. The heart did not get fired, but did receive a coat of copper patina and clear coat that shades the lowered areas and protects the finish. The reflective properties of the copper in combination with those of the enameled glass brought this piece to a new level.

Contemplation

Graphite Figure Drawing. 16 x 20 in. February 2022

Homer Senior High School Studio 4/5 Class Assignment.

Given a model for the class period, students were tasked with creating numerous figure drawings with various time durations. This specific figure drawing was one of our longer drawings. Students had 10 minutes to draw as much of the form as they could. Quick figure drawings are not a strength of mine, but I captured significantly more detail than I thought I would be able to. After the time concluded, we were given the opportunity to clean up the drawing. I blended graphite around the drawing and erased the outline of the figure to complete my work.

Yesterday

Acrylic Painting. 9 x 12 in. October 2022.

Alfred University Foundations Fall 22’ Project.

One of my other favorite projects from Alfred Foundations was the drawing systems project, where this piece originates out of. The outline of this project was pairing two students together and having them make their own rules to create five drawings. Both students had to complete their own system and their partner’s within five days. My partner and I wanted our systems based around music. I created an audio file using my own guitar samples (see “Guitar Layering Project - 10:24:22 in Sound Projects above) and split the five drawings to follow the five different sections I created in the audio. I used pen as my medium to complete my drawings, though I had no specific rule on what had to be used. Both my partner and I decided with our systems that if paint was used then it had to be finger painted. I used this rule to create four of the five drawings in my partner’s system. This system included listening to five different songs, one song per drawing, and expressing the sensory experience of the songs in the drawings. The songs listed were: Yesterday - The Beatles, Claire de Lune - Claude Debussy, Electric Feel - MGMT, Open Season - High Highs, and Jupiter (From The Planets) - Gustav Holst, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This specific piece I created while listening to Yesterday by The Beatles and attempted to place colors where I felt they existed in the sound. Visually expressing the sound and feeling of music is an area within art that I would love to engage with more in the future as it combines my favorite interests into a multi-sensory experience that has the potential to influence the viewer in a unique way.