Artist Talk

I am nervous yet excited for my up coming artist talk!  I will be discussing my work since August.

I will be discussing my plaster casts of my body.

I will be discussing my presentation of my art.

I will also be discussing my carvings and what they mean to me.

 














It is always difficult to discuss what my art means to me.  I have to think about why I am doing what I am doing.  What I want others to gain from interacting with my work.  Simple questions out loud, but intense questions to think about.  I hope to articulate myself well, but first deep contemplation is necessary.

Gallery Manager

I am very excited to say that I am the Gallery Manager of the Nils Lou Gallery at Linfield College.  I am learning the logistics of how to run a gallery.  My plan for December and early January is to create a gallery Nils would be proud to call his own.  This means I will negotiate with facilities to remove the baseboards that are currently on the wall.  I will also negotiate with them to get the paint removed from the floor so that only concrete floors show.  I will patch up and smooth the walls myself.  I will then paint all of the walls white.  I will fix the pedestals over this time as well.  Each show will have publicity, and a formal statement that is mounted.

I have already met with facilities once and they will remove the baseboards over December.  I have also created and distributed a schedule for the professors that are in charge of the classes that will be showing in the gallery.  I have also contacted Linfield College's student government about publicity for all of the shows.  Hopefully there will be flyers for each show, that I will design.  As well as table tents in our dining hall and on campus Starbucks for our two biggest shows.

I am learning so much and feel tremendously honored to have a chance to run this space.  I hope I can do Nils justice!

Halfway

My plan for January is to perfect a thin cup made of beeswax.  The cup must be thin as I want it to show the shadow of what it contains.  In the cup will be honey, poured halfway.  These cups, as I hope to perfect and make quite a few, will be on display in my studio in February.  I am very excited about this idea!

Logistically, I have tried this idea before.  I have tried melting the wax over a bowl, into a bowl, and forming the shape by hand.  These ideas created far to messy a cup.  My new plan is to buy a non-stick cupcake pan, spray it withnon-stick cooking spray and melt a chunk of wax in the pan.  This will make a solid form, the center of which I will scoop out.  I will then use a heat gun to smooth the rough surface.

A Community

It has become clearer than ever to me why graduate school is necessary.  It is a place to further my journey alongside other artists.  It is also a wonderful place to find myself, and find my where my work fits in the greater context of art history.

Yesterday, I visited a graduate school open house.  It was fascinating to see just how different everyone is.  It is also inspiring to see all of these artists and their tenacity and drive to do what they love: creating art.   A helpful practice that the artists at this graduate school get are weekly critiques with their mentors.  They also get the occasional hour long critiques with their peers.

I am absolutely in love with the ideas these artists have and am touched that so many of them were excited to talk with me about their work, and even my work.  A few artists I made connections with offered to critique my work, or have coffee with me sometime to discuss graduate schools.

I am hopeful that graduate school is in my future next year.  However, I know it needs to be in my future no matter how long it takes!

Resume/ CV

Education          B.A., Thesis Track Studio Art Major                                          Expected May 2015

with Visual Culture Minor

                                               

            Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Leadership/Service Scholar

Dean’s List Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Spring 2013

2014-2015        Nils Lou Gallery Director

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

2012-2015        Gallery Assistant

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

2014                  Merit Award in Studio Art for Outstanding Junior

                          From the Helen Blumenstiel Endowed Fund

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

2014                  All Ways, All Ready; Portfolio Show

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

                          Showcased Always, Forever, Now

                         

2013                  Annual Juried Student Exhibition

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

                          Showcased Action; Reaction and Melt With Me

                         

2012                  Annual Juried Student Exhibition

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

                          Showcased A Nest For Two

2011                  Linfield Competitive Art Scholarship

                          Linfield College; McMinnville, OR

                          Won first place

Documenting Installations

I am excited to say that I recently documented my most recent in-progress art installation.  I am very proud of this work.  Though, I have learned documenting sculptures and installations are difficult, I enjoyed the process of finding the right shot that made my art shine.

Documenting Work

In photographing art there are good, and bad practices.  I recently documented my work for my applications to graduate school.  I hope to get my MFA.   I have learned lighting and set up are key to quality documentation.  With those two things in mind, I set about documenting my art.

I learned the difference between good documentation, and photographs that are art in themselves.

I also learned that for most sculpture work the photograph should be taken from a slight side view, in order to show the depth the piece has.

Re-visiting Ideas

I have decided to re-visit my beeswax cast of my body.  I think that having the beeswax in the cast was very interesting.  I do not plan on removing the wax from the cast.

I will also be shooting images of some of my past work in efforts to build my portfolio.  I'm very excited to be shooting images and going down nostalgia lane.

Artist Blog

I have recently created a second website.  This site is where I will be posting my thoughts, inspiration, procedures, etc.  My other website will be the archives of finished pieces.  Check it out: http://mayaluque11.wix.com/installationartist