OBSCURITIES

At the start of July, I began working as Assistant Curator at the Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College. The curator, Laura Amussen, gave me a tremendous opportunity to organize and curate a satellite exhibition for the Baker Artists Awards this year. in three days with amazing support from two very talented MICA interns, Travis Levasseur and Sage Denver, we pulled it together.


This is OBSCURITIES, my first shot at true curatorial work. United by their passion for abstraction, this selection of Baker Artist Award nominees coalesce to create a show devoted to their departure from form, place, communication, and identity.

 click on images to view larger

"Obscurities" will be presented in Goucher College’s Silber and Rosenberg Art Galleries from August 30th through October 16th, 2011. This exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed Tuesday through Sunday from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. An artist’s reception will be held Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Silber and Rosenberg Art Galleries. Please visit www.goucher.edu/silber




Participating Artists:
Alexander Heilner, Andrew Lauman, Joanna Kopczyk, Justin Kelly, Kyle Freeman, Lauren Brick, Leslie Furlong, Michael Farley, Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman, Christopher Attenborough, Stewart Watson, Mark Eisendrath, Kelly Shaw, Karl Connolly, Michael Northrup, and Eric Dyer.

WILDLAND

Two of my pieces are in this show. It's definitely worth checking out... I want to buy a lot of the other work there. Very strong stuff.

click on the images for a larger version

Exhibit Dates

Wildland will be presented at Goucher College's Silber Art Gallery in the Athenaeum from June 28 to August 7, 2011. This exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Artist Reception

An artists' reception will be held in the Silber Gallery on Saturday, July 9, 2011 from 3 to 5 p.m. Please call 410-337-6477 for more information.

About the Exhibit

Wildland, a satellite exhibition in conjunction with Artscape, features the work of nine local artists: Ryan Browning, Travis Childers, Frank Day, Elizabeth Hoeckel, Savanna Leigh, Susan Main, Joshua Smith, Peter Stern, and Polly Townsend. While viewing submissions from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts and looking for an overall arching theme, I was struck by the large number of local artists whose work seemed to be derived from the landscape. Landscape, as a topic, has been around for centuries-Goucher College has even mounted a few shows around the theme. However, in this case I noticed a narrower or sub-theme of wilderness and outdoor recreation. Images of camper trailers nestled in the woods, wild animals, mountaineers, and people gathered together as if looking out over a scenic view mingled with more traditional nature imagery. Thus, each artist in Wildland draws inspiration from the great outdoors, inviting the viewer to explore the wilderness as seen through their eyes and experiences.

Laura Amussen, curator

Silber Art Gallery: Goucher College
1021 Dulaney Valley Road

Baltimore, MD 21204-2794

visual space

Taken from NPR's blog 13.7:


"To localize an object means simply to represent the movements that would be necessary to reach it." These words of the great French mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré offer a bold statement of an idea that goes back to George Berkeley: the experience of space is grounded, finally, in our sense of our bodies, in our sense of our own degrees of freedom of movement.
Berkeley thought that touch was the spatial sense, for it was the movement sense. Vision without touch would deliver only flat pictures of the world around us.



In my work, I've been investigating the relationship people have to the places and space around them- this guy offers an interesting perspective. He proves that our connection with place does not rely on the visual landscape; place and space are much more tactile. Our sense of place develops not from the sight of a landscape, but from our physical interaction with that space.
This leads me to believe that my work needs to move toward installation and viewer participation.
The first piece of this series is a collaboration with fellow artist Jessica Scimpf, and will be shown at the City Arts Gallery for Artscape.

Lumber PartyCity Arts Gallery440 East Oliver StreetOpening July 9th
come lay on the lawn....

featured

I've just been featured at Coroflot.com, a networking site for creative professionals. They choose a select few artworks from the thousands of images uploaded daily. Check it out!


view my portfolio:
coroflot.com/savannaleigh

opening night

21g Gallery, Baltimore

 Eduardo Rodriguez, the gallery director

"Rift" alongside "You Are Here" 16mm film samples

"Orogenesis" 7'x4' 

"M/Otherland"

Back to back monitors playing films "Tectonic" and "You Are Here"

Explaining concept and execution

My mom came all the way from Dallas <3

It was a great show. It'll be up till May 3rd, so if you haven't had a chance to see it, 

stop by and check it out!

SOLO SHOW

M/Otherland, my senior thesis BFA honors show,

opens TOMORROW NIGHT (Thursday the 7th) at 21g Gallery!!!!

6-10pm

782 Washington Blvd.

Baltimore, MD

Two semesters of research and work have developed into the sculptures, drawings, paintings, and films that are included in this show. It is now the eve of the opening, and I would like to say thank you to all the people who helped me make this possible. This wasn't a one-woman show, there were so many important people who made this into what it is.

Thank you to Jan Baum, my thesis advisor, for making me reach my potential. Rachel Timmins, for always being  honest and encouraging. David Knopp and John Shea for thier generous in-kind donations, which allowed me to construct all my sculptures from reclaimed materials. Shelly Blake-Plock for the use of his song in my film, and for getting me into art in the first place. Kate Gilman and Jessica Schimpf for the wonderful poster design and for their unconditional support. My parents, for understanding my need to create. Eduardo Rodriguez for his promotion and for allowing me the space to make this event happen. Paul Harne and Drew Bassin for their help with installation. To everyone at my office for letting me work crazy hours so I could get everything done. Thanks to everyone else who ever gave me a critique, offered a hand or a shoulder, and inspired me.

Thank you.

love and risk

This is my piece "MacGuffin" currently hanging in the City Arts Gallery as part of the show "Love and Risk." All these images can be rearranged to form a new narrative based on the Kuleshov Effect. When an image is juxtaposed with another, the meaning of both of them changes. The images on the wall change their context depending on what images are surrounding. The viewer is invited to change the narrative.

All the images are from Hitchcock films including North by Northwest, Vertigo, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, and Rear Window. A "MacGuffin" is a plot device constantly used by Hitchcock to catch his viewers off guard. 

On view at City Arts

postcard

My solo show opening is coming up fast. I'm getting excited. I need to build a shit ton of pedestals.

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 Excellent design by Kate Gilman. She gave me about 15 proofs to pick from! If you are interested in using her as well, contact me and I'll send along her info.

screening

it's official. you should come.

 Experimental Animation Show Trailer from Phil Davis on Vimeo.

Walking Landscape 2 @ Gallery 788

Some photos of my work from Gallery 788's November Show

788 Washington Blvd. 

Baltimore, MD, 21230

Thurs:  5:00 pm - 9:00pm

Fri: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Sat: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Sun:12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

 

 

Holiday Sale

Christmas is coming up fast, and people are asking me about glass presents. Here's the info!!

I'll be selling glass ornaments and bowls at the Towson Holiday Sale. This is your best chance to chose from a
wide selection of colors and styles.

Ornaments will be $15-$30, and bowls will be $80-$150

39TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY POTTERY SALE

Center of the Arts Ceramics Studio Room 3012

Friday, December 3 – Saturday, December 4, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Start your holiday shopping by attending this annual event! The ceramic students and faculty present functional and fine art ceramic works for sale. A vast selection of hand crafted items, including stoneware,
earthenware and fanciful objects will be available.

Admission is free.

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I also do custom orders and commissions with a
two week advanced notice.

Send me an email!

SavannaLeighArt@gmail.com

Esty coming soon...

Grease in the Gears

For the past few weeks I've been sort of treading water as far as my thesis work goes, but now I'm ready to kick it back into high gear. I feel like I'm finally really on the ball :) Alot happened this week that has really motivated me.

I received a grant for $500 to build my sculptures. I'll get an exhibit at the Research Fair this Spring as well.  Now I can afford the right tools and materials I've been waiting for!

Sculptor David Knopp, who I met at the Tri-State Conference, was kind enough to let me raid his studio for scraps. I filled my car with as much as possible, and now I've got quite a bit of material to work with!

He even gave some beautiful laminated mahogany...

Check out David Knopp's work:

And last but not least, I landed an interview with City Arts Apartments, which is a brand new complex being built in Station North, Baltimore. It's government funded low-income housing that is designated for artists. The ground floor will be a gallery. There's even a bicycle parking garage!! This interview is the final stage of the application, and if accepted, I'll be moving in this May :)

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Last weekend I went on a road trip to upstate New York and Vermont to uninstall some artwork at Salem Art Works. Very cool place- it's a non profit art center that hosts resident artists. They grow their own food, and people can live there for free in exchange for farm work. There's facilities for sculpting metal, wood, and ceramics. Plus, its beautiful out there!

Much of my thesis concept is based on landscape and its effects on personal identity; it was great to be back in the mountains, remembering how they feel. 

I took a billion landscape shots I'll be using in my thesis.

Helluva Weekend

Jam packed weekend to be had. And its only Saturday.

On Thursday, Maryland Public Television stopped by to shoot a segment on Tim McFadden in the glass shop. You will see me on TV in about 4 weeks. The camera crew said that the segments are usually posted online as well, so you'll all get to see the footage here once its up!

Tiny camera, giant Timmy.

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Later that night there were several art openings to go to.

 First up is the "Space Invaders" installation by the Towson sculpture grad students in the Towson Commons Gallery.

This is a ball pit installation by Vincent Valerio

This is a room of motion activated inflating fabric forms by Rob Guevara, and me smooshed between them.

After that opening, I headed over to Goucher's Rosenberg Gallery to see the new show curated by my thesis committee member Laura Amussen. It's a baller show, I highly recommend seeing it!!

After that, I headed downtown to Pig Town's up and coming Gallery 788 on Washington Blvd, near Camden Yards. I had a piece featured in their first annual Erotic Arts show which is a celebration of sexuality in visual arts. It was a HUGE hit!! The whole gallery was packed shoulder to shoulder, and people were pouring into the streets waiting to get in. $5 got you a Gallery 788 cup, and $1 got you refills all night long. There was music, there were people wearing nothing but paint, there was slam poetry and burlesque.

Here is Roma Mafia opening the night's performances, popping balloons as she goes.

Packed. Awesome.

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Friday began the three day Tri-State Sculpture Conference. There are lots of lectures from amazing artists, and demos on equipment and process. 

Learning how to TIG weld cast bronze

Learning how to stack laminate plywood from David Knopp

Learning how to create 2 part resin bonded sand molds for casting iron and aluminum. 

The conference continues all day today, then tomorrow moves to UMD for the annual iron pour. Check it out!!

Progress

I've been mad busy with all my studio work, which I've been trying to document as best I can.

Biggest news, I got my own bench space thanks to the object design department. Unfortunately, sculpture at Towson doesn't have the space for advanced undergraduate studios, so I have no consistent place to work. It was very nice of the jewelry ladies to offer me this space :)

I like the way they think in here. 

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Here's a carved wooden body with holes for glass to fit. I'm in love with forstner bits.

The wood's been sanded super smooth and oiled up.

And the glass forms (from wooden molds) were epoxyed in.

Wooden molds for glass, you say? Why, yes. It's a process I'm still developing- lots of experiments to be had. There's alot of fire.

This is what it looks like once the glass has been annealed and cooled- it fits right back into its mold. The glass and the wood both become parts of the finished piece.

Only the top portion was for molding, the rest of the sculpture still needs to be laminated and carved. It'll eventually stand on three pointed legs as a tripod, glass and all.

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Ceramics has me making a self portrait in stoneware,

which I decided to chop up.

Each portion of the face will be fired to cone 6, then mounted onto casters for gallery installation.

Somethin like this.

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In other news, I have a piece showing at Gallery 788 in Baltimore next Thursday, Oct 10th. 

Opening runs from 6-10 and the show is open till Oct 31st.

788 Washington Blvd, Baltimore MD, 21230