Final Post

As for what I have been doing since the BFA show, a lot has been working more with my other class projects in Print Workshop and Open Media Studio, as they did not get quite as much attention towards the show deadline. However, I find all of the projects I have done in those classes are very relevant to my work for BFA. They have just been exploring other ways to explain a similar concept, and particularly my final projects have been very informative for my work. In Print Workshop, I created 7 prints which incorporate solar plate, drypoint and watercolor monotype. This was particularly important to my work because I finally began to incorporate abstraction-- the prints are split into one panel of photograph, and the other panel is an illustration of sagebrush in drypoint with abstract shapes and fields of color in watercolor. Though this is a pretty crude combination, I believe it will lead to more ways to abstract these works. In Open Media, I have recreated one my of great grandfather's photographs using myself as the subject, and am using two panels of plexi side by side to compare the two. I have also experimented with the use of paint pen, which I used to create small patterns in the places where the transfer didn't stick. Further, I have also tried hand coloring the photographs by painting with acrylic on the back of the transfer. I am happy with both of these techniques and am excited to add them to my repertoire of collaging elements. Also, the inclusion of myself is a big step for me, as I was quite hesitant to do it before. I believe this will lead to more works in the future that also talk about my own identity.

Outside of my other classes, I have been working on one final piece with the remnants of my PINS funding. I decided that I wanted to do something very different than what I had done before. I was not able to get very far, but as you all know, my conceptual process is very long before I actually begin to create the piece, which is an even longer process. At this moment, I have finalized my concept and gathered my materials to begin working.
This piece will feature my grandfather Toshio, instead of his father, Kiyoshi. Looking through my photographs, I was struck by one that looked strange, due to some error in the camera. It is one of several that are double exposed, with overlapping images at the top and bottom of the photograph. Some of these elements looked very abstracted which appealed to me visually. Also, the actual position of the photograph is not in the center and has an uneven border and I enjoyed the asymmetry, as photographs on paper are usually perfectly centered. This was what inspired me to do something different from just a rectangular piece of plexiglas. Instead of using flat edges, I want to imitate the antique cut-out edges that the actual photograph has. I am going to try and laser cut this shape out of my 18"x24" piece of plexi, and place the photograph in the same position as it was on the paper. Here is the picture for reference:

However, this new shape wasn't enough for me to make this piece unique from the others and I wanted to experiment with something new-- laser cutting shapes out of a sheet of plexi and affixing them to the surface of the panel with the photograph. Conceptually, I wanted to talk about the transition through generations of immigrant to American citizen. My grandfather was born in the US as a citizen, yet still felt the experience of the "other," because of his Japanese heritage. He was interned in the camps despite his citizenship, and joined the army to fight in the Korean War after his release. The decision to go to war for the US was very symbolic for Japanese Americans, for them it represented their loyalty to America and therefore, their right to be treated equally. Ironically, this became a divisive element within Japanese American culture, and those who did not go to war were ostracized by their fellow Japanese Americans.
To me, this is a very superficial transformation-- the only way to be American was to hide your ethnic roots as much as possible. By attaching these pieces to the front, which will be an American emblem such as stars, I am emphasizing the forceful and concealing attempt to be a typical American. I am also thinking about contrasting this with screen printed Japanese motifs on the back, showing their constant battle in the formation of his identity at the time.
Also, I want to experiment with this piece in terms of display as well. Instead of having it sit perfectly upright in a stand, I wanted to imitate the framing of a photograph by creating a plexiglas frame stand and attaching it to the back to make it stable.
Right now I am currently working on the files for laser cutting and trying to figure out if I can get some large sheets of regular bond paper to use in Roddy's printer for the transfer. If anyone has advice on the paper, that would be great.

A photo of the materials I just picked up: my two panels for the next piece, and some pieces to experiment with which include some frosted plexiglas, a thick cube and a small circle of polished plexiglas.

I've also been experimenting with different types of paper to use for transfers, so far I've tried two different kinds.

This is with photo paper-- initially I thought it didn't work, but a few weeks later I was able to tear off the paper, which left a very smooth surface but also created many holes in the transfer. It also held many air bubbles.

This is with a more pulpy, natural paper. As you can see, it is quite cloudy. It seems that some of the pulp in the paper became suspended in the acrylic medium; however I do think the effect is interesting and it took well to coloring because the pulp soaked up the paint somewhat.

As for an evaluation of the senior sequence, one of the main things I wanted to mention for specifically Seminar and Practicum is clearer guidelines. I felt as if no one knew specifically what the faculty was looking for in terms of grades, and only knew what we were doing wrong by the time we received the grades which was too late.
In Practicum, I understand that this course is supposed to be centered around experimentation, but I found this to be hard for me once I developed a method for my pieces. I had been working on the project since Fall, and by about halfway through Practicum I felt that my experimenting was mostly over as I had started working on my first piece for the show. In the end, I got a lower grade because I didn't experiment enough-- but I don't think that people should be forced to experiment if they already have been doing so for months and are beginning to work on final pieces. Going off of that, I don't think that discouraging students from thinking about the work in the senior show is a great idea, why shouldn't they be thinking about it? I understand not wanting students to hold on to a failing idea they had in Fall Quarter and encouraging evolution and change, but I don't think anyone should say "Don't think about your senior thesis yet" either. Rushing to get all the work done in Spring Quarter alone is truly a daunting and stressful thing.
For Professional Practice, I feel that is a great class to start off the senior sequence and was extremely helpful for practical knowledge about being a professional artist.
For distinction, I have a similar opinion to Seminar and Practicum, which is that I felt I needed more guidance for specific requirements and deadlines. There were many issues with the page count, which I feel could have been amended by more specific guidelines.
For critiques overall, I feel that more individual critiques are better. I think group critiques are good too, but perhaps should be held less often than individual critiques. That way, there is more studio time for each person and also more time for having individual conversations. The visiting artists were amazing and incredibly helpful for providing new perspectives on our work.
Overall, this sequence was a very formative experience as an artist and I feel like I created work that I'm happy with and am prepared to continue to make work. I hope to apply to many exhibitions, grants and residencies soon, and I would also eventually like to attend graduate school. It's been an awesome year and I'm excited for what's next! Finally, thanks to all the faculty for caring for us, teaching us and just being awesome. I hope to stay connected with you all in the future while I'm still in Denver. To all the BFAs, you all are amazing and I was so honored to be in a beautiful, professional show with all of you-- not to mention all the great times we had in the studio. I was so glad to make friends with some of you who I had never even met before Professional Practice, and strengthen friendships through shared fatigue and delirium. Expect to hear from me!