Out with the Old

On my way to CBS!

All the Photography's we had to destroy :(

Another hard day at the office... Paula, our supervisor gave us the fun task of going through old folders. In the folders were old black and white photography's - negatives - and color slides of movies that CBS has shown on their network  in the early years.  

WE HAD TO RIP THEM APART! 

The first two folders I was still questioning if she was serious but she was .... Lucky for me, I was able to save / keep some prints and negatives.

Some of the Movies: E.T - Wizard of OZ - A League of Their Own -  Indiana Jones - JAWS - etc.

It's funny that to promote movies the network would just sent out a bunch of prints in the mail and now its all done by Email and digitally ....

Hands and Armatures!

This past week Anthony and I completed making the last molds for the Mother Theresa Sculpture, which were the hand and forearm sections. To make the molds we used a different type of silicone, hence the silver appearance in the pictures below. He also taught me how to make a clay shim wall, rather than a metal one like we previously had made with the other molds.


These are the hands before the silicone was applied. The darker clay is the original clay from the sculpture and the lighter clay is the clay shim wall we created in order to make two pieces for the mold.

The pictures below are the hands when we started applying the silicone to them. You apply the silicone in layers, waiting for each one to set before applying the next. 

 

This upcoming week we should be finishing up the molds for the hands and then painting wax in them in order for them to be ready for the foundry.

Anthony also started teaching me about armatures and basic points of anatomy. Here is a picture of a basic armature that would be for an 11" figure, which is the base on which clay is applied in order to make a sculpture.

More String to Come !

So to make things more efficient, we tried thinking of ways to get the string to be packed in tight on the wood. We were thinking the little sandwich ties but when we went on our shopping adventure we found some awesome pipe cleaners that did the job!! I cut each pipe cleaner about an inch and wrapped it down each set of strings into different lengths.  Now we can fit at least 3 spools worth of string on this puppy!

I seriously love how this picture looks so much !!! I'm a sucker for shine and glitter :)

Michele got a little pic of me ready to fall asleep after a long day of stringing! haha 

We are still working on the installation and we will be setting up August 25th in Greenwich CT !!!!! I am super excited to see how this will turn out and I will of course post some more pictures!! Make sure to save the date ! The opening is September 6th! Check out michelekishita.com for more information :) 

Lots of String !

So this is another section of the Installation that I have been stringing away at ! We have rolled up a couple yards worth of string onto card board and knotting each string to the wood. It's been a tedious job but we ended up really liking the way the cardboard looks and it almost made some sort of a bouquet ! This is not what the installation will look like but we had fun playing and seeing different things we could make ! We had to roll everything up because the string keeps getting into annoying knots. We think we solved the problem in the best way with this cardboard! We shall see what happens once we get to the gallery!

Thinking Ahead

Aside from all the studio work I have been doing for Michele, she has opened my eyes to observing nature and shapes around me.  I always favored portraits but now after being around Michele's work I am starting to fall in love with landscapes. Michele uses such abstract shapes and gorgeous colors to create abstract cloud and river like scenes.  Lately I am looking further into what is around me and maybe in the future I will use some of these delicate lines in my portraits ! Michele has taken me to different levels of thinking and I'm excited to put it to use this fall !!!

Flinn Gallery

Above is a picture of the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich CT!!!! We went to go check out the space and see where we will be installing the installation ! We took some measurements and we were able to see how long we have to measure each and every piece of string. It is a really lovely space located on the second floor of their huge library! It was all very exciting and everyone there was really nice! I even got to check out the current show there now before they set up for Water, Water Everywhere!

 That weekend Michele still kept me busy rolling string and measuring arms and arms lengths of string! While working on the installation Michele has been starting a set of new FANTASTIC paintings. Underneath is just the start of it.  I love all of Michele's techniques when it comes to drips, palette, and layering. She is truly amazing and so talented! I have been so lucky to work with her.  Not only have I been helping Michele but she has been helping me! Anything from writing an artist statement, learning new techniques, and how to get myself out there in the art world !

The Start of the Installation !

Michele was asked to do an installation at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich CT for their exhibition Water, Water Everywhere.  These pictures are just the beginning to a HUGE installation project. Michele's ideas are brilliant and she kept it simple and organic when picking supplies. The list consisted of white thin (but sturdy) string, fish weights, little hooks, and wood pieces to construct everything. We went shopping for everything and found hooks would be the best thing to hold the strings but we were in no luck to finding the perfect string or fish weights. Michele found some online and once they came in we got right to work !! We spent a lot of time cutting and rolling up strings.  It is a tedious but also sometimes relaxing process. The over all idea is to have a huge amount of string attached to each hook and to come down from the ceiling.  Each strings are supposed to represent the old traditions of warping and wefting but we are taking into our own hands with organic and ideal approaches.  We realized that it was going to be hard to keep these strings from tangling so we are cutting pieces of card board to wrap the strings onto. We ended up even liking what the cardboard was doing for the installation so much that it could be an idea for future work ! I had so much fun cooking up ideas and techniques to put this extravaganza together !