As promised, here is my post on the Yuma Presenters this year... I am only posting on the presenters whose lectures I actually went to. Unfortunately they schedule them to overlap, so you have to pick and choose. These are the artists I chose to see...
James Thurman is currently a professor at Penn State University. He creates wearable and sculptural pieces out of laminated paper. He calls his technique "Mokume Kami" or wood grain paper, made to look like the traditional metalworking technique Mokume Gane.
His work "contains both actual and metaphoric relationships to ideas of recycling and sustainability. The paper involved has been directly recycled as new objects. What is created emphasizes its origins both literally and conceptually: vessels of recycled material that embody the principles of sustainability. The largest gain from this process is not the physical reduction of landfill, but the infiltration of these ideas through unconventional and unexpected channels."
Check out his flickr.
Or his website.
Tedd McDonah is a metalsmith who lives in Tempe, AZ but would rather live in Wisconsin. He is currently a professor in the Metals Department at Arizona State University. 
Tedd says this about his work,
"Taking a cross-section of American culture and modifying it with my own hypocrisy, cynicism, and aesthetic is the best way to describe what goes into my work. As today's fishing tackle manufacturers crank out their "up-to-date, high-tech, fish-catching, signature-series," there is simultaneously a brand of people (myself included), who are snatching up and collecting antique fishing lures, and to them, the older and more rare, the better. It used to be these lures were meant to catch fish, but now they seem to be lures for people rather than lures for fish.
My approach to making lures has covered both aspects: people lures, and fishing lures. Bringing these two elements together has allowed me to make a seemingly utilitarian object.
The "jewelryesque" type lures have been inspired by both jewelry and spinner baits which have been cross-bred to produce this object which was not meant to be worn--or fished with.
The plugs, or top water lures, appear to be more straightforward. I chose to use traditional materials (wood and metal) and nontraditional materials (found objects).
While the majority of the pieces in the exhibition were formally influenced by actual lures, some are of my own invention.
And finally, to answer the most asked question......Yes, they do catch fish."
His work "contains both actual and metaphoric relationships to ideas of recycling and sustainability. The paper involved has been directly recycled as new objects. What is created emphasizes its origins both literally and conceptually: vessels of recycled material that embody the principles of sustainability. The largest gain from this process is not the physical reduction of landfill, but the infiltration of these ideas through unconventional and unexpected channels."
Check out his flickr.
Or his website.
Tedd McDonah is a metalsmith who lives in Tempe, AZ but would rather live in Wisconsin. He is currently a professor in the Metals Department at Arizona State University. Tedd says this about his work,"Taking a cross-section of American culture and modifying it with my own hypocrisy, cynicism, and aesthetic is the best way to describe what goes into my work. As today's fishing tackle manufacturers crank out their "up-to-date, high-tech, fish-catching, signature-series," there is simultaneously a brand of people (myself included), who are snatching up and collecting antique fishing lures, and to them, the older and more rare, the better. It used to be these lures were meant to catch fish, but now they seem to be lures for people rather than lures for fish.
My approach to making lures has covered both aspects: people lures, and fishing lures. Bringing these two elements together has allowed me to make a seemingly utilitarian object.
The "jewelryesque" type lures have been inspired by both jewelry and spinner baits which have been cross-bred to produce this object which was not meant to be worn--or fished with.
The plugs, or top water lures, appear to be more straightforward. I chose to use traditional materials (wood and metal) and nontraditional materials (found objects).
While the majority of the pieces in the exhibition were formally influenced by actual lures, some are of my own invention.
And finally, to answer the most asked question......Yes, they do catch fish."
Check out his flickr.
And his blog.
Elliot Pujol is currently the metals professor at KSU. 
He creates forms, usually in copper, that are loaded with texture and folds. His wall pieces and vessels are a beautiful combination of texture, color and form.
Michael Hosaluk is a wood sculptor and turner living and working in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
(This image taken from functionart.com)
Michael says about his work,
"My love of woodworking is not only for the beauty and mystery of the material, but in the inventing of new techniques and processes to create objects.The materials I use relate to the objects I make. At times, a piece of salvaged wood will become a starting point of design. Other times, a design will call for a piece of wood with incredible grain. Using plain wood, like birch allows me to approach the object as a three dimensional canvas. Here, I can apply a variety of surface design techniques to express an idea.My work tells stories from my life, places I’ve been, people I’ve met, architecture, our environment. These stories are interwoven into the objects I create. Craft goes beyond the pleasure of our senses and deals not only with aesthetics, but our social and ideological lives.Fascination with how turned forms can be manipulated keeps me excited about future possibilities related to woodturning."
"My love of woodworking is not only for the beauty and mystery of the material, but in the inventing of new techniques and processes to create objects.The materials I use relate to the objects I make. At times, a piece of salvaged wood will become a starting point of design. Other times, a design will call for a piece of wood with incredible grain. Using plain wood, like birch allows me to approach the object as a three dimensional canvas. Here, I can apply a variety of surface design techniques to express an idea.My work tells stories from my life, places I’ve been, people I’ve met, architecture, our environment. These stories are interwoven into the objects I create. Craft goes beyond the pleasure of our senses and deals not only with aesthetics, but our social and ideological lives.Fascination with how turned forms can be manipulated keeps me excited about future possibilities related to woodturning."
(These images taken from Del Mano Gallery)
Dana Moore is currently Director of Programs at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Her work focuses on historic processes and she often takes found photographs and alters them to narrate her own personal life experiences. 
Unfortunately I could not find any of of her work online, and the only image I have of her work is terrible quality. I absolutely LOVED Danas work. She was probably my favorite presenter this year...her talk was very honest and eloquent and her work was so beautiful and personal. If you ever get the chance to see it...I highly recommend taking that chance!
James Viste is a blacksmith living and working in Detroit. Sorry for the poor quality images, this was all I could find online, but his work is really beautifully textured containers.
Other presenters that I wasn't able to see were the following:
Jim Romberg-Ceramics
Greg MacGregor-Photography
Nancy Worden- Metals
Mardis Nenno- Ceramics
James Todd- Printmaking
Sarah Whorf- Printmaking
Stephani Stephenson- Ceramics
Matthew Herbet- Furniture
Allen Dutton- Photography
Daniella Woolf- Painting/Sculpture
The Yuma Symposium is AWESOME. I love going every year and the presenters are always amazing. It is such a good time and I highly recommend it to anyone!
1 comments:
Having been a part of the Online Universal Work Marketing team for 4 months now, I’m thankful for my fellow team members who have patiently shown me the ropes along the way and made me feel welcome
www.onlineuniversalwork.com
Post a Comment