MOTION-CONTACTO. SFA ScholarWorks. Stephen F. Austin State University. Gabriela A. Hijar Stephen F Austin State University,

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1 Stephen F. Austin State University SFA ScholarWorks Electronic Theses and Dissertations MOTION-CONTACTO Gabriela A. Hijar Stephen F Austin State University, hijargabriela@gmail.com Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Repository Citation Hijar, Gabriela A., "MOTION-CONTACTO" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact cdsscholarworks@sfasu.edu.

2 MOTION-CONTACTO Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This thesis is available at SFA ScholarWorks:

3 MOTION-CONTACTO By GABRIELA HIJAR, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Stephen F. Austin State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY May, 2018

4 MOTION-CONTACTO By GABRIELA HIJAR, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts APPROVED: Piero Fenci, M.F.A. Exhibition Director David Lewis, Ph.D. Committee Member Candace Hicks M.F.A. Committee Member Brad Meyer M.F.A. Committee Member Pauline Sampson, Ph.D. Dean of Research and Graduate Studies

5 ABSTRACT Motion-Contacto is an exhibition of fourteen interactive ceramic sculptures and one video. The title references movement with the word Motion and the act of touching with the Spanish word Contacto. Viewers can play with the pieces and create sounds. The colors and organic shapes of the objects invite the public to approach and touch them. The sounds produced by interacting with the work will entice the viewers to explore the possibilities of physical interaction. i

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I need to thank all the people who have helped me survive these past three years. First to my beautiful family- my parents created such a wonderful and warm home that it has been so difficult to be away. My brother and my sisters are always trying to help me in everything I need, and I could never have done it without their support. My mom always says that I am the one with the biggest wings because I have always wanted to fly further away from her nest. However, I do not think this is true. It is rather because I know I have a safe and warm nest to come back to when things get ugly that I am able to fly high. When I started kindergarten, I used to complain to my mom and ask her; Why do you send me to school when I am very comfy here at home with you? She says that is the best compliment she has ever received. But then she sent me to school anyway, and eventually I liked it enough to go to graduate school My dad is the person with the biggest heart in the world. He is the most generous and unselfish man. He worries about everyone except for himself. He had a hard time this year as he was hospitalized the week before spring break ii

7 I was going crazy here and I wanted to be there for him, but my family told me that I should stay. My sisters and my brother, who also live away from my parents and are very busy, went to help my mom with everything. I felt so lucky to have such an amazing family, and guilty at the same time for not being there for them. I remember the sculpture I was working on that awful week; it took me hours and hours to achieve the texture I wanted for the surface, and every little dot of blue stain helped me remain calm. Now every time I see that work I see my dad. I named it Mi Chiquita, which is what he calls me, and means my little one. I hope I can make my family proud of me, the same way I am always proud of them. Needless to say, none of this would be possible without all the help from my big angel Piero and his wife Liz. He is the person responsible for my ending up here at SFA, and he never once left me alone, and always had my back with everything including guys, paperwork, house, therapy, bank, friendship, coffee, pizza, rainy days, and the list goes on and on I feel very happy to be his daughter/student. To the rest of my committee, I am so glad to have you. Doctor Lewis opened my brain so much with all the history classes I took with him. Candace with her always correct advice made the process so much easier for me, and it was a wonderful experience to work with Brad. iii

8 To my beautiful Mexican family here: Alejandra, Elena, Rogelio, Rogelito and Olivia. They adopted me from the moment I arrived, and never left me alone. For that I will always be thankful. To my grad student family: Sharon, Jimmy Don and Sherry, Erik, Alex, Javier, Bailey, Korey, Jeremy. I am proud of being part of this great generation of artists. To my best friends: Alejandra, Angelica, Gracia, Rubi, Isabel and Fabian for always being there for me. To Chris Talbot and all my professors here at SFA. I cannot name you all, but each one of you have helped me so much. Thank you for always being willing to lend me a hand, for all your patience, and for always pushing me to be better. iv

9 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...ii LIST OF FIGURES...vi INTRODUCTION ARTISTIC INFLUENCES EVA HILD....3 GUSTAVO PEREZ ALEXANDER CALDER ANISH KAPOOR JUDY CHICAGO INTERACTION ORGANIC FEMALE FORMS THE PROCESS...9 THE WORK THE VIDEO REFERENCES...29 VITA..30 v

10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Slab formed in a plaster mold...9 Figure 2. Hollow construction of forms...9 Figure 3. Stoneware with underglaze. View I..10 Figure 4. Stoneware with underglaze. View Il.. 10 Figure 5. Cone 6 stoneware..10 Figure 6. Cone 10 stoneware...11 Figure 7. Internalized space I.13 Figure 8. Internalized space II Figure 9. Internalized space III..15 Figure 10. Internalized space III. View II..15 Figure11. Internalized space IV. 16 Figure12. Internalized space IV. View II.. 16 Figure 13 Internalized space V..17 Figure 14 Internalized space V. View II 17. Figure 15. Yellow necklace...18 Figure 16. Yellow necklace. View II..18 Figure 17. Mi Chiquita.19 vi

11 Figure 18. Chubby Figure 19. Pink obsession Figure 20. Womb Figure 21. Blue seeds 23 Figure 22. Blue seeds. View II. 23 Figure 23. Feel the beat Figure 24. Feel the beat, View II Figure 25. Winter season. 25 Figure 26. Winter season. View II 25 Figure 27. Temperament...26 Figure 28. Temperament. View II.26 Figure 29. Shot of the video. View I 27 Figure 30. Shot of the video. View II...27 Figure 31. Shot of the video. View III Figure 32. Shot of the video. View IV..27 vii

12 INTRODUCTION With Motion-Contacto I wanted to express the movement and the act of touching the work, including a Spanish word easy for English speakers to pronounce and guess the meaning. The surface treatment and organic shapes of the work invite the public to approach and touch the objects. I feel deeply connected to organic forms. I m always revisiting them, constantly fighting between complicated and simple shapes and seeking a balance between them. For the last two years I have experimented with abstract and organic shapes to see which ones I find most comfortable to touch, and which ones produce a different sound quality. Why sound? When I had my first experience working with clay I started to realize that once the work is dry I could tell how thin or thick the wall was by tapping lightly and hearing if the sound it produced signified thinner or thicker walls. It was through the manipulation of the materials that the sound qualities were discovered. Even though my work is mostly in clay I also experimented with large and small metal forms to see what sounds were produced when the materials and the forms varied. It is not the musicality of sound that interests me the most but the interaction with the public. The fact that my sculptures can be touched is a crucial 1

13 component of my work. The haptic quality is important to me because I want the textures to invite the viewers to feel the work. The intention of the work is that the viewer receive a sensorial experience in addition to a visual hit. Touching and listening creates a more intimate connection with the work. Viewers are invited to explore what sounds result from physical interaction, but only if they choose to touch the work. Because of that it is very important to me that the work is visually strong enough to stand by itself, and then the sound part adds a playful element. For the exhibition I worked with different sizes to create variety. All the sculptures have a sound but only when a person moves them. The larger pieces are not meant to be lifted but to be moved in circles to get the proper sound experience, and the smaller pieces can be actually picked up to be played. It was important to make a video to show the viewers how they might play with the work if they choose to. If they don t choose to touch, the video approximates the experience. The surface of each piece was achieved with diverse techniques and always with contrasting and playful colors. I experimented with gloss as opposed to matte finishes, color planes against textured surfaces, and also different expressive lines that suggested movement in the work. 2

14 ARTISTIC INFLUENCES I am inspired by the work of many sculptors, not only ceramists, in form and color. The following are the ones I consider the most important visual influences for my current work. Eva Hild Eva Hild is a ceramist born in Switzerland. She evokes a feeling of peace and calm with her sculptures. She is an exceptional artist. Her work is beautiful and pure, and her organic forms are full of movement. Her process of making her work fascinates me. She builds every piece focusing on the balance of positive and negative space, making the surface perfectly smooth. I feel deeply connected to her shapes but not so much to her color choices, as she works mostly with black and white. Gustavo Perez Gustavo Perez is one of the most important Mexican ceramists. His work has influenced me since I was an undergraduate student. Perez constantly experiments with a variety of organic shapes. He uses repetition as a starting point and then makes small changes. Each work is unique but still part of a group. In his repetition evokes a musical rhythm celebrating high notes and low notes in a symphony of visual elements. 3

15 Alexander Calder Alexander Calder introduced the element of movement in sculpture, abandoning the stability of traditional sculpture and adding the variable of time. Also, his use of bright primary colors inspires my work. He creates a vivid interplay of visual elements. His mobiles are fun and playful with a delicate balance. Anish Kapoor I am mesmerized by the way he uses so many different materials to express himself always in a large scale, constantly working with the juxtaposition of complexity and simplicity, and saturation and repetition as opposed to minimalism and elegance. He is not afraid of using colors and taking advantage of walls to enhance the impact of his work. He said about his work: When I first showed my work, I was often written off as a woman artist. My name s ambiguous enough. And there is something in the work, of course. I m always interested in roundness, dark womb spaces, interiors. Judy Chicago Judy Chicago s work inspires and overwhelms me at the same time. Her most famous work, The Dinner Party, is for me very loud. I think she had to be loud so people could hear her. This work honors women who were ignored in 4

16 human history. It took her five years to complete the thirty-nine plates, each one celebrating a woman she admired. These talk to me on so many levels as a woman, as an artist, as a ceramist, and as a feminist. 5

17 Interaction The fact that the work can and should be manipulated is important for me. Combining sculpture with sound creates another sensory stimulus so that viewers can enjoy a surprising new experience. The work is interactive in the sense that if viewers touch each piece they produce a sound, hence the desire to make a series of interactive sculptures where the work is completed at the moment it is played, breaking the barrier of the unreachable pedestal, and getting rid of the formality it entails. Umberto Eco in his book The Open Work discusses the way art can be only completed by the viewer. That is exactly what I want to do with my work. Organic female forms I have been drawn to organic forms since I established the freedom of doing what I wanted to do, and no longer what my professors wanted me to do. Female reproductive imagery fascinates me. The resemblances of my work to a vagina was clear from the beginning, but surprisingly not so clear to others. At first, I didn t bother to explain what the vaginal images meant to me; it was my little secret. I wanted to give people freedom and not limit the viewers to just my interpretation. I hesitated a lot about openly explaining the connotation of my forms as I didn t want to reduce my work to one single concept, and certainly didn t want to compete with all the formative history of feminist art. 6

18 As my forms became more and more obvious what surprised me the most when I explained that they were all female reproductive forms was the negative reaction of many people to the word vagina. They liked the shapes of my pieces until I told them they had something to do with that word. They would frown and ask why? Some people said that vaginas are not pretty. Why do you want to do something like that? Most of these bad reactions were from men, but also some women, although most women s reactions were positive and encouraging. These reactions made me question some things. First, why do so many people feel uncomfortable with the word vagina? What makes a vagina pretty? Why did their perception of my abstract forms change when I explained what they represented? But the more bad reactions I got, the more I wanted to keep doing it. At first, I didn t understand how making forms with the shape of vulvas would make me look feminist. Female and feminism are certainly not the same, but people often confuse those terms. For me they were just beautiful shapes that I enjoyed making that represented a wonderful celebration of life. And it was also my own little secret. I realize now that the feminist action is not the fact of making these forms but the act of saying that word and attaching it to an image. Judy Chicago said in her book Through the Flower: women artists have used the central cavity which defines them as women as the framework for an 7

19 imagery which allows for the complete reversal of the way in which women are seen in culture. That is: to be a woman is to be an object of contempt and the vagina, stamp of femaleness, is despised. (pp, 143) It is sad for me that these words which were written more than thirty years ago are still so true. That is the reason I want to use my work to start a conversation and keep asking why. 8

20 PROCESS Clay body The clay I used for all my work is a cone 10 white stoneware, designed to mature at 2350 F. The formula is: GoldArt 42.5% Fireclay 42.5% Ball Clay 10% Custer Feldspar 5% Grog 3% (of the 100%) Depending on what surface I desired, some sculptures were fired to cone 10, some up to cone 6 and some to cone 06. Building Process I used various techniques as I built each sculpture, including slabs over plaster molds, and coils. The smaller sculptures were made solid, then cut in a half to make them hollow, and then put back together. All the closed forms have a structure inside made of coils and little balls of clay in different sizes. 9

21 The internal structure creates different sounds because the little balls roll around inside as you move the work. These little projections in the inside of every sculpture create the sound effect of rain. I experimented with different sizes, thicknesses, and spaces in between the projections, and with different sizes of the little balls of clay. Fig. 1. Slab formed in a plaster mold Fig. 2. Hollow construction of form Surface treatment I worked with three different surface treatments: 1. Amaco Velvet underglazes and the underglaze pencil of the same brand. This required three firings, one for the first layer of color, one for the pencil lines, and one more for the last color where I put wax first with a brush and then applied the underglaze. Because of the wax resist the underglaze only went to the parts without wax, creating an interesting texture. 10

22 Fig. 3. Stoneware with underglaze Fig.4. View II 2. Mason stain applied with a tooth brush. I used mason stain mix with a matte glaze. The recipe for the Egg matte glaze I found in John Britt s book Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cones 4-7. I mixed 50% glaze and 50% mason stain and then added water until the glaze had a creamy consistency. I then soaked the brush in the glaze and shook the brush to apply the glaze on to the surface creating a texture with little dots of color. Fig.5. Cone 6 stoneware 11

23 3. Sanded Acrylic layers. Fig.6. Cone 10 stoneware After I fired the work to cone 10 I applied one layer of acrylic color and let it dry for a day. I applied more layers going from brighter to darker colors. I then let all the layers dry and sanded the surface to expose the colors underneath. 12

24 THE WORK I decided to show fourteen sculptures in the exhibition- five small ones, four medium ones, and five big ones. The decision was made based on which ones I determined to be the most successful in sound and color. 13

25 Internalized space I Fig Cone 06 Stoneware, 7in x 6in x 3in. 14

26 Internalized space II Fig. 8. Cone 10 Stoneware, 6.5in x 5in x 3in. 15

27 Internalized space III Fig. 9. Cone 10 Stoneware, 7in x 7in x 3in. Fig. 10. Internalized space III. View II 16

28 Internalized space IV Fig, Cone 10 Stoneware, 5in x 8in x 2in. Fig, 12., View II 17

29 Internalized space V Fig Cone 10 Stoneware, 6.5in x 6in x 2.5in. Fig. 14. View II 18

30 Yellow necklace Fig Cone 6 Stoneware, 21in x 12in x 4in. Fig View II. 19

31 Mi Chiquita Fig Cone 6 Stoneware, 14in x 16in x 11in. 20

32 Chubby Fig Cone 10 Stoneware, 17in x 15in x 10in. 21

33 Pink obsession Fig, Cone 10 stoneware, 15in x 14in x 10.5in. 22

34 Womb Fig Cone 6 Stoneware, 12in x 12in x 12in. 23

35 Blue seeds Fig Cone 6 Stoneware, 10in x 19in x 10in. Fig. 22. View II 24

36 Feel the beat Fig. 23., Cone 10 Stoneware, 10in x 18in x 7in. Fig View II 25

37 Winter season Fig, Cone 06 Stoneware, 12in x 16in x 12.5in. Fig View II. 26

38 Temperament Fig. 27., Cone 6 Stoneware, 11.5in x 17in x 7in. Fig. 28. View II 27

39 THE VIDEO The video shows how to play with the work to hear the sound each piece produces. Fig. 29. Shot of the video. View I. Fig. 30. Shot of the video. View II. Fig. 31. Shot of the video. View III. Fig. 32. Shot of the video. View IV, 28

40 REFERENCES Cushing, Val M. "A Compilation of Papers Concerning Glazes, Glaze Calculations & Formulation, Clay Bodies, Raw Materials with Clay Body, Slip and Glaze Formulas, Firing, Pottery Making Tips and Other Useful Information. Cushing s Handbook, 3rd ed., New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Rhodes, Daniel, and Robin Hopper. Clay and Glazes for the Potter. 3rd ed., Iola: Krause Publications, Hall, Barry. From Mud to Music: Making and Enjoying Ceramic Musical Instruments. The American Ceramic Society Westerville, Ohio.2006 Chicago, Judy. Through the flower: my struggle as a woman artist. Anchor Books Edition Eco, Umberto. Opera aperta. English translation: The Open Work,1989 Britt, John, Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cones 4-7, Lark Ceramics Books, 2014 Anish Kapoor 29

41 VITA Gabriela Hijar EDUCATION 2015 Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX MFA Candidate, Ceramics Major and Metals Minor Expected Graduation August Chihuahua State University. Chihuahua, Mexico Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture TEACHING EXPERIENCE Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX Graduate Assistant, Ceramics Teacher of Record: Art 250 Ceramics I EXHIBITS 2017 Cameo Emerging Artist Show, San Jacinto College Central Gallery, Pasadena, TX WORKSHOPS 2017 Sound Sculpture Workshop, Chihuahua State University, Chihuahua, Mexico. 30