rcoffmanart

112 E Palmetto Ave

112 E Palmetto Ave

Off white cotton fabric, blue embroidery thread, clay

3" x 2" x 2"

112 E Palmetto Ave reflects my memories of the house my grandma lived in when I was young. I wanted to honor my grandma's memory with this piece and recreate the sensorial associations I have with her home. The title of this piece is the street address of her house, where I spent nearly every weekend for my entire childhood. The shape of the pouch was inspired by my grandma's beaded cigarette cases, which I filled with heavy little clay spheres instead of cigarettes to represent the weight of her dependence on nicotine. I knew I wanted to include sewing because of the time I spent in my grandma's craft room full of fabric scraps, lace trims, and a sewing machine. I embroidered the pouch because of the many embroidery projects she made for me as she sat in her living room watching a game show on television and burning a cigarette. The repeating patterns on the bag and on the spheres symbolize the predictable flow of weekends I spent at her house. The blue thread and white fabric were inspired by the blue and white plates she had in her kitchen. Finally, the nine spheres represent each decade of her life, and the terracotta they resemble is for the countless clay pots of bromeliads on her back porch.

Indies Blue plate pattern by Johnson Brothers

https://www.replacements.com/china-johnson-brothers-indies-blue/c/45696

Vintage cigarette case by Whiting and Davis

https://madgeshatbox.com/product/vintage-cigarette-case-by-whiting-and-davis-black-sequins/

Romance for Roses, James Himsworth

https://www.ecrater.com/p/2417664/romance-for-roses-designed-by-james?gps=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwuqiiBhBtEiwATgvixGrA-TPt0PQsuBN1GnWFAORt3ptlzp2UGiXzxGF_D_U27cIL4R53mhoCY-0QAvD_BwE

Visual Symbols

Business Fish

Air dry clay, Winsor and Newton inks

Approx. 5" x 3" x 2"

Center of Attention

Air dry clay and Winsor and Newton inks

Approx. 5" x 2" x 3"

The sculpture entitled Business Fish was inspired by my feelings towards capitalism and hustle culture. My intention in this piece is to visually communicate the dehumanizing nature of the corporate world. The little fish guy represents how individuals are packed into offices like sardines and his little suit communicates the business setting. The skull signifies that this type of lifestyle is poison to us all. It also serves as a reminder that our time is limited- we should strive to truly live our lives instead of acting as machines in a monotonous cycle of work and sleep. While I did try to keep the tone lighter with the actual art style of the fish, I wanted to focus on the poison aspect because I feel strongly that 9-5 jobs are not what humans are meant to do. I want to keep exploring this theme in the future with other mediums.

The sculpture entitled Center of Attention was inspired by my own struggles with self-consciousness and the fear of others perceiving me. My intent is to visually communicate the anxiety of feeling watched and judged. The eyes surrounding the figure represent the inescapable nature of imagined perception. The figure lies on the ground, folding in on herself with nowhere to go. The most difficult aspect of this piece was the color choice, but I settled on a gradient of shadow overtaking the figure to represent all-consuming insecurity. This piece allowed me to explore my own anxiety more deeply and I intend to continue this theme in my work as well.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EyeMotifs

"When eyes turn up in a symbolic role, they are normally linked to themes of perception, vigilance, and, occasionally, psychic powers. On a more ominous level, eyes can be linked to deception, illusion, secret societies holding forbidden eye-opening knowledge, and/or being under constant surveillance."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skull_symbolism

"Humans typically note the skull and crossbones sign as the almost universal symbol for toxicity."

https://learnenglishwithdemi.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/packed-like-sardines/

"In English it’s called as “packed like sardines” (also “packed in like sardines”). This idiom is used to describe an extremely crowded place; to be in a crowded space. It comes from the way that sardines – the small cured fish – are tightly packed and sealed in tin cans. Example: I always use subway to work and it’s packed in like sardines during rush hour."