About Ms. Blais
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
In my studio classroom, students will be able to learn about a work-flow that they may not experience in other classes. It will be fluid, the students and I will move around the room to gather materials, visual resources, and give each other feedback. It is my hope that there will be an understanding that it is a reciprocal environment. In my teaching I hope to model that struggle in the studio is an inevitable circumstance, not an obstruction. One-on-one conversations allow me to empathize with students’ creative problems, and encourage them to move forward. As student-artists, they are carefully considering the direction of their work, and when a question arises about a visual element or curious process, my class will give students the skills to justify their creative decisions with confidence. It is no small feat to try and understand the structures and language of art. My hope is for students to see how language, observation and thinking through the lens of art can relate to their lives. ARTIST AT WORK As well as being an educator, I am also finding ways to maintain my personal art practice. This involves seeking out resources to enhance the work I contribute to my field. I visit museums and galleries, attend lectures and read about topics related to the concepts I am working with. In addition to staying informed, of course I also dedicate time to the "making" part of the process. My work explores the miscommunications that occur between men and women. I observe and inhabit a world in which violating words can be said to a woman that threaten her personal safety. I am investigating the ways words are used, absorbed and internalized and how they influence troublesome behavior against women. [email protected]
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WHAT I'M READING, SINCE MOST MUSEUMS ARE CLOSED!
STUDIO LIFE: RITUALS, COLLECTIONS, TOOLS, AND OBSERVATIONS
ON THE ARTISTIC PROCESS Sarah Trigg I am really excited to dive into this book. I know that I can channel my creative energy into bringing something new into the world during this very uncertain time. Reading about the lesser known elements of artists' processes will help guide me! It can feel like there is no direction and no end to what is going on, but I will be moving through this time with art! (And yoga!) From the Introduction: "I often refer to this approach as anthropological. My intention for the project has been to provide a platform where artists can share objects and situations within their daily practices that are often obscured from public view. At the time of this printing, I have visited more than two hundred artists, and this book documents a selection of visits to one hundred artists in the United States |
ART EXHIBITS I'VE VISITED "RECENTLY"
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PUBLIC ART ON THE GREENWAY
Recently I visited the many works of Public art on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. It is something that I have always done periodically, because the artworks are constantly changing, and I have yet to include those walks from South Station to North Station in my recently viewed exhibits! It was particularly special because, similar to the deCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA, it is one of the few places you can go to have a personal experience with art right now. I will be editing a video of my stroll down the Greenway and posting it here soon! For more information about the current art pieces, click here! https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/art/ MASSART ART MUSEUM GRAND OPENING! I was so excited to visit the newly renovated MassArt Art Museum! When I attended Mass Art it had the largest free contemporary art space in the area called the Bakalar & Paine Galleries. They have made some amazing improvements to the space and are reopening in February! I didn't take pictures because it was very crowded, and it was hard to get good quality images of the work without people walking by. I intend to go back once the MassArt campus re-opens. They have a great Instagram account, where I grabbed these pictures from because it is still not open. https://maam.massart.edu/ https://www.instagram.com/maamboston/ LOVE IS CALLING Yayoi Kusama Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston An icon of contemporary art, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Matsumoto, Japan) has interwoven ideas of pop art, minimalism, and psychedelia throughout her work in paintings, performances, room-size presentations, outdoor sculptural installations, literary works, films, design, and architectural interventions over her long and influential career. This kaleidoscopic Infinity Mirror Room is composed of a darkened, mirrored room illuminated by inflatable, tentacle-like forms—covered in the artist’s characteristic polka dots—that extend from the floor and ceiling, gradually changing colors. As visitors walk throughout the installation, a sound recording of Kusama reciting a love poem in Japanese plays continuously. Written by the artist, the poem’s title translates to Residing in a Castle of Shed Tears in English. Exploring enduring themes including life and death, the poem poignantly expresses Kusama’s hope to spread a universal message of love through her art. |
OLDER (BUT NOTEWORTHY) ART EXCURSIONS!
Ansel Adams: In Our Time
Museum of Fine Arts Boston “Ansel Adams in Our Time” traces the iconic visual legacy of Ansel Adams (1902–1984), ... The exhibition looks both backward and forward in time: his black-and-white photographs are displayed alongside prints by several of the 19th-century government survey photographers who greatly influenced Adams, as well as work by contemporary artists whose modern-day concerns centered on the environment, land rights, and the use and misuse of natural resources point directly to Adams’ legacy." |
Love Language: A Solo Exhibition of Elle DioGuardi
Elle DioGuardi is a conceptual artist & photographer living in Boston, MA. Originally from Illinois, she has a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University, with a focus on text art, installation, photography, and gender studies. Elle works primarily with mirrors, both new and found, by etching into the back side surface of the mirrors. Elle also uses text, both with these mirrors and in the public sphere. She also has a background in photography and works as a professional photographer as well as a studio assistant. |
MY NEXT STOP (HOPEFULLY!):
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The Polaroid Project: At the Intersection of Art and Technology
MIT Museum March 7 - June 21 I am hoping this exhibit gets extended so more can access it, but obviously the original dates have already passed. Curious about the options (or lack of options) Museums have in extended their exhibit dates under these circumstances... In its heyday, Polaroid and its products were loved by millions of amateurs and embraced by countless professionals. ThePolaroidProject tells the fascinating and instructive story of the Polaroid company, and presents all aspects of Polaroid photography, including the technology that made it possible. After traveling around the world, this critically acclaimed exhibition stops at the MIT Museum, approximately a block from where instant film was first invented. This unique exhibition explores various dimensions of the art-technology relationship through the exhibition of both art and artifacts. Featured will be over 250 original works by 175 artists, including Ansel Adams, Chuck Close, Barbara Crane, Harold Edgerton, Walker Evans, Hans Hansen, David Hockney, Dennis Hopper, Gyorgy Kepes, Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and William Wegman. The exhibition also showcases more than 75 artifacts--including cameras, prototypes, experimental films and other technical materials--from the MIT Museum’s own historic Polaroid collection. |
ART EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT:
In November 2019 I attended the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) Conference in Beverly, MA! I connected with old friends in the field and learned from amazing art educators from all over Massachusetts. The MAEA Conference will be held virtually this year, so I look forward to the possibility of "attending" that as well! |