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We are Julia Sebastian and Christy Wittmer, artists living and working in and around Cincinnati, OH. We met while pursuing our Masters of Fine Art degrees from the University of Cincinnati. While immersed in art on a daily basis, we found that we share similar interests in material, both visually and experientially. After engaging in conversations that were steeped in playful exchanges of ideas, we quickly realized that we could develop a friendship and collaborative relationship that is built on honest critiquing, critical thinking, and laughter.
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| Unbecoming by Julia Sebastian |
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| Capillary Action by Christy Wittmer |
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| Capillary Action, detail |
Our first collaborative venture was a conference talk that explored the varied ways texture seduces and curates the viewer’s interaction with an artwork. We believe deeply in the ability of material to transport the viewer into a world that recalibrates their sensibilities and provides a reprieve from the routines and monotony of everyday life.
After successfully merging our individual research for our conference talk, we decided to undertake a collaborative sculpture that combined our different studio practices. At the time, Christy was making a herd of impractical porcelain tables and was using plaster and various other sculptural components in concert with re-purposed materials to construct precarious sculptures that challenge the physics of gravity while inviting the viewer to carefully explore the unexpected relationships between disparate materials.
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| Porcelain and Concrete by Christy Wittmer |
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| Porcelain and Concrete, detail |
Julia was working on foam sculptures that combined various textures to create abstract bodies that encompassed various states of material creation and deterioration.These bodies contrasted unruly materials with carefully layered felt strips or segments of neat color, challenging a broad range of material to coexist within one sculpture.
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| Unbecoming 2 by Julia Sebastian |
Together we combined Christy’s porcelain table legs and plaster pedestal with Julia’s foam and layered strips of felt to create the work there there. Approaching this work, the viewer finds it transfixed in a moment of instability. Leaning, ungainly and awkward this sculpture evokes empathy in its failed attempt to find its footing.
We visited the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio together to further our discussion and consideration of texture by examining how artists throughout history have formally engaged texture, color, and surface treatment. During our visit we were struck by a set of plates, entitled Ruby Black Plate with Quails and Chrysanthemums, Qing dynasty, c 1730.
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| Ruby Black Plate with Quails and Chrysanthemums, detail, Qing Dynasty, c. 1730 |
Using these plates as a springboard we will create a three-dimensional installation that physically transports the viewer into a world of delicately seductive color, patterns and textures. This creative referential dream space will evoke a new and vital relationship between the viewer and the installation that thrives on personal investigation and constant discovery in a space saturated with texture and color.
We proposed this idea to the Banff Centre, a highly regarded residency program in Canada and were selected for the Banff Late Winter Intensive Residency. This program will provide us the time and space to create the components of our installation within a community of experienced artists and curators and to get feedback that will enable us to compose a truly transportive environment. Our time at Banff will also provide the opportunity to forge relationships that foster critical feedback and lasting artistic dialogue.
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| Kinnear Center for Creativity and Innovation, Banff Centre, photo used with permission |
What the residency doesn’t provide is the materials needed to create an installation of about 10 by 10 by 8 feet. We also need to get the materials to a location in remote Canada and then ship the finished pieces home, a distance of 2,000 miles each way.
As soon as we arrive at the Banff Centre, we will begin using foam to create armatures for our giant quails, which we will meticulously cover in variety of feathers. These quail will occupy a space covered in hand painted wallpaper that will mirror the pattern and color found in the plates’ borders. Sculpted rocks and flowers will add lushness to the landscape.
We are excited by the opportunity to create a transportive environment that immerses the viewer in ornate patterned walls while they navigate the textured world of our abstracted human-sized quail!
