Ariel Steele

 Artist Talks Lightner Museum Walkthrough Library Display- Drawing, Ecology, and Creative Writing I sadly cannot find the picture I took at the show presenting the collaboration between an Ecology class, a Creative Writing class, and the Drawing and Composition II class. An Ecology class created a field journal with hand-drawn images of their findings. A Drawing and Composition II class read two books and created images based on what they had read. At the talk, excerpts were read by the authors, Kim Bradley and Ben Atkinson of their books, Spillway and Spider Lightning.  These drawings and field journals were displayed in cases on the first floor of the Proctor Library. To conclude the Talk, students from a Creative Writing course read their papers to the visitors.

Visual Symbols Rose Wedding : Air Dry Clay, Ink, Gold Acrylic Paint Tulip A Day : Air Dry Clay, Pink Acrylic Paint, Ink Details In Progress Picture Artist Statement The two sculptures made of clay, Rose Wedding   and A Tulip A Day, symbolize love, yet they symbolize love in different aspects. Rose Wedding incorporates gold wedding bands, hearts, and chocolate into the piece by sitting on a wedding dress train that is attached to a feminine physique with rose thorns erupting from her body. This work symbolizes romantic love: wedding bands to represent "till death do us part," chocolates to represent Valentine's Day as they are a common gift to give partners, and hearts to represent the love as a whole. In A Tulip A Day, the use of the specific pink tulip flower as a head symbolizes love towards friends and family rather than towards a romantic partner. One of the hearts for the eyes represent friends while the other represents family. With these sculptures, I wanted them t...

A Natural History of the Senses Relief Sculpture Brown Yarn, White Yarn, Maroon Yarn, Various Shades of Brown/Tan Cardstock, Foam Board, Tracing Paper, Gel Medium, Hot Glue, Masking Tape 14in. x 1in. x 18in. Detail Pictures In Progress Pictures  Artist Statement The relief = sculpture explores the sense of touch. I based my work on the work of Diane Ackerman's Natural History of the Senses book, specifically from the "First Touch" chapter. Basically, the chapter is about how important touch is for a newborn baby, hence the push for parents to hold their baby, skin to skin, right after they are born. Based on the information from the chapter, I decided to use paper coils, that were inspired by Ellen Gallagher, as well as yarn, which was inspired by Margery Amdur, to give the different textures of skin; some skin is rough while others are soft. My goal with the piece is that, when the viewer runs their hand over it, they feel the difference inclines/declines, just as a pers...

  Memento Yarn, Purple Beads, Pink Beads Roughly 4in. long Detail of Memento Artist Statement This piece reflects the vivid memory I have with my grandmother as we were making bracelets by the pool. The uneven beads, moving from one side to another, represents my adolescence, as I was not the perfectionist I am today. The unfinished and frayed end of the bracelet symbolizes the fact that she passed when I was still in elementary school, so she was unable to see who I became; the story of me from her perspective is unfinished. The yarn is to represent the crafty stages of childhood; getting the cheap materials because I was too young to handle the nice ones. The pink and purple beads represent my childhood favorite colors, pink and purple. These were the colors that the same grandmother had painted my room when I was young, so they are near and dear to my heart while bringing a nostalgic feeling whenever I see the combination. The pattern represents the guidance of my grandmother. B...

Experimental Sculpture Collection Blue Eyes : Balsa Wood, Elmer's Wood Glue, Wood Skewers, Blue Ink, Black Acrylic Paint Setting Moon : Wire, Yarn, Balsa Wood, Blue Ink Industry  (1ft x 1ft): Wire, Yarn, Wood, White Acrylic Paint Blue Eyes Detail of Blue Eyes Setting Moon Detail of Setting Moon Industry Detail of Industry In Progress Pictures Artist Statement With my three sculptures, I wanted to visually communicate repetition, focal point, and negative space. In creating the repetition in  Blue Eyes, I was inspired by Ted Lott and his collection made of linear pieces of balsa wood. I wanted to keep the viewer's eye on the relaxed pieces at the top, so I added the blue to add a pop of color while still keeping kind of dark with the black balsa wood. I named it Blue Eyes because the Elmer's glue paired with the blue ink makes the sculpture look like it has contact lenses on rods.  Setting Moon's focal point   was slightly inspired by Terry Kreiter's curved works. I ...