CSU Visiting Artist Project

caroline beasley-baker

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tell me why

CSU visiting artist project SITE Entry for STUDENTS/Tell Me Why —

project intro

assignment 1

assignment 2

assignment 3

assignment 4

CSU Visiting Artist Project Artist’s Statement

This large-scale installation drawing is a “group portrait” of 45 students from the 4 Connecticut State University campuses.

Each of the students created a “self-portrait” in objects and images and provided 1 word or phrase that they thought was meaningful to them. The idea of objects and images to create a kind of “shorthand” self-portrait has a precedent in folk art portraiture where the sitter is surrounded by an “aura” of objects and symbols that are important to them. I also thought of the search for the objects and images as a kind of archaeology of self.

For the group collaboration on the wall, I created a grid and a formal “frame” for the piece and used a random system of object/image placement—the grid squares were numbered and then the students selected 6 numbers from a “hat” that determined their place on the wall. Then the students were asked to draw BLUE lines from Past object/image to Past object/image, etc., with ORANGE lines for Present and WHITE lines for Future. In keeping with the spirit of chance that was a part of the piece, the words and phrases were printed up as Fortune Cookie fortunes and randomly attached to the wall. It was exciting to see the students work off of one another as they began to draw on the wall—the result is an exuberant “conversation” in lines.

One of the great pleasures for me in this piece is that the integrity of the individual is strong and yet made stronger by the group dynamic—it is unusual to see a work of this scale have such intimate detail.

The 5th century BC Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “From the strain of binding opposites comes harmony.” I think that this drawing shows just that.