Transformation, Transduction and Prolonged Formation

This dossier is an accompanying document to my MFA thesis exhibition, (Title of show). Within the dossier is a casestudy that undertakes a close reading of the material choices and processes present in two works by Canadian sculptor Luanne Martineau, Parasite Buttress and Brickmaker. Here I propose that a visual encounter between industrial and needle felt achieves the polarity that is necessary in her work for “double-coding”---the embedment of recognizable but contradictory codes--- to occur. Martineau is interested in a historical moment where fiber-based artists working with traditional materials and processes struggled to be recognized on the same level as other artists. By using industrial felt as a code for references to abstract avant-garde artworks, such as Robert Morris’s Felts series, alongside eccentric felted forms that refer to craft’s connotations of the decorative, feminine and bodily, Martineau uses craft as a tool to question the historical ideals and canon of modern art. Accompanying this case study is an expanded Artist Statement of my sculptural practice, wherein I undertake a close reading of my chosen materials and processes in order to provide insight into the artwork’s operation and potential reception