Endnotes¹


Xavier
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    Artwork

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    From Teen Mom
    Sculpture (milliskin spandex, stretch vinyl, minky dot fabric, polyfil, polyester thread, hanging egg chair, Meta Quest 2)
    144" x 34" x 43"
    3 Minutes

    Statement What if Jesus was non-binary? What if inanimate objects had religions of their own? What if the mechanics of reincarnation happened via the preparation and ingestion of soup? Ever since I was young, strange what-if questions would pop into my head, but it wasn’t until I became an artist that I gained the tools to answer them. Because art is often a time and labor-intensive process for me, I try to only pursue answers for things I love, which often have some combination of beauty, queerness, and absurdity. Technology and its numerous applications in art are also a huge source of inspiration for me. The technological advancements that seem to be happening every day make me feel like anything is possible, and I like carrying that energy into my art practice. While I enjoy exploring more traditional media, I primarily work digitally with animation, 3D modeling, and image manipulation. I find that working digitally frees me from the limitations of the physical world, because as far as I can tell there’s no other medium with an undo function. Lastly, I try to add a touch of humor to everything I create. I believe that there is no greater physical sensation than laughter, and I revel in the opportunity to evoke that sensation in others. Although everyone may not share my sense of humor, the potential to make someone else smile is reason enough to create.

    Student

    headset, people, VR, chair, headset, texture, thinking, fabric, feel, put, sit, cable, substances, scene, ceiling, experience, cover, curtains, beginner tutorials, advisor
    “I've never sewn in my life–like hand sewn, or embroidered. And so I was like, really nervous. Because if you like, look up online, like beginner tutorials, everyone's like, 'If you're not sewing like, a pillow or a skirt, you should probably just die, because it's so hard.' But like, somehow, everything has been like working out, which...feels really good.”
    “As far as the armature that this will suspend from, I am trying to work with Alex to suspend this from the ceiling so that I don't have to worry about this pesky iron...but we'll see how that goes. But if I can do that, that would be really great and really exciting.”
    “The first scene...is obviously the womb, that's where you start. In VR, you are not only surrounded behind you with this, like, pink fabric, but it also is in front of you. So like, visually you are enclosed but physically you are not…Because my idea is like, if people can sit in this chair and feel what this feels like, they can look at virtual objects that don't exist in real life, but know what they feel like because they're touching this or watching this. And that's another reason why I'm really inclined to add this texture.”
    “I want there to be some kind of, like, narrative structure, but I also kind of want it to be on a loop. So, like, you can sit in this womb room for as long as you'd like. That way I give the user some agency in how much they see or how long they experience it for.”
    “I feel like I've just recently got more into the world of being really intentional with the kinds of art that I'm consuming or seeking out like innovative artists or people who are creating work that excites me. And one way that I've been doing that is by engaging a lot with the grad students–I love going to sculpture crits. I admire their work so much. And I just think it's really fun to see how they talk about it.”
    Endnotes¹

    Xavier
  • *
    •

    Artwork

  • 1
    •
  • 2
    •
  • 3
    •
  • 4
    •
  • 5
    •
  • 6
    •
    From Teen Mom
    Sculpture (milliskin spandex, stretch vinyl, minky dot fabric, polyfil, polyester thread, hanging egg chair, Meta Quest 2)
    144" x 34" x 43"
    3 Minutes

    Statement What if Jesus was non-binary? What if inanimate objects had religions of their own? What if the mechanics of reincarnation happened via the preparation and ingestion of soup? Ever since I was young, strange what-if questions would pop into my head, but it wasn’t until I became an artist that I gained the tools to answer them. Because art is often a time and labor-intensive process for me, I try to only pursue answers for things I love, which often have some combination of beauty, queerness, and absurdity. Technology and its numerous applications in art are also a huge source of inspiration for me. The technological advancements that seem to be happening every day make me feel like anything is possible, and I like carrying that energy into my art practice. While I enjoy exploring more traditional media, I primarily work digitally with animation, 3D modeling, and image manipulation. I find that working digitally frees me from the limitations of the physical world, because as far as I can tell there’s no other medium with an undo function. Lastly, I try to add a touch of humor to everything I create. I believe that there is no greater physical sensation than laughter, and I revel in the opportunity to evoke that sensation in others. Although everyone may not share my sense of humor, the potential to make someone else smile is reason enough to create.

    Student