Completed Location #13
LOCATION
West Virginia Wesleyan College
ARTIST STATEMENT
With this series of intimately-scaled sculptures, which will be 3D printed using bronze-steel, I am exploring the proliferation of organizational structures in our everyday lives. With the permission of the West Virginia Wesleyan College, these sculptures will be installed in carefully chosen locations on select campus buildings. Each small sculpture will be installed at shoulder-height in non-obtrusive locations and be accompanied by a small plaque that briefly explains the project and directs viewers to explore the campus and find the other sculptures in the series.
These sculptures consist of small clusters of miniature office paraphernalia (such as staplers, clipboards, office chairs, filing cabinets, etc.) fitted to corner spaces and walls. Each will be crafted to create the appearance of leaking or bursting out of the architecture on which they are installed. This work challenges the audience to think about how we can work within, outside of and around these daily structures in order to find personal balance or harmony.
I would like to install these sculptures on McCuskey Hall, the Administration Building, the Library, the English Annex, and Benedum Campus Center. These buildings are spread across campus, and are all related to either the arts or campus life. This arrangement would encourage participants to walk throughout the campus on their search for the artworks.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ellen Mueller has exhibited nationally and internationally as an interdisciplinary artist exploring the everyday challenge of living with hyperactive news media and corporate management systems. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from University of South Florida and has chaired the Art Department at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Recent exhibitions include Americana at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Arrest Maine at Punch Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2015 | Persisting – Illinois Central College Art Gallery, East Peoria, Illinois Recent Works – Daywood Gallery, Philippi, West Virginia |
| 2013 | Burning Ice – Sleeth Gallery, Buckhannon, West Virginia |
| 2012 | Fractured Identity – Open Gallery, Montgomery College, Takoma Park, Maryland Ladders in the Desert – Colorado State University-Pueblo Fine Art Gallery, Pueblo, Colorado |
| 2011 | Book of Enid – Centre Gallery, Tampa, Florida |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2015 | Direct Object/Direct Action – Threewalls, Chicago, Illinois and ACRE TV (online) Weather – The Front, New Orleans, Louisiana [RE]Gen New Media Festival – Paramount Theater, Burlington, North Carolina What Are You Watching? – Stairwell Gallery, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania |
| 2014 | Americana – The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, Minnesota Currents: The Santa Fe International New Media Festival – Santa Fe, New Mexico Spatial Disruption – Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, Florida Practical Feminism – Radiator Arts, Long Island City, New York INCEN*DIARIO II – Panoply Performance Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York MACAA Members Juried Exhibit – University of Texas, San Antonio Art Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, Juror: Paula Owen ENGAGED – Greensboro College, LIFT Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina New Media Caucus: 10 – Brick City Gallery, Missouri State University, Springfield, Montana; Llewellyn Gallery, Alfred State College, Alfred, New York; Sleeth Gallery, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia; Cassidy Theatre, Chicago Cultural Center, in association with the College Art Association Conference 2014, Chicago, Illinois |
| 2013 | There/Here – Mobile Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Minnesota Is This Freedom? – Wiseman Gallery, Grants Pass, Oregon 700IS Reindeerland – Slaughterhouse, Egilsstadir, Iceland Now What #2 – Microscope Gallery/Running Rebel Studios, Brooklyn, New York SPANE: Screening of Performance Art In the Natural Environment – Artscape Gibralter Point, Toronto, Ontario A View From the Outside – Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland EyeSplice Collective: Traces – HEREart, New York, New York Stellar – Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota art:screen fest on-tour 2013 – Vetlanda Museum, Sweden Mobile Screen Tour – Interstitial Theatre, Seattle, Washington Hibulb Cultural Center Film Festival – Hibulb Cultural Center, Tulalip, Washington |