Artist spotlight: Deborah Simon

Looking at animals

Deborah Simon’s mixed media sculptures are a combination of faux taxidermy, toys and sculpture. She strives for close to accurate, but prefers to be slightly “off”. She is interested in evolution and how science museums label and code their specimens. Simon is interested in the total disconnect from the animal in its natural environment.

Simon graduated from the School of Visual Arts, MFA, New York, NY; and the San Francisco Art Institute, BFA Sculpture, San Francisco, CA.

You can learn more about this artist by visiting her website at http://www.deborahsimon.net/index.html
All images are copyright of the artist, Deborah Simon.

Take a look.

Tom Bartel Ceramics

Artist spotlight

http://tombartel.net/

 

Tom Bartel is currently an Associate Professor and Ceramics Chairperson at Ohio University in Athens, Oh. He received his BFA from Kent State University and his MFA from Indiana University-Bloomington.

Bartel’s ceramic pieces focus on the human form to address some of life’s hard questions about the human condition. He states he is “interested in both the fragmentation and simplification of human form, especially how this decision encourages, if not requires, the viewer to participate with the work”.

His unique surface designs and texture are as important as the forms themselves. His artist statement continues by stating “The concepts of mask, identity, disguise, and transformation are fundamental to my concerns. Throughout our life our appearance slowly and inevitably changes; in the process our skin records this story”.

The work is very quirky, unexpected, carnival-esque and marvelously interesting to investigate. Every piece tells a story. Here are a few examples. Please visit his website listed above to learn more about Bartel’s work.(All images are used by permission of the artist and are copyrighted to Tom Bartel)