Exhibition Information

BFA/BA Student Exhibitions
April 16-20, 2015

This exhibition features three comprehensive bodies of work marking the culmination of studies by B.F.A. student Giotto Zampogna, B.A. student Jisang Kim, and B.A student Emilee Smith.

Becoming Together:  Giotto Zampogna

“Becoming Together” describes the process of achieving unity, the human collective’s transcendence into a higher state of being, and an individual’s growth into a mature rational character. In this light, my work is personal and universal—grown from my struggle to understand myself, the world, and my place within it; and to provide a sense of purpose that would inspire me while also making the inescapable suffering of life more tolerable.

I’ve learned to think of my work as a process rather than a means to create a finished product—essentially the work is an external, physical form of contemplation. A series of works therefore evolves much the same way that life evolves in nature, with each new generation developed a little more than its ancestors. And it is evolution itself that is the subject of much of the work of my thesis show.

The large egg-shaped jars and wall-tile pieces describe what I believe to be the essence of the evolution process: smaller parts coming together to make something larger possible—addressing both the question of what I am and my place in the bigger picture. This is also a quality inherent in the ceramic material itself, which is composed of billions of platelets that combine to form larger objects, making it the most appropriate medium for my concept. The heart ocarina is a further expression of this, designed so that two people have to come together to play it to its full potential.

Waterfall is my consequence of living without a sense of connection to a higher purpose and place in the world. The Waterfall series, currently on its fifth iteration, is about my own experience of depression. Its current state can be summed up as this: perception comes as waves of hostile suffering carrying me downstream, over the edge. My weathered vessel still floats, but has no seat left to comfort the weary passenger and no oars to help steer its course.

We are social animals, designed to be the pieces of something more than ourselves. There is no greater sense of fulfillment than to find our place within this cosmic superorganism.

Making artwork has meaning beyond the usual, which signifies pleasure as well as freedom in my life. It denies confining in a conventional way to create new form.

Crossover represents breaking conventional form and also breaking into another category by using other materials and techniques. Furthermore, crossover implies interaction, communication and sharing the joy and sorrow of life with other people through art.