Artist Research - Aurora robson

Aurora Robson was born in 1972 in Toronto Canada but grew up in Hawaii. She is a multi-media who works with plastics that have been removed from the waste stream. She draws her inspiration primarily from a childhood nightmare and works toward the idea of morphing herself with the shapes found in nature. Her driving force behind her work is to spark positivity and drive change. She studied art history and visual arts at Columbia University and is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, a TED/Lincoln Re-Imagine Prize and a National Endowment for the Arts Art Work Grant. She is one of the founding artists of Project Vortex - a collective of artists that work toward innovative ideas to utilize plastics as raw material. (https://www.aurorarobson.com).

Many of her works are large installation pieces that feel extremely delicate and calming. I am drawn to that feeling of peace and tranquility that pieces like “Be Like Water” project. As a novice artist just starting out in 3D work, I would love to be able to conceptualize works that provide a clear feeling of peace and joy in the same was as Aurora Robsons work. I feel like in many of her pieces she uses a lot of color and in that way her work is similar to the kind of work I would like to create. Work similar to Arise (see below) use bold colors but still feel light and joyful to me.

100 Items that I could potentially use for this project - (I will continue to add to this list as ideas come to me)

• Paper Cups

• Plastic Cups

• Napkins

• Paper Plates

• Toilet Paper Tubes

• Paper Clips

• Binder Clips

• Rubber Bands

• Nails

• Screws

• Paper Towels

• Brads

• Q-Tips

• Puzzle Pieces

• Playing Cards

• Straws

• Plastic forks

• Plastic Spoons

• Plastic Knives

• Paper Bowels

• Dominos

• cardboard boxes

• plastic bags

• Staples

• marbles

• rocks

• tissue paper

• crepe ribbons

• index cards

• greeting cards

• legos

• cupcake papers

• icing bags

• ziplock bags

• trash bags

• Empty Food Boxes

• Plastic Bottles

• Aluminum Cans

• make up sponges

• cotton make up rounds

• Candy Wrappers

• Coloring Book Pages

• Puzzle Book Pages

• Checkers

• Chess Pieces

• Toy Cars

• Plastic Dinosaurs

• Plastic animals

• Green Army toy soldiers

• Plastic Spiders

• Bottle Brushes

• Sponges

• Wash Cloths

• Bells

• Pens

• Pencils

• Markers

• Pine Cones

• Christmas Garland

• Puppy Training Pads

• Dog / Cat Toys

• Dog waste bags

• Pet Collars / leashes

• Shower Curtain Rings

• Bathmats

• soap dishes

• Shower Curtain Liners

• Pillow Cases

• Matches

• Shoe laces

• Thumb tacks

• plastic leis

• toy blocks

• tooth picks

• swizzle sticks

Project Update

From the above list, I chose to work with paper cups in a blue/green/purple colorway. I have a combination of solid cups and patterned dixie cups that are combined in a variety of ways to create the overall structure. The working critique was extremely helpful to me because I was struggling in general with my direction. Several suggestions (including increasing the size of the base) helped me to move forward and continue to develop the project. I saw several different techniques that I found interesting but for the most part none that would translate to my object. I did really enjoy the paperclip idea - and since starting the project have had several ideas that I may pursue on my own after the semester is over.

I have spent a lot of time developing different modular pieces that can be swapped in and out of the larger structure. This allows me to try a number of different orientations and color arrangements to find the one that is most interesting and most aesthetically pleasing to me overall. I believe that as I continue to push through this project it will eventually come together in what I’m calling a “Seuss meets Alice In Wonderland” sculpture.