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BADASS – New England Biolabs

February 17, 2021 - March 9, 2021

New England BioLabs
Ipswich, MA 01938

2nd Floor, Hardie Building
Montserrat College of Art
Beverly, MA 01915

Gallery Hours
By Appointment

Dates
January 10–February 7, 2021, New England Biolabs

February 17–March 9, 2021, Montserrat College of Art

An exhibition from work completed in the course Painting as Object, at Montserrat College of Art during the fall semester of 2020

This group of art students enrolled in a course that looks at the question, “What is an image and what is an object?” In addition, they explored what can painting be in our contemporary world. How far can it be stretched until it becomes something else? What is the relationship to the wall, the ceiling, the floor, a corner or a threshold?

In order to better understand what these questions might mean, we looked at contemporary artists whose work explores this 2/D -3/D area, hosted two visiting artists, conducted research, designed presentations, supported one another in the studio work, and engaged in critique and discussion.

These art students are from different concentrations, including Painting, Animation, Graphic Design, Illustration and Interdisciplinary Arts. They each have different points of view yet were able to provide valuable feedback on one another’s visual explorations. They embraced risk-taking and were consistent in showing up. For that and more, I am very proud of them. Badass!

Diane Ayott, Artist and Professor

Artists:
Abigail Coffman
Erein James Adiao Ruiz
Eileen Coughlin
Cole Hatch
Morghan Schnoll
Lily Walsh
Jack Debusk

Erein James Adiao Ruiz

Erein James Adiao Ruiz is an interdisciplinary artist who finds himself very interested in the exploration of found materials alongside the realization of spatial relationships. Whether those interests include understanding the connections made from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, or pushing the limitations of a material; that awareness stays constant and is encouraged throughout his process despite his humorous executions. His themes range from the abstraction of hyperactivity within the individual psyche, to the subconscious nature of interactivity towards physical art. Erein currently lives in River Edge, New Jersey and attends Montserrat College of Art as a first semester junior, concentrating in the Interdisciplinary Arts.

Lily Walsh

Lily Walsh is a multimedia artist, with an immense interest in the different textures that separate mediums have to offer. Whether the medium is physical or digital, she often finds herself inside the work, and is not afraid to get messy when it comes to getting to the root of her ideas. Currently she is focused on questioning the idea of what a painting can be, as well as what its relationship to the world is. She is also focused on the concept of expressing texture and physicality through different mediums. Currently she has acquired an interest in insulation foam as a material and tool towards achieving these ideas. Lily currently lives in Northern Massachusetts, and attends Montserrat College of Art as an Animation major.

Morghan Elena Schnoll

Morghan Schnoll found this exploratory course to be eye opening. Incorporating mixed media into her painting allowed her to engage with the process of making art in a new way. She loved the visiting artists, who underscored this new studio experience of using a variety of approaches. And although she felt unsettled with the assignment requiring eliminating ideas, she pushed forward in her work. Morghan is from New Jersey and this is her second year at Montserrat College of Art with a concentration in painting.

Abigail Coffman

Abigail Coffman is a ceramicist and painter. Through her first semester as a transfer junior at Montserrat College of Art, Abigail has found joy in creating work for the sake of exploration and experimentation. The work she has produced in this course has given her new meaning to how painting and sculpture intertwine, and the definition of a painting. Abigail is from Baltimore, Maryland, and studies Interdisciplinary Arts.

Cole Hatch

Cole Hatch is a Writer, Illustrator, and newbie to the world of Object creation. Having broken the illustrative mold, Cole spent his Final semester at Montserrat College of Art discovering new and fantastic ways to create, and putting his all into the act of ‘Just Creating’ Inspired by advice from the great Susan Scott, Cole approaches each of his constructive pieces by just making, just doing, just going for it. Cole is from Orland, Maine, and has finished his BFA for Illustration and Creative Writing.

Jack DeBusk

Jack DeBusk is a Painter who is currently in his senior year at Montserrat College of Art. Jack enjoys working both on his non-objective and figurative painting. And he has also spent the last two years creating works that reside within a liminal space between image and object through the means of stuffed forms. He has experimented with sculptural paintings that hang against the wall, mimicking the human presence, akin to body bags. These quickly evolved into stuffed paintings which incorporate flat graphics that protrude from the wall with the incorporation of the tonality of Lorum Ipsum Cryllic text. Throughout all of these various expressions, Jack is keenly in tune with formal elements that underscore the process of making.