ROY Presents: Residency Artist: Fan Su | Drew Ippoliti | Jennifer Nicole Murray | Anthony Smith
ROY asks
1. What is your name and what pronouns do you use?
Su, she/they
2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?
Art shaped my ways of perceiving the world. My art -making process is usually led by questions - what is body? Why am I feeling this certain way? Etc
I remember back in high school, I was really confused about the status about Taiwan. Is Taiwan an independent country or does it belong to China? For the longest time, I was trying to pick one as my answer. One day, a sudden realization dawned upon me - Who said I have to pick one? There is no “perfect” answer for this complex and sensitive issue. What appears to be more interesting to me is why do people have different answers? What makes them think differently? Why do some people think Taiwan belongs to China? Why do some people oppose that and believe Taiwan is on its own? Is it because the government? Besides education, political environment, what historical events caused this split? I started to make art and try to let viewers navigate my questions when they experience my work.
3. How did you start your artistic practice?
I guess I have two answers.
One is because glass - It is a beautiful material and it has so much potential. I try to use glass as an expressive artist’s material. Glass really pushed me to think conceptually and make contemporary art.
Another one is that I hated going to school when I was a teenager. My high school was super competitive. Everyone is required to sit in the classroom study from 7am till 10pm. I absolutely hated it. I decided to major in art when I found I can get it away by being an art kid. I can draw and paint whatever I like and whenever in the studio without going to class.
4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think of when looking at it?
Honestly I don’t know. Everyone is so different. ……..As long as it's not “boring” I am fine haha.
ROY asks
1. What is your name and what pronouns do you use?
My name is Drew Ippoliti, and I can be found on social media as @drewippoliti. Pronouns are not overly important to me, but when necessary I use He / Him.
2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?
Through the process of art making and research, I have been able to travel and explore the world. A large focus of my practice has been history and research of East Asian Ceramics. Because of that interest I have been able to travel extensively to East Asia, even living in China from 2009 – 2013. While the art I have seen over the years is truly breath taking and thought provoking it has been the encounters with people and the process of making new friends which was really life changing.
3. How did you start your artistic practice?
Like many people I always loved doodling and producing small works, but things changed for me in college when I took my first ceramics course. I still recall being captivated and frustrated at how complex the materials and the processes were (and still are). After University I worked various jobs but always found my way back to art making until I chose to put everything on hold and go to graduate school in 2007. Since 2009 I have been researching, exhibiting, and traveling all while making art. To say the least it has been very rewarding.
4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think of when looking at it?
In my mind my work is very complex and constructed through a process of research and translation. For the work I am exhibiting at ROY G BIV there was a process of story collection in Akron Ohio where I am based, and then a process of work creation. Each work is based on a story that a community member shared and allowed me to transmute into a collage or a ceramic object. It is challenging to say what the viewer will see but the hope is that the storyteller’s passion, joy, anguish or confusion comes through. This work is made to showcase people and explore their world through snappy iconographic images. For me if that comes through to the viewer everything is successful.
ROY asks
1. What is your name and what pronouns do you use?
Jennifer Nicole Murray, she/her
2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?
My artistic practice has been a way for me to discover truths about myself. Sometimes I start making something and don’t really know what it’s about until I’ve finished and had a chance to step back from it. It’s a way for me to communicate with my subconscious and articulate those feelings. Art in general is amazing and, not to be dramatic, but it’s a reason for living. I love seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.
3. How did you start your artistic practice?
There really was no “start” since I’ve been lucky enough to be encouraged by my parents to pursue the arts from a very young age. My father has an MFA in playwriting and my older sister has her Masters in Jazz Studies so becoming a painter wasn’t that far out there. There probably won’t be an end either. I’ll probably be like Henri Matisse making paper collages on my literal deathbed.
4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think of when looking at it?
“WowLookAtThoseDetails”