Material Mimicry: The Question of the Reproduced Form

Throughout art history, steel has been associated with industry, violence, and strength. This workshop challenges such connections by investigating ways steel can become visually delicate, and by inventing new meanings and visual relationships through combining steel with materials with opposite characteristics. Exercises address technical and creative inquiries regarding how steel is cut, shaped, and physically joined, and how to challenge material assumptions if steel becomes a secondary, rather than primary, compositional element. We explore the aesthetic and technical consequences of combining steel with soft, vulnerable, contradictory, and unexpected materials.

Investigate new materials and approaches to building sculpture in this two-week exploratory workshop. Students discover innovative ways to combine different materials, creating dynamic mixed-media sculptures. This workshop experiments with adding different materials to students’ work—such as clay, steel, and found objects—while considering how each adds formal information and intensified content. This rigorous studio environment gives access to a variety of new materials and fresh ways of approaching students’ studio practice. The workshop is open to students working in any media who are looking to try something different and add new skills to their toolbox.

This workshop emphasizes foundational metalworking skills and experimental approaches to surface treatments. We cover techniques for creating forms and structures in steel rod and jig construction for creating repeated forms. Students learn basic metal forming, bending, welding, armature construction, and how to build volumetric forms. The workshop integrates technical proficiency with experimental approaches that introduce unique textures and exciting new possibilities for tactile sculpture.