Trenton Doyle Hancock creates artwork through a process of layering different materials and media on top of each other. He then cuts through the layers with an exacto knife to reveal the colors and textures beneath. In the piece described, Hancock aims to express the idea of torture or getting out of an uncomfortable situation through this layering and cutting process.

2. Trenton Doyle Hancock
“The Former and the Ladder or Ascension and
a Cinchin”
When Trenton Doyle Hancock creates his work, he only adds
and subtracts with multiple kinds of media and material. His
process involves accumulating different textures and colors,
then he uses an exacto knife to cut through the layers. When
he cuts through, his intent is to bring out the new life that lies
beneath different layers. He refers to hi work as “natural
unfolding of art.” In this specific piece he tries to keep express
the idea of torcher, with a sense of getting out of an
uncomfortable situation.

3. Response
My response to Trenton Doyle Hancock’s work is similar yet different. When
saw his different types of work I looked at the materials and layers that built
up each piece. I was inspired by the different uses of media that was laid
out in an unorganized way. I focused more on the making of the piece and
the abstract forms that were placed. In my piece I used layers of paper,
napkins, maker, tissue paper, and acrylic paint. I responded to Hancock’s
layering because its “built up” and can constantly change in form and
color.

4. Sarah Sze
“Improvisation”
“Fixed Points Find a Home”
Sarah Sze likes to describe her work as a “sense of discovery.” She
wants her audience to feel as though her work is alive. One way she
did this was by combining objects of life and make a work of art.
Everything she did was very spontaneous, and captures different
moments in time, sometimes looking similar to a science experiment.
She takes objects that are familiar, and puts them up again something
that’s unfamiliar. She states that her process and outcome is not clear,
but her man goal is to express the edge between life and art.

5. Response
I loved Sarah Sze’s ideas and visions. I felt as though her works were very
well thought out and organized. The main concept which drew me in was
how she was able to take two ideas against each other in a way that
made sense. I love the flow and segments of each piece she created. My
response reflects how two images can come together in meaning, or just
misplaced and still able to flow. I took a familiar object and connected it
in a unfamiliar way in separate segments.

6. Mika Tajima
Mika Tajima didn’t need much to construct her pieces. The ones here
are the ones which caught my attention. She produces bold panels
which form a three dimensional closed off space. Though in one of her
pieces she includes two men performing acrobatic poses next to the
work which helps Mika better express her message to the viewer in a
more direct ways. She wanted to reflect on how cubicles can confine
people and space. These images show how the structures consume the
intangable space and hides it from the audience.

7. Response
In my response to Mika Tajima was very opposite from what she
expressed. I reacted differently because I felt as though that her closed
off area of space could have been reveled. Her structures made me
curious as to wonder what kind of potential these walls could have. So I
responded with opened space my walls. By reversing Mika’s vision I
went against her work of “what could be” and I took the curiosity out of
the original closed space.