Staff Show 2016: Gloria Duan

In this series, Education Specialist for Public Programs Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 19, 2016.

Gloria Duan, ~, Cyanotype on silk habotai with handrolled edges

Gloria Duan, “~”

 

Gloria Duan

Gloria Duan, Photo: Rhiannon Newman

Gloria Duan, Photo: Rhiannon Newman

Born on the first day of spring in the last hour of winter, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Gloria Duan is a 2015 BFA graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and a 2011 graduate of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She is interested in establishing artistic, cultural, and philosophical significance for new innovations and discoveries in science and technology beyond their traditionally practical purposes. She currently lives in the Washington, DC metro area.

What do you do at The Phillips Collection? Are there any unique/interesting parts about your job that most people might not know about?

I work as a Museum Assistant. In the mornings before the museum opens to the public, I like to walk around the galleries and view the collection without another soul around!

Who are your favorite artists in the collection?

Milton Avery is my favorite artist in the collection. I appreciate his use of color and compositional directives. I see a subtle elegance in his hand similar to Giorgio Morandi. More specifically, in Morandi’s still life paintings and Avery’s late landscapes, there is “solid in void and void in solid” …in space vibrating with its own emptiness.

What is your favorite gallery or space within The Phillips Collection?

My favorite gallery within the Phillips is the first floor of the Sant Building. I think the high ceilings and windows makes the space especially suitable for displaying a wide range of artworks.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2016 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

The painting on display at the 2016 Staff Show is part of an ongoing series that, at a future date, will ideally be un-stretched and suspended in outer space, for the astro-viewer to float through and around as an immersive experience.

This series of paintings, its process, and ideal installation, aims to semantically describe mutable and ephemeral subjects, phenomena, and materials, through their un-guessed synchronicities. Topics include water, wind, shadow, light, glass, waves, pure energy, suspension, floating, and universal expansion. The circular silk cutout of this piece, and the Mobius forms seen in additional works from the series, are inspired by Robert Mangold’s “Ring” series. Morris Louis’ painting practice, in which he loosely tacked canvas to stretcher frames, informs the cyanotype coating process. Out of many light sensitive photo processes, the cyanotype was chosen for its Prussian hues. Quoting Goethe, “we love to contemplate blue not because it advances to us, but because it draws us after it.” The indexing of photograms includes hand-blown glass objects and their shadows, which channel, reflect, and block UV light. Finally, as mentioned before, my aim for this series is to bring painting into space, in order to conceptualize and advance the emerging genre of Space Art.

The 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 14 through September 19, 2016.

Staff Show 2016: Travis Houze

In this series, Education Specialist for Public Programs Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 19, 2016.

Travis Houze, The Purification of Summer

Travis Houze, “The Purification of Summer”

Travis Houze

Travis Houze, Photo: Rhiannon Newman

Travis Houze. Photo: Rhiannon Newman

Tell us about yourself and your work.

If there is anything that I want many to know about my vision, it generally can be summed up in two elements. The first is I use a warm-toned color palette, consisting of darker reds, browns, and yellows. The second is chiaroscuro, where I tend to keep the subjects I photograph illuminated a little more than the background that surrounds them.

What do you do at The Phillips Collection? Are there any unique/interesting parts about your job that most people might not know about?

I currently work as a Museum Assistant. I believe one of the interesting aspects in my job is being close to so many great masters of painting and learning the various different ways the painters use their paints, whether its oil or acrylic.

Who are your favorite artists in the collection?

Some of my favorites in the galleries consist of Pierre-Auguste Renoir for his attention to all the little details, Vincent van Gogh for his distinctive color palette used throughout most of his work, and William Merritt Chase for his use of chiaroscuro (the study of lighter objects against darker objects).

What is your favorite gallery or space within The Phillips Collection?

My favorite gallery space currently is the Music Room. What I love about the location is the grand scale and design of the ceiling and walls, and the fireplace that gives me a sense of the design elements seen in many other buildings in the 20th century.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2016 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

I came up with the photograph when the model in the image let me know of a hidden waterfall in the Maryland area. I was astounded by the scale of the waterfall and overall scenery. I knew then that I wanted the model to have some form of interaction with the environment and play the posing out a little more organically than my usual portrait work. I wanted to get as wide a shot as possible to not only show the size of the rocks in comparison to the model, but also the height of the waterfall.

The 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 14 through September 19, 2016.

Staff Show 2016: Christy Conrad

In this series, Education Specialist for Public Programs Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 19, 2016.

Christy Conrad, "Satsumas"

Christy Conrad, “Satsumas”

 

Christy Conrad

Christy Conrad, Photo: Rhiannon Newman

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in rural Pendleton County, West Virginia. In 2011, I graduated with my BFA from Shepherd University. I moved to the Washington, DC area several years ago and enjoy living here. I’ve been with The Phillips Collection for over a year. When I’m not at the museum, I’m working at my other job at Gold Leaf Studios, a company that does fabrication, conservation, and gilding of frames and architectural elements.

What do you do at The Phillips Collection? Are there any unique/interesting parts about your job that most people might not know about?

I am a Museum Assistant and part-time Supervisor with The Phillips Collection. One unique aspect to working in the Security Department is that I get to interact with colleagues from every department in the institution. This is a great way to gain an understanding of how a museum operates and help build a community among the many departments it takes to make this museum successful. Being a member of the Security staff allows me to help both visitors and colleagues enjoy their time at the Phillips through service.

Who are your favorite artists in the collection?

Jacob Lawrence is one of my favorite artists in the collection. Nearly every time I’ve been posted in the gallery featuring The Migration Series, I’ve had meaningful and educational interactions with visitors. I believe his work is as critical and relevant now as it was when he created it.

What is your favorite gallery or space within The Phillips Collection?

My favorite space in the museum is the West Parlor on the first floor of the house. It has such a cozy feel to it and gets the most amazing dappled sunlight throughout the day.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2016 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

I have been doing hand embroidery for years. I love that it’s such a forgiving medium and there are really no mistakes! It’s a lot like painting in that, depending on technique, it can look very precise and calculated or quite gestural, like brushstrokes. The piece I currently have on view in the staff show, Satsumas, is the first time I’ve tried to make embroidery look three-dimensional with shadows and highlights. It was really an exercise more than anything else. I also constructed the frame for this piece.

The 2016 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 14 through September 19, 2016.