JOSÉ ARENIVAR-GÓMEZ
Spring 2021 NAR
JOSÉ‘S BIO
Jose Arenivar-Gomez is a Mexican ceramics artist and educator based in metro Detroit. He was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico and immigrated with his family to Las Cruces, NM in 2007 so that he could pursue higher education at New Mexico State University. Jose received his BFA in drawing and ceramics at NMSU in 2015, and his MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2018. His work has been shown nationally at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, David Salkin Creative, and Cranbrook Art Museum. He currently works as a glaze technician at Pewabic Pottery and as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University.
JOSÉ‘S PROPOSAL
For the past 4 years, I have been building a collection of coil-built, mythical, phallic, rabbit-like creatures that come from the depths of my subconscious. My goal at this residency is to create an elegant whimsical space where complex and mundane emotions can be witnessed. Using my sculptural work as the main subject I will be creating a new series of paintings. On the canvas, my phallic creatures will be both the protagonist and the antagonist. Hung on the walls will be the path in and out of my internal dialogue. My sculptures are the fugitives that have escaped into this realm through the gates of my body and the kiln.
As a maker, I am influenced by fairy tales, mythology, spirituality, and my sexuality. Working with my creatures through different mediums allows me to further my art practice. Creating this new body of paintings will allow me to revisit the roots of where my art making began. My concentration on working in the third dimension will lend its knowledge to aid my painting goals. The output of sculpture and painting living together in a harmonious dissection of my inmost voices will allow a culmination of aesthetic and emotion to resonate within the gallery setting.
KATHERINE GAFF
Spring 2021 LAR
KATHERINE’S BIO
Born in Goshen, Indiana, Katherine Gaff received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Katherine attended Anderson Ranch in Colorado for an internship in 2020. While at Bread & Circus artist residency her aim is to create a new body of work that will strengthen her portfolio for graduate school applications.
KATHERINE’S PROPOSAL
I am concerned with long term stressors, coping mechanisms, and the struggle to understand harmful habits. By focusing on something I call ‘Intrusive Thoughts’ I hope to access the psychological effects that outlast my preventative measures. I define ‘Intrusive Thoughts’ by the acute mental interruptions that occur in the forms of images or abstract ideas. Throughout the day, unprovoked or not, these ‘Intrusive Thoughts’ corrupt, invade, and derail me from whatever task I am doing. I seek healing through my art practice in the hope of putting ‘Intrusive Thoughts’ to rest.
Combining specific traumatic memories with nude, female forms I build a platform for my sculptures to emerge. My studio practice aids in an attempt to come to terms with my own story, combining a healing process through a conceptual output with an attempt to share. During my time with Bread and Circus, I would like to continue my personal examination, and how past life events affect me still today. Bringing my subconscious to the forefront, I force uncomfortable thoughts outward to create new sculptures embodying a physical being.
Bread & Circus 