09 Oct 2015

DigiFab Res Speakers: Laura Splan & Asheer Akram

Digital Fabrication Residency is pleased to announce the following upcoming presenters as part of our Speaker Series Program. The Speaker Series program is a live streaming online presentation that is free and open to the public. This program is intended to engage and encourage artists working with digital fabrication technology to connect and share ideas.

UPCOMING SPEAKERS:

LAURA SPLAN
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17th at 1 PM EDT

Artist Laura Splan will be speaking on Saturday, October 17th at 1 PM EST sharing her incredible body of work that integrates a variety of media and processes ranging from digital embroidery to 3D printing.

Laura Splan's work examines the material manifestations of our cultural ambivalence towards the human body. Her conceptually based projects employ a range of traditional and digital techniques. She often uses found objects and appropriated sources to explore socially constructed perceptions of order and disorder. Much of her work is inspired by experimentation with materials and processes including blood, cosmetic facial peel and digital fabrication.

Splan's work has been exhibited at venues including Museum of Art & Design (New York, NY), New York Hall of Science (New York, NY), Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland, OR), and Nicolaysen Art Museum (Casper, WY). Commissioned projects for her work have included soap residue paintings for the Center for Disease Control and computerized lace doilies for the Gen Art New Media Art Exhibition. She received a Jerome Foundation Grant for artist research at venues including the Wellcome Museum (London, UK) and La Specola (Florence, IT). She has been a visiting lecturer on Digital Art and intersections of Art & Biology at Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) and Mills College (Oakland, CA). She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

www.laurasplan.com/bio/

Live Online Streaming Event Link: (Copy and paster this link to your browser at the time that the event is scheduled to join) www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/3013d1aa/30707054

ASHEER AKRAM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 1 PM EST

As an American Pakistani from the midwest I am fascinated by what defines a culture. For the past decade I have researched cultures around the world and produced objects to highlight the overlooked aspects of these communities so that their significance is recognized, respected and preserved. Using the dynamic architectural and ornamental vocabulary of the culture of interest I create ceramic platters, metal domes, illuminated sculptures and trucks. My forms strive to create a harmonious interplay between interior and exterior spaces, light and shadow, monumentality and weightlessness.

My public art installations, culturally-informed artwork and projects bring artists, communities and regions together as creators. This was exemplified with the creation of the Pakistani Cargo Truck Initiative (PCTI), exhibited at The Nelson Atkins Museum of Fine Art in 2013.

To me, being an artist is more than making objects. For me, art is also about inspiring cultural and social awareness.

Live Online Streaming Event Link: (Copy and paster this link to your browser at the time that the event is scheduled to join)
www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/3013d1aa/30701346