Thesis Show!

I will be displaying my work in Gallery 80808 in Columbia from May 7th to May 11th for my senior thesis show! Exciting stuff here, 5-6 large paintings supplemented by many smaller paintings. There will be refreshments and conversation, so if you're in Columbia, you should stop by!

 

 

(Press Release) BFA Thesis Visual Art Exhibition at Gallery 80808

 

            COLUMBIA, S.C. (April 30, 2015)- University of South Carolina Honors College student and Bachelor of Fine Arts in art studio candidate, Tucker Prescott, will open his senior gallery exhibition with a reception from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at Gallery 80808.

 

Prescott’s thesis project, “Figuratively Speaking,” is an exploration of the relationships that exist between figures and landscapes. His works vary in size, but scale clearly plays a powerful role in this exploration of space and the human figure. Composed of about 18 pieces, “Figuratively Speaking,” is a collection of works that represent the skills Prescott has developed while studying at the University of South Carolina and abroad at the International Center for the Arts in Monte Castello, Italy.

 

            “This exhibition is a synthesis of academic figure work and a yearning for a fantasy outside of those boundaries,” said Prescott. “I feel like this collection tip toes at the edge of breaking free of classical ideas but does not quite make the complete separation. As new paintings developed, they experimented with a more contemporary space.”

 

            Prescott will graduate with an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from USC on May 9, 2015. This exhibition is in partial fulfillment of his honors distinction requirements as well as an incredible opportunity for Prescott to reflect on the works he has produced during his four years of study at USC. While Prescott’s passion lies in painting, he also enjoys film production and editing, and as he prepares for graduation, Prescott continues to work at Mad Monkey, the local film and television boutique, as a pre and post-production specialist. Prescott’s projects in painting, film and photography can be viewed on his website, www.tuckerprescott.com.

 

            “Figuratively Speaking,” will be displayed from May 7 to 11 at Gallery 80808 in the Vista. The exhibition will begin with an opening reception on May 7 from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and Prescott will be available to discuss his senior exhibition and experience at USC.

 

For more information, please contact Tucker Prescott at (843) 687- 6870 or email him at precscot5@email.sc.edu.

 

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Vista Studios was established by Columbia Development Corp. and the South Carolina Arts Commission to anchor development in Columbia’s warehouse district, the Congaree Vista. Since its inception the studios have attracted an exciting mix of established and emerging artists. Vista Studios functions as an artistic hot house that is both protective and demanding. Art is made. It is a creative community that supports artistic leaps, develops professionalism, and adds to the environment a thriving rental gallery space, Gallery 80808, a rare resource for artists of the Midlands.

           

 

             

On Clouds

It seemed like it was a cloud built just for the summer. One of those clouds you see when the air is humid and warm and the rain has just come or just gone. The peepers were out, and the moisture between my fingers reminded me of when I still chased fireflies in the front yard of my parent's house at dusk, the white one with the wraparound half-screened-in porch. I could pinpoint that cloud's time of day, season, and location on a world map with only the color palette of this towering cumulonimbus and its surroundings.

First, the dark, viridescent, endlessly varying but exceptionally green shades of green. To Google search sap green, or forest green, bring the brightness down a touch, and place all the endless variations on the same idea together, on a lawn or in a tree. Just to the right is deep charcoal black, or lamp black, not yet full black, soft in its warmth still left from the sun, moist from rain, drying but not yet dry. Looking up, a blue that extends from the last dregs of daylight to the onset of night but refuses to reveal where each individual color starts or ends. More than the night itself, this blue invites a view into the heavens, into some endless stretch of space where the young can dream of spaceships, or of love, a future's hopeful promise. The blue is stopped by a soft, shining pink, no, red, no, orange. An entire half of a color wheel held for fifteen minutes in a shifting mass of globby, luminescent indulgence. The falloff from the brightest orange back to the hazy purples is visible yet indeterminable. The highlight color sinks in, refusing to be forgotten, like a bright ground, some cad yellow mixed with alizarin crimson that still glows under translucent glazes. The color reverberates, reflecting into the shadowy purples and creating more pockets of color like a bolt of lighting frozen in time. The purple fades off below into hazy nothingness, punctuated every so often by a few more hints of orange. 

As I write this, I listen to the warm rain and thunder that has since arrived. Summer is on the horizon, and with it, drastic life changes. Life has made me anxious to leave, anxious to move on, taking with me only what is important and leaving behind all else. My friends and family will always be with me, dead or alive, bridges burned or maintained, whether or not I show it. At this time in my life, I must keep moving, I must go out, I must create. Keep moving. Go out. Create.

Move. Make. Move. Make. Move. Make.

On Traveling Cheaply

I spent $180 during my month in Iceland. I spent ~$400 during my month and a half in mainland Europe. It is absolutely possible to travel on a mini budget. You just may not be comfortable the whole time. Fortunately, lack of comfort is a catalyst for adventure. 

How I saved money:

Food - I brought freeze-dried food from the US to eat in Iceland, I carried this with me until I finished it. I bought one canister of stove fuel and found another full one in a fuel canister recycling bin. When I bought more food, I went to cheap grocery stores (Bonus in Iceland, Tesco in England, various stores in France and Italy) and bought cheap ingredients and calorie foods. I ate from restaurants around 10-15 times during the trip. Sometimes those I traveled with offered me food or took me to restaurants, for which I was extremely grateful. I also dumpster dived a few times in Iceland, getting things like bread, cake, and orange juice that was all still quite fresh. I did not eat well overall, I should have treated my body better by feeding it more. An extra $50 investment in food overall would have solved that problem.

My food bags (beginning to run low) and my day pack

My food bags (beginning to run low) and my day pack

Lodging - I payed for three nights of lodging: one campsite in Iceland, two nights in a cheap London hostel. Other than these three nights, I camped in my tent or stayed with people I either met on the road or had contacted for a place to stay. This happened more than one would expect. I spent fifteen nights indoors because of the generosity of others. 

Baggage - I was able to operate in this way primarily because I traveled with one 65 liter backpack. I could easily bring everything I had into other people's cars or move into mountainous, unpopulated areas on foot. I also carried a compact REI daypack I used when doing day-trips with a homebase. 

Transport - I payed for transit from the Keflavik airport (that was a mistake, I should have hitched directly from the airport), inner city buses and subway transit in Rekjavik, London, Nottingham, Paris, Perugia, and Rome, and for two train rides. The majority of the distance was covered through hitchhiking, the cheapest (and most rewarding) option available for land travel. There was certainly also time spent walking and I boarded a few trains in France and Italy, but ~85% of land was covered while hitching. Many of the best parts of the trip came from hitchhiking, meeting people, and having experiences I never would have expected to have through those interactions.

Plane tickets - Bought early. Flying to England seemed to be the cheapest way to get to mainland Europe from Iceland, so I flew there. I used Wow air for the Iceland-England trip. The return ticket from Rome was expensive, roughly the same price as the US-Iceland ticket and the Iceland-England ticket combined, not so good. If you want to get to Europe and back as cheaply as possible, do a round-trip to London or Paris with Wow Air, buying far in advance. Just make sure you are able to get back to the city in which you arrived by the end of your trip.

Mementos - I brought back pictures and videos, an ice axe I found on a glacier and several volcanic rocks. I had no interest in souvenirs, I assume no one else at home did either, so I stayed away from them. I also had a small notebook I used to record the journey.

The ice axe can be seen on the side of my 65L Osprey pack (actually the women's version, had it since I was 13)

The ice axe can be seen on the side of my 65L Osprey pack (actually the women's version, had it since I was 13)

Museums - Went to free ones as much as possible, but the larger museums in Italy did get a bit expensive. I did pay full price and then some for a ticket to the Vatican Museum, though one might say it was worth it as I was with a group and pressed for time. I visited five different art galleries in downtown Reykjavik, the Tate Modern and the National Watercolor Gallery in London, The Louvre and the Petit Palais in Paris, the Uffizi and the Accademia Gallery in Florence, the Vatican Museum and the Capuchin Crypt along with several free churches with Caravaggios in Rome.

I intend to be just as cheap when I return to Iceland this upcoming summer in August. It's a wonderful way to live, and the easiest way to force myself to meet others, think quickly, and be flexible. The fact that you save money is just a bonus.

A Hitchhiking Map of Summer 2014

I've created map showing my path while traveling during the summer of 2014, with a bit of information about different locations, different events that happened during the experience. Click on the map to see the full resolution.

Meh

My mark smooths, and is lost among shape and color. I will seek to change this in the coming days. I leave for New York tomorrow, and will not be posting daily. The culmination of the week's drawings will be seen when I return.

Merry Christmas

For Christmas, I received gloves, socks, blue jeans, and shirts to wear when I go to New York on Monday, as well as the small, wonderful little group of items I receive every year in my stocking: cashews, twizzlers, swedish fish, cereal, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and a few other small items.

In honor of the day, here's an ice volcano pointing his ice cannon at some lava.