artists in exploration 2016 proposal

SHANDRA MCLANE

OCEANS IN RELIEF2016 EXPLORERS CLUB ARTIST-IN-EXPLORATION GRANT PROPOSAL

ARTIST MAX EASTLEY RECENTLY SAID, “I COULDN’T SAY THAT ART WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING; IT WON’T SOLVE ANYTHING. BUT THERE HAS TO BE A KIND OF AMALGAMATION OF EVERYBODY ALL LOOKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. FIRST, YOU HAVE TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS HAPPENING, SECOND, WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT AND, FINALLY, HOW LONG HAVE WE GOT?”Our window of time to act globally to reverse the destruction caused by climate change is waning. The world ticks in the form of glaciers melting in the Arctic, drop by crucial drop; in the form of salmon caught in the Pacific Northwest, one of many populations being decimated by changing water conditions; in the form of inches of snowfall near the Atlantic coast, reaching new records each year; and in the form of rising monsoon swells in the Indian Ocean, devastating thousands. We must act and it is my belief that it will be through the exploration of unorthodox approaches, such as the co-mingling of art and science, that critical innovations will be achieved.

In late July of this year, I returned from an artist residency in the Arctic Circle, where I spent three weeks aboard a sailing vessel with 29 fellow artists and scientists. Some were there to find inspiration, some to complete projects in the quietude of this region and some, like myself, were there to explore, to learn, to research and to experience, with the intention of returning home to share something larger through their work. What began, for me, as a fascination with the aims of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, one of the places we visited on our expedition, quickly burgeoned into a broader interest; how can I, through my chosen artistic mediums, address climate change? In this land so pure, I came face to face with the most critical issue of our times and knew that I had a duty to try to educate those that have not seen it firsthand about the effects of our insatiable human needs. Uninhabited as it is, the Arctic is not untouched.

Upon my return, I began work on a glass sculpture that I aimed to be a signature piece for a new body of work. The piece is a large relief sculpture of the vessel I lived in, anchored in a bay of Arctic waters with Arctic glaciers reaching into the background. The piece serves to highlight the melting of the glaciers, as it shows an abstract impression of what once was and what is the reality now. Other smaller glass castings and sculptures of elements, many made from natural Arctic materials, support the relief sculpture and help to convey the impact that climate change has on

the area, Simultaneously, using my own sketches, photographs, and writings, I began compiling a journal to accompany the collection. Imbued with notions of my own learning, the collection is manifesting into a visual travel memoir and it is through this work that my proposed project idea was born.

Oceans in Relief, my proposed project for the 2016 Explorers Club Artist-in-Exploration grant, places my Arctic work on a continuum of sister projects. The project, a symposium of five ocean studies, will be equal parts visual and educational; a five-part glass sculpture series each with a journal chronicling my experiences. Each collection will concentrate on one of the five world oceans: the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean, to address a regional crisis with global impact. I intend to focus on the following issues: glaciers melting in the Arctic Ocean; super storms and coastal flooding in the Atlantic Ocean; increased monsoon intensity in the Indian Ocean; decline of aquatic ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean; and the thickening of sea ice and rising temperatures in the Southern Ocean. To authentically execute this project, exploration of and travel to each ocean is necessary. Concentration on the aforementioned issues has helped to guide my time spent traveling so far and will continue to do so as I explore the regions I am proposing to visit.

The sculptural portion of Oceans in Relief will consist of one capstone piece - a large glass relief sculpture in a style reminiscent of classical frieze - and several smaller castings per ocean, made from molds of artifacts from each oceanic region, such as local glacial rock, seed pods, shells, and animal remains. My intentions for each capstone sculpture are to illustrate a visual progression of the landscape, hinging on my own frame of reference from visits to each site and leading the viewer beyond shore by illustrating the featured ocean. The significance of these sculptures will lie in the symbolism of their composition. Starting from a recognizable human vantage point, like the one implied by the ropes of the Arctic sailing vessel in my first piece, I intend for

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the viewer’s experience to begin with multifaceted personal awareness: physical presence, occupation of space, and individual impact. I want the viewer to feel at the center of each landscape. From there, the composition will illustrate the featured ocean and then a unique regional characteristic of concern. Through careful composition of each piece, I intend to use the ocean as a reminder of our proximity to seemingly far away places and far away disasters. Rather than be-ing separated by oceans, we are connected by them.

In order for the viewer to fully participate in the climate change dialogue that the sculptures invoke and to further frame the project as an immersive experience, I will be developing a travel journal. As an educational artist, first-hand knowledge is a crucial element of my work and documentation of my explorations is equally critical. Research at home will enhance first-hand observations, interviews, and experiences in the making of this travel memoir and help to convey the educational portion of the project. I aim to produce the journal as a hardbound book and also as a video presentation to be played during the exhibition of the friezes and their supporting sculptures. I have at-tached the beginnings of the journal that I have begun producing about my experiences in the Arctic. This will serve as a prototype for the subsequent journals.

My work has already afforded me the opportunity to travel to three of the five oceans, so I am not seek-ing funding for visits to the Arctic, Atlantic or Pacific oceans or the creation of the sculptures for those oceans. I am, however, seeking support to complete the work I have started from my expedition to the Arc-tic, travel to the Southern and Indian Oceans and the development of the friezes, accompanying castings and journals for those locations.

While this work stands on its own, it is important to note that is project will not end with an exhibition. Rather, the experience of the exploration and the development of the art will serve as a starting point for another project; one that I am not currently seeking funding for but should be mentioned. For each ocean study, there will be a curriculum developed for sec-ondary level students to address a specific issue man-ifested through climate change, and the sculptures serve as the beginning of a conversation that each curriculum will respond to. Please see the curriculum cover prototype (page 15 of this document, in the portfolio section), a course of my design called “Engi-neering the Glass Seed,” based on my research and time spent at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The course debuted at Dartmouth College in New Hamp-

shire and encouraged high school engineering stu-dents to approach the threat of an Arctic or global ca-tastrophe in a new way. Not only does the Seed Vault act as a type of insurance plan against global crop disasters; scientists there are working to enhance the adaptability of existing seeds and create hybrid seeds that will flourish in a drastically different global climate - a very likely scenario in the next century. This type of research was mimicked at Dartmouth College, as students took into account the importance of physical and chemical seed structure in developing their own seeds, which they made plaster molds of and then cast in colored glass. Not only were the final products visually stunning and unique, but the course aligned with the principles of the STEAM initiative by weaving art education, engineering, and environmental sci-ence lessons together. The same curriculum will also be taught at the Museum of Glass in Seattle, WA, and at the Glass Factory in Smaland, Sweden, before the end of the year. The success of this comprehensive interdisciplinary curriculum has served as yet anoth-er source of inspiration for the educational portion of Oceans in Relief. I intend to use my exploration of the regions I hope to visit to inspire the makeup of les-sons for each curriculum.

My passion for this project is embedded in my mis-sion as an educator, artist, and individual: that is, to produce work that serves a purpose greater than its own existence. As the importance of global climate change awareness rises, I aim to educate different-ly. With my proposed on-site research, these global conditions will be seen through an infant set of eyes, so to speak, and the products will be a fresh take on a hugely important plight of this generation and those of the near future. It is our human responsibility to fully process our effects on our planet, and I believe that this project will help to enlighten a new audience.

Oceans in Relief is an exploration of force, or many invisible forces, made visible through art. These piec-es, put most simply, aim to illustrate that which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Like the passage of time, climate change itself is an invisible entity. We can only see it represented, in the form of signs and symbols around us, and in mechanisms acting beneath the surface. The friezes and the journals will be designed to encourage a greater understanding of the world’s oceans from an individual stance, a localized perspec-tive, and within a global context and to encourage the audience to think carefully and act quickly about climate change before we have run out of time.

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SHANDRA MCLANE BIOGRAPHYShandra McLane is an experimental glass artist and educator based in New England, and is an active advocate of the STEAM initiative and interdisciplinary practices. Her work addresses pertinent social and environmental issues and strives to function simultaneously as visually enticing and socially relevant.

Shandra’s formal education as an artist took place at the University of Southern California, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with honors, and in the South of France through what is now Savannah College of Art and Design. Later, she attended Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, Washington, the nation’s leading insti-tution for the study of glass art and home to the field’s pioneers and greatest innovators. Shandra has been educated by some of the most iconic figures in American Studio Glass and has trav-eled across the United States pursuing the fullest possible understanding and mastery of her craft. Her transformation from disciple to independent artist has involved borrowing and deconstructing elements from what she learned from her faculty of educators and rebuilding them anew.

Shandra’s extensive background in traditional printmaking, drawing, sculpture, and hot and cold glass techniques has made for a varied portfolio that evolves visually and relevantly at each new turn. Working cross-nationally for nearly two decades alongside renowned artists like Martin and Dr. Erik Demaine and Nathan Sandberg, Shandra herself was internationally recognized when she broke off independently in 2012 to found Squam River Studios. Located in the heart of New Hampshire, Shandra opened her studio to serve as a hub for interdisciplinary collaborative endeavors with her work at its center.

Exploration and experimentation have been the highest principles of Shandra’s work since the opening of Squam River Studios. Collections have stemmed from exploring unfamiliar fields and conjuring new ways to utilize her art in promotion of both disciplines. Shandra has

worked closely with scientists, mathematicians, and engineers at pivotal institutions such as Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the Museum of Glass in Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, and the Glass Factory in Smaland, Sweden.

In 2015, Shandra spent three weeks aboard a sailing vessel in the Arctic Ocean, studying the remote landscape, its human and animal inhabitants, and the effects of climate change in the world’s northernmost points. Her capstone piece from her expedition is a relief sculpture

carved out of frosted glass. With chilling simplicity, it aims to share with viewers Shandra’s own experience of virgin curiosity in a provokingly majestic land. Accompanying the piece is a curriculum for secondary-level students that addresses the dire reality of the disappearance of Arctic glaciers through art. This is how Shandra

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develops her curriculums, as a learner rather than an authority, emphasizing the human element in global matters.

Her curriculums lead viewers by the hand as they explore a new issue alongside the artist, simulating an experience that begins with a fresh set of eyes and delves into its intricacies through art rather than traditional methods. Shandra’s debut curriculum, “Engineering the Glass Seed,” educated students about the importance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in a global climate change landscape. Shandra retraced her own learning process in developing the curriculum. The course is designed as a hands-on art project, scaffolded by daily lessons about the vault, the importance of seeds and their anatomy, and the crisis of global climate change. Students’ final products are not just beautiful glass castings of self-designed functional seed pods, but equally a wealth of new knowledge about the global issues mentioned above.

Shandra’s body of work represents an essence of activity on the part of the artist that comes from an insatiable appetite for learning. She is an explorer and a learner. She inserts herself into unfamiliar territory, be it geographical, intellectual, or artistic, and works her own way out. That is her artistic process, and in carving her own way through material, she paves a path for likeminded people to see to the crux of a global scenario. She strips it of it’s jargon and retells the story simply, wordlessly, through art. What each collection strives to emulate is a sense of innocent wonder exposed to grand spectacles. Her pieces illustrate a learning trajectory that viewers can immerse themselves in.

The Explorers Club Artist - In - Exploration | Shandra McLane - Biography pg. 5

SHANDRAMCLANEKILN FORMEDGLASS ARTIST

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCESFranz Nicolay [email protected] - Edwards GalleryCatherine Amidon [email protected] - White Mountain MuseumMartin Demaine [email protected] Computer Science and Artifical Intelligence Laboratory

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONSGrant RecipientBicentennial Swedish-American Exchange Fund - October 2015ResidencyArctic Circle Sailing Expedition - June 2015ResidencyTacoma Museum of Glass - November 2014Finalistinternational Bullseye Emerge CompetionResidency RecipientFrans Masareel Residency, BelgiumScholarship RecipientPilchuck Glass School

M.ED., Integrated Art & Education Plymouth State UniversityPlymouth, New Hampshire 2010

Rhode Island School of DesignProvidence, Rhode Island 2010

Blackburn Print StudioNew York, New York 2008

Pilchuck Glass SchoolStanwood, Washington 1994

Cleveland Institute of ArtCleveland, Ohio 1994

B.F.A. University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, California 1993

GET

IN TO

UCH Website

http://www.squamriverstudios.comPhone(603)[email protected]

Guest Lecturer, The Glass FactoryEngineering the Glass SeedKosta Boda, Sweden 2015 Guest Lecturer, Dartmouth Thayer School of Engineering Engineering the Glass SeedHanover, New Hampshire 2015Guest Lecturer, Dartmouth Thayer School of EngineeringHanover, New Hampshire 2014TA for Nathan Sandberg, Corning Museum of GlassCorning, New York 2010

Professor, Art Department, Plymouth State UniversityPlymouth, New Hampshire 2010, 2000-2005

Printshop Coordinator, Pilchuck Glass SchoolStanwood, Washington 2012, 2011, 1999, 1998

Kiln Room Coordinator, Architectural Glass DesignNapa, California 1997

Studio Coordinator, John Lewis Glass StudioOakland, California 1993-1996

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 1998 - 2013Edwards Gallery - Holderness, New HampshireMcGowan Gallery - Concord, New HampshirePilchuck Glass School Staff Show - Stanwood, WashingtonDraper and Maynard Gallery - Plymouth, New HampshirePrints of the Year, Franklin Pierce - Concord, New HampshireWomen Caucus Exhibit, UNH - Durham, New HampshireSavoy Glass - San Francisco, CaliforniaSavoy Glass, ICFF - New York, New YorkLimn Gallery & Showroom - San Francisco, California

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION & TRAINING

SHANDRA MCLANE CURRICULUM VITAE

The Explorers Club Artist - In - Exploration | Shandra McLane - Curriculm Vitae pg. 6

SHANDRA MCLANE PORTFOLIO

MCLANE BOWLS Size: 12” D x 7.5” H

Year: 2010 Kiln formed glass

VARIOUS UNTITLED Size: 26.5” x 23.5”

Year: 2012 Kiln formed vitreography

The Explorers Club Artist - In - Exploration | Shandra McLane - Portfolio pg. 7

VARIOUS UNTITLED Size: 26.5” x 23.5”

Year: 2012 Kiln formed vitreography


COMPUTATIONAL ECHOES 1 - 4 (with the origami sculptures of Dr. Erik and Martin Demaine)

Size: 26” x 54” Year: 2013

Kiln formed vitreography


WHITE MOUNTAIN BIRCH Size: 26.5” x 54”

Year: 2013 Multi-fired enameld kiln formed and vitreography


THE LITTLETON TREE Size: 22” x 7”

Year: 2014 Blown glass sculpture with vitreographic print of Douglas fir tree cell structure


ORBS Size: 10.5” x 16.5”

Year: 2014 3D Casting - 1 of a series of 2 molds for lit glass sculptures


SIX BURNERS Size: 26.5” x 23.5”

Year: 2014 Vitreography and sandblasted glass


GLASS SEEDS Size: Various

Year: 2015 3D kiln formed glass castings



ENGINEERING THE GLASSSEED

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ENGINEERING THE GLASS SEED CURRICULUM BOOK COVER Size: 7 X 7

Year: 2015


PROTOTYPES FOR THE ARCTIC OCEAN SERIES Size: Various

Year: 2015

PROJECTED BUDGETThe financial plan for the Oceans in Relief project is as follows

(this includes portions of the project that have already been underwritten and for which I am not seeking funding.)

ARCTIC OCEAN - JUNE 2015 $8,000.00 PAID/PERSONALExpedition: ArcticCircle.orgInstruction: Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering

PACIFIC OCEAN - NOVEMBER 2015 $1500.00 PAID/SWEDISH AMERICAN EXCHANGE Expedition: Pacific NorthwestInstruction: Museum of Glass, Tacoma

ATLANTIC OCEAN $ 500.00 PAID/SWEDISH AMERICAN EXCHANGE Expedition: New England CoastInstruction: Museum of Fine Art Boston (pending)

SOUTHERN OCEAN $9500.00 Expedition: National Geographic Expediation Instruction: To Be Determined

Expedition: Personally guided Instruction: To Be Determined

INDIAN OCEAN $10000.00

ADDITIONAL EXPENSES $5500.00 Materials: Glass, plaster, silicone, clay, kiln shelf paperStudio Expenses: Kiln, cold working equipment, sandblastingTime/Labor, Research and DesignGraphic design of journals and video presentations for exhibitionGlass series crated and shipped to final destination

The Explorers Club Artist - In - Exploration | Shandra McLane - Budget pg. 17

artists in exploration 2016 proposal

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