Summer 2005 - Hood College

Summer 2005
Hood Magazine 11
For her senior exhibition, Amy, of
Frederick, constructed 26 triangular
ceramic stoneware vessels. She modeled
her geometric forms first in paper, chosen
for its flexibility and malleability, and
then designed stronger cardboard templates
to help cut and form the clay
slabs. She built and grouped the angular
clay pieces according to size, then glazed
and fired the majority of her work in
Hood’s electric kilns.
Through connections fostered by
Michaud, Amy had the opportunity to
fire three of her pieces in a three-chambered
hikarigama wood fire kiln at the
Tye River Pottery in Amherst, Va., over
a period of three weekends. “I wanted to
keep the glazing light, so it wouldn’t
overpower the work itself. I took a graduate
course at Hood in ceramic decoration
and this taught me the correct glaze
application method and firing techniques,”
Amy said.
Nilah, of Pasadena, Md., displayed a
series of detailed graphite drawings as
part of her senior exhibition. Nilah, the
recipient of this year’s Suzanne Gottert
Prize in Art presented at the annual
Honors Convocation ceremony in April,
transferred to Hood from the Art
Institute of Washington in September
2004 before the studio arts program was
officially reinstated. She brought to
Hood an interest in animation, multimedia
and Web development.
In order to improve her animation
skills, Nilah enrolled in drawing classes
during her first semester at Hood. “They
helped me get a better handle on the
human figure,” Nilah said. She believes
these drawing techniques will help her
grow as an animation artist. She said
that the preparation and work leading to
her senior exhibition helped to prepare
and train her for professional gallery
exhibitions. “Our art students would not
succeed as artists when they leave Hood
without the excellent training they get
here,” said Michaud.
In a series of six large-scale graphite
pencil drawings titled “No Child Left
Behind,” Nilah comments on the current
controversies in public education. In her
drawings she tells the story of her
three nieces, Nicole, Della and
Monica, and their struggles with
reading and writing. “My nieces are
struggling to get through elementary
school. I need to tell their story,”
Nilah said. “People need to speak up
more in this country. We don’t stand
up for ourselves enough. Our society
and government are not perfect. We
don’t have revolutions, we just have
people. We need to express ourselves
more,” she said.
Both Nilah and Amy received
tremendous support from their
A M Y C O R B I N
families and the Hood faculty
throughout the semester leading up to
their exhibitions. “Hood’s program is
incredibly accommodating,” Amy said.
Michaud believes that “many successful
artists are coming from studio
art programs at liberal arts institutions
including Hood College.” Telling their
stories in the form of graphite and
clay, Michaud said Amy and Nilah are
fine examples of the successful artist
who she is honored to teach.
Trevor James is Hood’s Web site manager.