Far Out!
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
This week, Advanced Studio on zoom and in person enjoyed a paranormal double header with Iviva Olenick exploring the theme UFOs: Invitations to Dream.
In honor of AYB’s field trip to see Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena at the Drawing Center, Iviva led a Zoom session she summarized as “your UFO, your way.”
Iviva sums up: “After introducing UFO paintings by Esther Pearl Watson—inspired by her father, who built celestial aircraft—and the floating “Aerobes” sculptures by Anicka Yi, I invited participants to work in their chosen media. Artists were encouraged to imagine their own version of a UFO, question the very notion of UFOs, or research and reinterpret their origins.
The responses were wide-ranging and inventive: abstract digital ephemera, assemblage sculpture, collage, watercolor painting, and thoughtful commentary examining how words like “foreign” and “alien” function as tools of political oppression. The resulting artworks ranged from whimsical to contemplative to socially critical.
Meridith McNeal, Glowing UFO sculpture
Florian Velayandom Neven du Mont, UFO
Abriel (bob), who won the gold medal for most prolific Advanced Studio artist this week, ruminates: “In class this week our prompt was to make a UFO. UFO stands for unidentified flying object. I think that most UFO sightings are optical illusions but that’s not to say I don’t think they’re real. For my piece I created a series of photos capturing homemade UFO’s. I used a mirror, a lamp and my iPhone to capture images of light refractions and reflections up against my bedroom wall. I then edited the photos manipulating the exposure, saturation and color to create something “other worldly”.
Some questions I asked myself during the process were “How is light perceived” “How does light move and interact in space” “How can light act as a vehicle to transport information, data and even extra terrestrial beings?”
There are infinite patterns, frequencies and wavelengths within light and using it as a medium to create art with was a fascinating and endless experience. (I captured about 50 “UFO’s” during my session) I plan on continuing to play and experiment with light and am excited to see what I can uncover!”
Maraya Lopez, IFO Obituary Newspaper
The critique conversations were rich and connective. We found ourselves immersed in the ethereal qualities of the work, and Iviva’s open-ended prompt led to a beautifully diverse range of completed pieces.
In the second of two back-to-back sessions in person at 180 Franklin Avenue, participants continued embracing far-reaching media to envision celestial beings. Modeling clay, collage, watercolor, acrylic markers, and mixed materials all made appearances as artists deepened their explorations.”
UFO/ET artworks by Rachel Palmer, Maria Polonco, Fisola Famuyiwa, Cheyenne Rivera, Iviva Olenick, Ajani Russell, and Jacob Rath.
Several artists demonstrated especially strong use of color, engaging viewers and adding depth and atmosphere to their work. During critique, we made many lively comparisons and art historical connections:
JP’s work evoked the vibrant motion of Rainbow Road in the Mario Kart series.
Sebastian’s piece brought to mind the fantastical worlds of Trenton Doyle Hancock.
Abriel (bob)’s painting was compared to watercolor and ink drawings of Louise Bourgeois, particularly her spiders.
Meridith’s curious assemblage echoed the dreamlike constructions of Joseph Cornell.
Ariel and Rashidah were complimented on reaching a new level of mastery in collage, while Kevin was recognized for his exciting exploration of new material—particularly watercolor.
Overall, the sessions felt expansive, imaginative, and deeply engaging. Jacob's Latvian Space Disco playlist set the tone (!!!). We thoroughly enjoyed immersing ourselves in the possibilities of UFOs—both as mysterious objects and as invitations to dream.
This week, we embarked on a new set of lesson cycles ART YARD Art Matters at PS 17, our first full-length cycles of the year. Grades 4 and 7 worked with AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau and Managing Director Dennis Buonagura on a lesson called Exploring Outer Space, and Grades 1 and 2 worked on a lesson called Snow Tracks.
Evelyn reports: “In the Exploring Outer Space lesson, we invited students to design their own spaceships. Starting with pencil on white paper, they will add colored pencil and then cut out and collage their creations on black paper for an outer-space effect. We first asked students about real and fictional spacecraft they know of, with many bringing up NASA and the Apollo missions. They were less familiar with sci fi spaceships, to our surprise, but no matter—they had free rein to create original designs.
We viewed the work of Moebius (Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, 1938-2012), an influential science fiction artist and illustrator, for examples of both creative spaceship layouts and smooth color gradients (our new vocab word this week). Students built on the cross-hatching techniques we introduced in the Names in Motion project, now learning how to create a smooth transition between colors. Most students finished their linework and started adding color this week, with spacecraft ranging from traditional rocket ships to fantastical crafts inspired by jellyfish, cats, or even cookies. With Grade 7, we took a sneak peek at space photographs on https://esawebb.org/images/, which they can use as inspiration for additional outer space phenomena to include in their final collages.
Students at work and art in progress
The Snow Tracks lesson was all about animal footprints in the snow, with a focus on local New Jersey animals that neither migrate nor hibernate through the winter, but instead stay actively moving about—perhaps leaving tracks during the recent snowstorm. With Grades 1 and 2, we reviewed the art vocab word outline from our previous lesson and added the term grayscale. Then, we took a look at the tracks of the White-Tailed Deer, Gray Squirrel, and Sparrow, pointing out both the shape of each track and the pattern they make.
Students in Grade 1 will complete this project on with white pencils black paper (shading in the snow around the tracks), and students in Grade 2 will use gray watercolor on white paper (shading in the tracks). Today, each class started with pencil and worked on mastering the outlines of their chosen animal tracks—not always easy! The goal is a bird’s eye view, looking down into the snow; students chose the path their tracks would take around the paper. We conducted in-progress critiques, comparing and contrasting the young artists’ choices of scale, twisting and turning paths, and inclusion of details.
Managing Director Dennis Buonagura recaps: "The joint was really jumping at ART YARD Art Matters at PS 6, our partnership school in Jersey City, this week. We hosted classes simultaneously in room 314 (with Teaching Artist Nicholas Tardiff) and in the gallery (with Teaching Artist Evelyn Beliveau). Evelyn graciously agreed to come back for a make up Dahlov Ipcar lesson and all students were thrilled to participate in both locations.
Simultaneous classes today at PS 6
Up in room 314, students viewed a presentation (created by Nick) explaining our theme of migration and the artist who inspired Nick's lesson on migratory animals in animation. As usual, I sent some information about the project to the classroom teachers on Thursday to give the students a heads up about the work they'll be doing. All teachers replied quickly saying "they will love this".
Eadweard Muybridge and an example of his photography
Nick was inspired by the work of Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. Muybridge laid the groundwork to creating movies with his work - his most well-known being The Horse in Motion! Seeing Muybridge's photo gives me an idea to not shave until the school's exhibit in June and attend as the artist. I never did get to dress as Yayoi Kusama that year due to COVID.
Students followed Nick’s instructions and created negative space drawings of wildebeests, penguins, and dolphins using stencils, graphite/transfer paper and sharpie. They will design the animals habitats next week with pencil and then oil pastels - prior to the animation process. Their assignment for the weekend is come up with thumbnail sketches for background ideas.
PS 6 artists concentrating on their drawings
Students offered kind compliments to their classmates during critique and look forward to continuing with this project.
Evelyn Beliveau reports from the AYB Gallery at PS6: “This week, we had a finish-up day for the classes that worked on the lesson inspired by Dahlov Ipcar a few weeks ago. While Dennis and Nick started a new lesson cycle upstairs, Simone and I brought supplies down to our art gallery in the school library. We worked with classes in the midst of last year's exhibition, and students delighted in viewing their own art pieces and other projects from the Year of Literacy.
This lesson cycle featured animals that migrate, executed in mixed-media (yarn, glue, and colored pencil on toned tan paper). Students took a variety of approaches, some incredibly painstaking; those who didn't finish their pieces during our three weeks now had an extra hour to revisit their projects. Those who did finish earlier had plenty to do, too-- they extended the environments that their animals live in onto an additional sheet of paper. We invited students to explore different ways to fill their surfaces, such as using patterns (inspired by Ipcar's use of geometric shapes and patterns in her paintings and fiber art) instead of shading or switching from yarn to colored pencil, in order to achieve a finished artwork in the allotted time. The results are rich in color and texture. We're so glad we were able to have another day with these classes.”
Use arrows to scroll through student works - including geese, zebras, bison, butterflies, whales, and lots of turtles!
Other Art News
Many AYB Artists are traveling this week. Adji Ngathe Kebe is in São Paulo, Brazil, which she exclaims: "is honestly the place to be for art!".
Adji with painting by Silvana Mendes
Here are some of her favorite works from the Museu Afro Brazil: by (in order): Romeo Mivekannin, João Timótheo, Maria Auxiliadora (who's work reminds us of Ed Rath!), Romeo Mivekannin, Rember Yahuarcani, Francis Nicaise Tchiakpe, Dominique Zinkpe, Dominique Zinkpe, and Magdelena Dos Santos Reinbolt.
Lilo Lewis has been chaperoning a school trip to Berlin. Pictured below is one of many art installations in the city commemorating 30 years since the Berlin Wall came down.
Hawley Hussey writes from Scotland: “My new work is based from a bay window and a chair in a beautiful place called Portknockie where I go to walk on the Morey coastal Trail. Now that I’m dreaming of my travels as I am making these works which include places I love like Edinburgh and Inverness.
Hawley Hussey, Bay Window Drawings, and room with a view in Scotland
Something I love in Inverness are these bridges that cross the river Ness…Known locally as the bouncy bridge due to its slight oscillation when pedestrians walk in unison across it. This Victorian suspension bridge features ornamental iron lattice towers and offers views of Inverness Castle…. I’m adding this bridge view into the current work.”
Catherine de Zagon enjoying meeting up with friends and family, and trying wonderful cheese shops, shares her photos of street art in Paris:
Catherine de Zagon, Street Art Paris, 2026
Congratulations to Karla Prickett who reports that her collage included in The Abstract National at Mark Arts in Wichita, Kansas has sold to a prominent corporate collector!
Karla Prickett, Lifemap, 2026 mixed media collage on canvas, 24” x 24”
Abriel (bob) Gardner enthusiastically writes: “I went to go see Here Kitty Kitty a solo exhibition by Gowoon Lee on view (but closing tomorrow!) at the Meredith Rosen Gallery, 327 West 36th Street, Floor 6, NYC. These are all paintings and I loved them all!!! 🍎”
Installation views of Here Kitty Kitty by Gowoon Lee at Meredith Rosen Gallery. Photos by Abriel (bob) Gardner
I am thrilled that my exhibition Peer More Closely: A Meridith McNeal Restrospective is now on view at The Museum of Miniature Houses in Carmel, Indiana.
You are invited to join me (Meridith) next Thursday February 26th at 12:30pm for an artist talk at Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts, Stedman Gallery, Fine Arts Building, 314 Linden Street, Camden, NJ. Of the People features a selection of works on paper by contemporary artists from across the United States who responded to the question: what does American Democracy mean to you?
Exhibition installation photo by Abby Vanono
We are pleased to report that a photograph of AYB Advanced Studio in action taken by Meridith McNeal will be part of an exhibition celebrating The Art of Free Assembly opening March 5th at The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. The exhibition explores why humans gather and how acts of association, both private and public, sustain community and democracy.
🛸 🪩 🐾
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