ANIMAL’s feature Artist’s Notebook asks artists to show us their original “idea sketch” next to a finished piece. This week, artist-render LaTurbo Avedon — who exists only as an avatar on the internet — shows us the process behind her New Sculpt series. Her first solo exhibition in the physical space (so-called “IRL”) opens this Saturday at Brooklyn’s TRANSFER gallery. She will be selling her work with bitcoins.
I don’t exactly have a sketchbook. The closest thing I have to one is my screenshots folder on my desktop. I’ve got thousands of them — ranging from nice color swatches to images that I’d like to source for my projects.
A large part of my process is converting image files into 3D objects, so at any point I can revisit them for all sorts of purposes. Since I borrow images all the time for my work, there isn’t necessarily a finished state for the things I produce.
When it comes to the ‘sketching’ process, mesh has the perfect balance of being as flexible or as rigid as I want it to be. I can crack it in half if I want to, or I can spill it out to into something entirely different.
For my latest one, New Profile Image, I used a variety of my existing Facebook images as sculpt maps, turning them back into 3D files. They come out looking very different through this process.
I’ve converted a handful of selfies into a mound of tangled mesh, then I spent a bit of time fitting them together into a new formation.
“New Sculpt” opening reception is Saturday, July 20th 7-11pm at TRANSFER Gallery.
Artist’s Notebook
Artist’s Notebook: Emilie Gervais
Artist’s Notebook: Rick Silva
Artist’s Notebook: Nicolas Sassoon
Artist’s Notebook: A. Bill Miller
Artist’s Notebook: Addie Wagenknecht
Artist’s Notebook: Lorna Mills
Artist’s Notebook: Yoshi Sodeoka
Artist’s Notebook: Alexandra Gorczynski
Artist’s Notebook: Anthony Antonellis
Artist’s Notebook: Rollin Leonard
