Instructor: Johnathan Derry
Monday - Thursday
June 29 - July 2
9am - 1pm
4 sessions
This course adopts a learning-by-doing approach with a strong emphasis on process. Students will deconstruct a piece of furniture using a range of tools and techniques, gaining insight into its construction methods and material logic. After disassembly, students will reconceptualize the component parts as a sculptural object that reflects and reinterprets the furniture’s utilitarian origins. The reconstructed works will be assembled using a variety of wood joinery methods that incorporate both hand tools and light power tools.
In addition to working with the salvaged materials, students will consider the introduction of color and, when appropriate, the integration of found objects sourced from the abundant materials present in everyday environments. Throughout the course, we will examine the multidimensional relationship between form and meaning that emerges when disparate elements are combined with objects bearing a utilitarian past. Students will explore the social, cultural, and personal implications of incorporating domestic objects alongside found materials, and how these combinations shape sculptural intention and interpretation.
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Graduating from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Sculpture and from the Rhode Island School of Design with a MFA in sculpture, Johnathan Derry has had numerous national shows including a solo shows at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston titled I’ve Been Again, included in the exhibition Rapture Proof at 25CPW in New York, No Mud, No Lotus at The Narrows gallery in Fall River MA, two solo shows at the Boston Sculptors Gallery where he was a member for several years, and the Provincetown Art Association. Derry was also the recipient of a full Fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center in 2006. His work has been collected by individuals and institutions including Brown University. In addition, Johnathan Derry has taught at several institutions such as Rhode Island School of Design, Wheaton College,Truro Center For The Arts and for more than a decade as a professor of Practice at Clark University.