MCAD MFA

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Ellie Gagner / 2015 Thesis Candidate

April 28, 2015

Installation for the 2015 MFA Thesis Exhibition started today, make sure to check it out Friday May 15th from 6-9pm!


Here Ellie Gagner, a sculptor, describes her practice: As a sculptor of many sorts of objects that combine cast glass, shaped and cast metal, and carved wood, I have always been curious about how things work.  Work was more about whether or not something could be done, and was fueled primarily by the spirit of problem-solving, and my love for the meticulous craft technique, rather than any sort of intellectual concept. 

Yet I am interested in science and the structure of living things; the body as an instrument of experience, and the complex relationships between the objects that surround us in our everyday lives along with the materials with which they have been produced. In addition, my work has often incorporated humor and subversive, ironic imagery. And since my work has been inspired by craft, its obsessiveness with perfection, with its focus on the authenticity of the material, and its function have been primary. 

While most of my current work is not functional, it continues my desire for a celebration of the refined practices of traditional craft technique. My latest work also deals with the fragile nature of memory, different methods of its preservation, and its inherent imperfection, as well as building and creating objects from the residual evidence of my everyday life. 

Ellen (Ellie) Gagner '15

Ellen (Ellie) Gagner '15