An Italian artist who wants people to look at sculpture in a different way has been working as artist in residence with students at the Texas A&M College of Architecture. The results of their efforts, an exhibit titled, “In Between the Lines,” runs through April 11 in the Langford B Exhibit Hall on the Texas A&M University campus.
The title of the show, Piscitelli said, “means to think of sculpture that is not full, but empty, like a shell, and to use the empty space, the negative space, inside the sculpture.”
Piscitelli, whose work has been exhibited widely throughout Europe, returned to the College of Architecture this spring for his second artist in residence stint.
He said he has enjoyed working with the students this semester, focusing with them on the creative process, but not necessarily on the completed pieces, which make up an eclectic, mix media collection.
“This project has been very rewarding for me, and I am very pleased with my first attempt to make a wood sculpture,” said Nathanael Proctor, an urban planning student at Texas A&M who has been working with Piscitelli this spring.
Proctor’s piece, “Between In and Out,” is cut from an oak tree trunk.
“Working with Paolo and the other students has shown all the complications of the creative process,” said Proctor, who took up woodcarving as a hobby when he was stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. “This class has been an incredible learning experience.”
Ariel Chisholm has been working on “Assembly,” a node-dowel structure system.
“This work is about interactions and energies,” said Chisholm. “Every time I work on it I get the feeling the various components have something important to say together.”
“My role in the assembly process,” he said, “is that of an entity coequal with the materials themselves. I let the materials suggest their own place, and gather together and concentrate in their own way.”
Andrew Pogue worked on a series of portraits.
“By using a white background I eliminated the context of the individual,” he said. “Now the viewer sees the individual as a human among the community rather than a resident or an employee. The white also brings everyone onto the same level.“
In his work with Piscitelli, Pogue explored the relationship of the university campus to the Bryan/College Station community.
“Most students come and go at A&M without ever knowing what is beyond the university grounds, said Pogue. “They also miss the life across the city lines of College Station. We think of College Station and Bryan as separate entities, but they are more like siblings. Despite their differences, they are strongly connected and dependent upon each other.
