This course will focus on conceptual and material engagement with a variety of fiber based methods. Students will develop their own work as they are introduced to fibers techniques and to artists who use fibers in their contemporary art practices. Each week students will be introduced to a new method (e.g. sewing, printing on fabric, dyes, felting, etc). They will then be encouraged to use these approaches to create paintings, sculpture, installation, and performance. For the final project students will be expected to incorporate various ideas, methods and materials covered during the course to create an ambitious and individually driven project.

The word "painting," is both a noun (I made a painting) and a verb (I love painting). The prefix "trans-" suggests a movement across, beyond, through, or on the other side of something. Through playfully attaching the prefix trans- to painting, this course invites students to investigate modes and methods of painting that extend across, beyond, and through traditional formal parameters. What could it mean to make a transnational, transitional, or transgender painting? Is there a difference between a painting that is about transThe word "painting," is both a noun (I made a painting) and a verb (I love painting). The prefix "trans-" suggests a movement across, beyond, through, or on the other side of something. Through playfully attaching the prefix trans- to painting, this course invites students to investigate modes and methods of painting that extend across, beyond, and through traditional formal parameters. What could it mean to make a transnational, transitional, or transgender painting? Is there a difference between a painting that is about translation, verses a painting that translates? Or a difference between a painting that is about transition verses a transitional painting? Projects will provide a platform for students to explore expanded parameters of painting, at first within the illusionistic space of the 2D frame, and later opening up painting beyond the parameters of the frame, into sculpture, installation, and performative experiments. Discussions and assignments will be grounded in readings, significant art historical references, and weekly exposure to relevant contemporary practices, including the work of Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Maryam Hoseini, Leidy Churchman, Kara Walker and Katharina Grosse, among many others. Students will be encouraged to take risks and work outside of their comfort zone, with ample room to pursue individual material interests and approaches to painting.lation, verses a painting that translates? Or a difference between a painting that is about transition verses a transitional painting?