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Lee Puffer

sculpture, installation, mixed media, ceramics

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November 4, 2018 | Lee

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Facing a disaster takes bravery, but you have no choice, disasters require action. Facing exciting challenges require bravery, but the promise of fulfilling adventure entices. Facing monotony requires a different sort of strength. Determination, patience, follow-through, persistence. These are the un-fun qualities that are valuable nonetheless. Maybe these qualities are even more valuable than courage or heroism, precisely because there is no promise of excitement or satisfaction. Sweep the floor. No reward. The floor will need sweeping again tomorrow. The rewards are non-rewards. A sense of rhythm, A sense of order. A defined task with a defined degree of completion. Artworks are not like that. There is never a definitive metric of completion. There is only “Could I make it better or will I make it worse?” #arteveryday #feelgood #befree #writingaboutart #dancingaboutarchetecture #icanhelpyou #beyou #makemeaning #makeitmeaningful #meaningmatters #makeart #artistlife #artonpaper #artcurator #abstractpainting #contemporaryart #creativehappylife #creativelifehappylife #creativitycoach #watercolor #figurativeabstraction #artlife #markmaking #makeyourmark #worksonpaper #artconsultant #studiopractice #contemporarydrawing #leepuffer #abstractpainter

All artists struggle with days when everything seems wrong. We don’t feel like working, nothing looks interesting or exciting or meaningful. It all seems like a waste of time. Maybe we broke something, a piece failed, or we ruined something that felt promising. Maybe nothing happened. Sometimes nothing happening is worse than screwing up. Being an artist is a job like other jobs in that we have to show up even when we don’t feel like it. Although there may not be a boss or a timeclock, eventually we will have deadlines, a studio visit scheduled, work due to a gallery. But much of the time it’s just us, asking ourselves “Are you brave enough to face the monotony?” #arteveryday #feelgood #befree #writingaboutart #dancingaboutarchetecture #icanhelpyou #beyou #makemeaning #makeitmeaningful #meaningmatters #makeart #artistlife #artonpaper #artcurator #abstractpainting #contemporaryart #creativehappylife #creativelifehappylife #creativitycoach #watercolor #figurativeabstraction #artlife #markmaking #makeyourmark #worksonpaper #artconsultant #studiopractice #contemporarydrawing #leepuffer #abstractpainter

The dolphin soap dish. I talk a lot about research informing our practice as artists, and that we should freely associate influences in our work. There are many definitions for what research can be, how influences enter our work, and how to correctly acknowledge those influences. Today I want to talk about what research is not. Research is not copying or re-making the dolphin soap dish you saw on Pinterest. Copying is almost never ok. In this era of rampant image-sharing, original artwork gets diluted, becoming a meme of its original form. The most popular images often represent a lowest-common-denominator appeal, which is fine for Instagram, but does not represent rigorous intellectual inquiry. And, in case you were wondering, rigorous intellectual inquiry is what we are looking for when making our own, authentic work. Widely shared artworks often lack proper attribution as well. We may not know who the artist is and that’s a shame. When we share art on social platforms, we do risk losing ownership of its authorship. As for me, I am willing to risk this, and to that end, only share certain types of images of my work on these forums. The general public consumes and shares images freely, in my way, I support that. As artists, however, we have a responsibility to know and correctly attribute provenance to our influences, to choose those influences carefully, and to discern the difference between art and meme culture. Make a dolphin soapdish if you must, but please do not call it Your Art. #arteveryday #feelgood #befree #writingaboutart #dancingaboutarchetecture #icanhelpyou #beyou #makemeaning #makeitmeaningful #meaningmatters #makeart #artistlife #artonpaper #artcurator #abstractpainting #contemporaryart #creativehappylife #creativelifehappylife #creativitycoach #watercolor #figurativeabstraction #artlife #markmaking #makeyourmark #worksonpaper #artconsultant #studiopractice #contemporarydrawing #leepuffer #abstractpainter

Upcoming Exhibits

Teaching

2018-2019

Southwestern College Ceramics 1. Monday/Wednesday 8:15am-11:30am http://www.swccd.edu

Grossmont College Ceramics 1. Tuesday/Thursday 9:30am -12:30 Ceramics 1. Tuesday/Thursday 1pm-4pm http://www.grossmont.edu

San Diego City College Figure Sculpture I, II, III Friday 9am-4pm

About Lee Puffer

Born in Long Beach, CA, Lee Puffer grew up in Coastal Massachusetts and Maine, Mexico, Venezuela, and the shores of Lake Erie in Western New York. Puffer began her career after graduating with Honors from the Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA from the Studio for Interrelated Media in 1992, working with Tony Oursler among others.
In 2004 Puffer enrolled in the Graduate program at San Diego State University, earning an MFA in 2007 with an emphasis of Ceramics. Her nomadic background manifests itself in sculpture made with a distinct sense of place. Her background as a multimedia artist lends her sculpture and sculptural installations immediacy and a contemporary sensibility.
Puffer creates life-sized figurative and kinetic sculpture and installation which offer cultural critique through personal and controversial imagery often appropriating and re-contextualizing images and ideas from popular culture.
She has exhibited at The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, The American Museum of Ceramic Art, and The Women’s Museum of California among others. She is currently on faculty at Palomar College in San Marcos, California.

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