artworxLA students create sculptures with Alison Saar

American sculptor, painter and installation artist Alison Saar led a 2 hour sculpture workshop at the Hollywood Media Arts Academy last week. Following our fall theme of "Experimentations of Art and Ideas", students used unconventional materials such as soap, salt, hair, and dirt to produce objects illustrating their interests. Students first learned about the broad landscape of contemporary and historical approaches to sculpture, and then worked with materials to creaåte their own work. Students learned how to approach research to enrich their art-making process.

Saar's work investigates elements of marginalization and discrimination in society and explores themes of African cultural diaspora and spirituality. She incorporates these elements into poetic visual pieces, She received her BA from Scripps College in Claremont, CA and an MFA from Otis Art Institute in L.A. She has been the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, two artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a City of Los Angeles (C.O.L.A) Artist Fellowship.