Tony
Orrico
Although I was not able to attend
the workshop at CNU with Tony Orrico, I still find his work fascinating and I
regret missing that amazing opportunity.
Tony Orrico creates his works of art based upon human proportion and
symmetry. Using quite large sheets of
paper, Orrico uses his body and graphite to create extensive drawings. The process he goes through is very
intriguing. For example, he will use the
wingspan of his arms as the basis for size, and then begin making short,
straight lines with his arms extended.
As he slowly rotates, these straight lines visually form an almost
perfect circle. Once a circle is
complete, he will use calculated movements to move a certain distance away and
create a new circle. The process is very
time-consuming, and also requires a lot of energy. Not only is Tony Orrico creating visual art,
but he also is a performance artist.
I was inspired by the unique and
unusual approach Tony Orrico takes when creating art. One important thing I learned from him is the
idea of performance being an integral part of the art-making process. A lot of his art is created in the presence
of a live audience, or on film. If an
audience is going to be present during the creation of a piece of work, it
becomes a performance as well. Another
idea I like is that of human proportion.
Human bodies are all extremely different, and if several people were to
follow Orrico’s calculated process exactly, they would still end up with vastly
different artworks. I am inspired by the
variance in the human body as well as the mathematics that Orrico addresses in
his art. Also, human endurance is a big
portion of Orrico’s artwork. I can connect
with this on a personal level. While I
do not have the type of endurance that Tony Orrico possesses, I do face
challenges with endurance while creating art due to a problem with my
tendons. Connecting with Orrico on that
level has made me come to appreciate what he does even more.
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