Career Coffee Break - Steve Spavento

http://www.spottedegg.com/
Pratt Institute Alumnus, Bachelors of Fine Arts, 2007.

We met up with Steve Spavento in November to see what he had been up to since graduating in 2007. In the interview, Steve talks about his time at Pratt and how it helped him continue developing his work after graduation. He has developed an online store on Etsy called The Spotted Egg Lab (http://www.etsy.com/shop/SpottedEgg), where he sells his plush creatures. He has also developed a blog dedicated to Spotted Egg (http://www.spottedegg.blogspot.com/).


CAREER COFFEE BREAK: Steven Spavento from Peer to Peer on Vimeo.
Career Coffee Break- Steve Spavento from Peer to Peer on Vimeo.


Interview by Zamie Casazola, Raymond Miller
Edited by Zamie Casazola

Posted by Micah Bozeman

Career Coffee Break- Michael A. Rippens

http://www.rippens.com/

Pratt Institute Alumnus, Bachelors of Fine Arts, 2000.

We met up with Michael Rippens in September to see what he had been up to since graduating in 2000.  He was back in Brooklyn from LA for an exhibition called Brooklyn Utopias at the Brooklyn Historical Society.  In the interview, Michael talks about the exhibition and his piece Civil Rides: Brooklyn (2009) which is on view from 10/02/09- 01/03/10.

CAREER COFFEE BREAK: Micahel A. Rippens from Peer to Peer on Vimeo.

Career Coffee Break- Michael A. Rippens from Peer to Peer on Vimeo.

Interview by Micah Bozeman, Brynna Tucker

Edited by Micah Bozeman

Posted by Micah Bozeman

Paranoid...

Folds of Light, 1.5 x 3.5, Ceramic, 2007

On view currently in Pratt Institute's Fishbowl Gallery is Dakota Sica’s solo show entitled, Paranoid. An interesting title from an artist who seems anything but paranoid when eloquently discussing his work, processes and inspirations.

Sica focuses much of his attention on personal experiences with friends, family and encounters which take the form of his muse.  These experiences formulate through a process Sica describes as solutions to a sickness that he refers to as “The Social Nutshell” which is, to “eat, procreate, urinate and defecate.”  Sica spoke to me of his relationships with people battling various addictions or struggles and his own process of making art or “solutions” speaking to these issues. 

One piece in particular addresses the disease of alcoholism, entitled Folds of Light.  Three figures stand side by side representing the first three lines of The Serenity Prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

Spirituality abounds in this show.  Playing with conflicts of lightness and dark, beauty and ugliness and the hidden or evident, Sica aims to encourage the viewer to have an emotional experience of their own.  With his sophisticated handling of materials, exploration of form and deeply emotive sentiment, Sica has successfully succeeded in what he set out to do.

Dakota Sica is a freshman in the Fine Arts Program at The Pratt Institute.  For more information on Sica please visit his website: www.dakotasica.com.

Review by Ryan Turley

special Alumnus Feature - Oliver Vranesh

Oliver Vranesh, Industrial Design

On Coroflot

email: ovranesh@gmail.com

  

A recent alumnus of the Pratt Institute, Oliver Vranesh graduated in May 2009 majoring in Industrial Design. After acceptance, and participation in the annual Pratt Show, Oliver has done work with LG Mobile, INI marketing, and designed a Coleman 10th anniversary grill with Paul Jr. Teutul from American Chopper. Currently Oliver works as a Story Board Specialist for a Video Production Firm in Washington DC. Although originally intending to attend graduate school Oliver recently had a change of plans and is currently preparing to go overseas to work for FILA as a Junior Product Designer.

Posted by Raymond Miller