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Culverson, Adrian R

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfaexhibits/2132/thumbnail.jp

Scholarship@Claremont

Verdurous 1

Adrian Culverson is a painter and sculptor who uses mixed media to create installations that focus on splices of real and imagined worlds

Keck Graduate Institute

Claremont Colleges
Scholarship @ Claremont
CGU MFA Theses CGU Student Scholarship
4-1-2013
Verdurous
Adrian R. Culverson
Claremont Graduate University
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion
in CGU MFA Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact
scholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.
Recommended Citation
Culverson, Adrian R., "Verdurous" (2013). CGU MFA Theses. Paper 80.
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfatheses/80
 1 
Adrian Culverson 
Thesis 2013 
 
Verdurous begins with modes of transportation and mutation. Two teams of rabbits are 
racing to construct a perfect bunny model that can reach nirvana the quickest. Each team 
has a different notion of nirvana. Both teams can use the past, future and any third 
dimension for spare parts. Everything can be mined, from the Velveteen rabbit to 
Playboy bunnies: all are up for revision, reduction and exploitation. The stage is set with 
play and recreational landings built to utilize all concepts and to promote rapid upgrades 
to all models. All modes of transportation, most importantly the psychological reasons 
and impulses behind consumer choices, drive my work. Different modes of transportation 
provide a mini eco-system of visually manifested behavior. Melting status symbols of 
commerce provide a breeding ground for mathematical expressions of display. The act of 
driving and embracing the choice that is made is the focal point, the solitaire surrounded 
by tiny supporting stones.  
  
My work begins in the indefinite spaces that exist between things. It starts in abandoned 
areas that are often left undone: closets, pauses between sentences, crawl spaces in attics, 
and memories that shift and change. I am drawn to the spaces between furniture and 
sculpture, use and non-use. The sliver of almost nonexistent space between dolls and 
mannequins grounds most of my work. Anything that has more than one life force and 
the ability to share generously is welcomed into my work. Most important, I am attracted 
to the splices that occur between the real and the imagined, structures that are both 
evanescent and unending. 
 
Dolls are integral to my work. Toys function as transformative power units built for 
invisible seamless instruction. In the land of staging, the perfect consumer landscape 
consists of many variations of shoppers/ hunters, all coexisting in one space. From 
grocery stores to army barracks, all structures are visually coordinated sets to calm 
viewers, and introduce them into the act that is suppose to take place.  
 2 
My work explores and exposes the various factions of fashion cycles of commerce and 
identity and how they merge and diverge. My goal is to capture a blip of the surface 
rhythm of the ongoing shift of things, as they are being gutted and renamed. Metaphorical 
signage is so innately important in life. Items that rely on color alone to maintain a 
presence are of special value to me. Colors are meant to guide and persuade. Flashing red 
lights belong to caution and danger, just as grey colored tweeds belong to airports, 
hospitals and other heavily trafficked areas. If life is a cake, my work is devoted to the 
top layer, the sticky surface of frosting, first thoughts and intentions.  
 
In the early 2000s, the trend of accessorizing your accessories was born. The notion that 
your purse needed a companion purse was commonplace, like remora to sharks. My work 
raises this phenomenon to the second power: thus, a painting for every painting, a mini 
sculpture to entertain a larger one. Art that is dependent on other art to formulate its 
function. Non self-reliant furniture, dependent jewelry, all focus on relationships with 
permanent reservations for two. Eventually, a new normality is born. Whether it is an 
informative picture that belts out a nostalgic melody or a sculpture that flashes color and 
flaunts formal proclivities, all are concerned with static space and display.  
The elements that bind all my works are the performative action implied in the 
production of everything from dolls to paintings to sculptures and installations. The 
surface intersections of commerce and personal choice meet and greet and are celebrated 
regardless of where they take you. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


English

Verdurous

Verdurous 5

Claremont CollegesScholarship @ ClaremontCGU MFA Theses CGU Student Scholarship4-1-2013VerdurousAdrian R. CulversonClaremont Graduate UniversityThis Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusionin CGU MFA Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contactscholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.Recommended CitationCulverson, Adrian R., "Verdurous" (2013). CGU MFA Theses. Paper 80.http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfatheses/80 1 Adrian Culverson Thesis 2013  Verdurous begins with modes of transportation and mutation. Two teams of rabbits are racing to construct a perfect bunny model that can reach nirvana the quickest. Each team has a different notion of nirvana. Both teams can use the past, future and any third dimension for spare parts. Everything can be mined, from the Velveteen rabbit to Playboy bunnies: all are up for revision, reduction and exploitation. The stage is set with play and recreational landings built to utilize all concepts and to promote rapid upgrades to all models. All modes of transportation, most importantly the psychological reasons and impulses behind consumer choices, drive my work. Different modes of transportation provide a mini eco-system of visually manifested behavior. Melting status symbols of commerce provide a breeding ground for mathematical expressions of display. The act of driving and embracing the choice that is made is the focal point, the solitaire surrounded by tiny supporting stones.    My work begins in the indefinite spaces that exist between things. It starts in abandoned areas that are often left undone: closets, pauses between sentences, crawl spaces in attics, and memories that shift and change. I am drawn to the spaces between furniture and sculpture, use and non-use. The sliver of almost nonexistent space between dolls and mannequins grounds most of my work. Anything that has more than one life force and the ability to share generously is welcomed into my work. Most important, I am attracted to the splices that occur between the real and the imagined, structures that are both evanescent and unending.  Dolls are integral to my work. Toys function as transformative power units built for invisible seamless instruction. In the land of staging, the perfect consumer landscape consists of many variations of shoppers/ hunters, all coexisting in one space. From grocery stores to army barracks, all structures are visually coordinated sets to calm viewers, and introduce them into the act that is suppose to take place.   2 My work explores and exposes the various factions of fashion cycles of commerce and identity and how they merge and diverge. My goal is to capture a blip of the surface rhythm of the ongoing shift of things, as they are being gutted and renamed. Metaphorical signage is so innately important in life. Items that rely on color alone to maintain a presence are of special value to me. Colors are meant to guide and persuade. Flashing red lights belong to caution and danger, just as grey colored tweeds belong to airports, hospitals and other heavily trafficked areas. If life is a cake, my work is devoted to the top layer, the sticky surface of frosting, first thoughts and intentions.   In the early 2000s, the trend of accessorizing your accessories was born. The notion that your purse needed a companion purse was commonplace, like remora to sharks. My work raises this phenomenon to the second power: thus, a painting for every painting, a mini sculpture to entertain a larger one. Art that is dependent on other art to formulate its function. Non self-reliant furniture, dependent jewelry, all focus on relationships with permanent reservations for two. Eventually, a new normality is born. Whether it is an informative picture that belts out a nostalgic melody or a sculpture that flashes color and flaunts formal proclivities, all are concerned with static space and display.  The elements that bind all my works are the performative action implied in the production of everything from dolls to paintings to sculptures and installations. The surface intersections of commerce and personal choice meet and greet and are celebrated regardless of where they take you.            

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfaexhibits/2133/thumbnail.jp

Verdurous 2

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfaexhibits/2135/thumbnail.jp

Verdurous 4

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfaexhibits/2134/thumbnail.jp

Verdurous 3

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&amp;context=cgu_mfatheses

Verdurous 5

Abstract

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