Nine artists explore subjects that terrify and fascinate them using the artist residency house next to the Tube Factory artspace. Installations, sculpture, and photography transfigure the space into a series of visionary experiences.

Eric Broz
I want everyone to like me. I just want to be famous and for everyone to like me and to be happy. I really just want to be rich and famous and for everyone to like me. The only thing I want is to be rich and famous and for everyone to like me. And maybe a Coke. If I’m rich and I’m famous and everyone likes me and I have a Coke, I’d be happy.
A Pepsi would be ok too.

Emily Freese
Clothing relates to the body without the body needing to be there. It is a second skin to the human. I manipulate this second skin, creating objects from what were once personal belongings. I am examining clothing, through the absence of the body, as a metaphor for the human. The clothing is subject to forms of deterioration to destroy, as well as further, its history. Creating my own forms of stains and wear on the fabric reflect a narrative of the human, of the clothing. The stains are intimate and revealing. They show the presence of human touch, and reflect a sense of control. While stains are present, there is still a sense of sterility and stillness. Thus, these forms of wear present an alteration to something once new. I pair clothing with familiar objects of the domestic household. I use acrylic, steel, rust, bleach, and plastic as mediums to create and contain the representational figure and transforming the narrative of the clothes.

Clare Gatto
Second Skins utilizes tropes and archetypes of femininity to point to larger social constructs. While my studio practice is rooted in photography, it has expanded to encompass the use of new media, including 3D scanning and modeling. This new form of representation enables a re-imagining of the way we view, treat, and understand ideas of the feminine. By using photographs combined with 3D Scanning technology, I welcome the viewer into a world that attempts to challenge the notion of constructed norms. The work depicts a seductive environment without a horizon where fluidity is welcomed.

Philip Košćak
I manipulate and multiply self-created and borrowed characters, objects, images, text, and dialogue. These fragmented text and images combined with personal memories reveal a stream of consciousness made up of double entendres and metaphors of identity that urge the viewer to reconsider what they already know, and what they think they know.

Brent Lehker
Lehker is an artist, maker and designer. He holds a BFA from Herron School of Art. Brent works in multiple mediums, but when asked he will say he “builds things.” When Brent says “builds things,” he means the objects he builds with his hands along with the relationships he builds in his world.
Dipstick is a collaborative, visual measurement of public participants’ perceptions. People are asked to dip a prearranged, hang-able stick into a colored pigment to measure their feelings about questions posed to them. The sticks are then collected and hung on wire to form a visual display.
Dipstick is an ongoing series.

Steve Moore
The porch has an abandoned mount for a swing that once allowed a position for a spectator. The remaining mounts provide a position to imagine a static plumb line exemplifying gravity’s effect while also acknowledging the potential forces being exerted in opposition.
We could image this idealized perspective as a prime site for hanging in fluid suspension, similar to a womb or being rocked to sleep in a mother’s arms. From this imagined location, a point in space at the confluence of Cartesian planes, emits an eye

Monica Sandoval
Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Monica Sandoval received her MA from the California State University, Northridge, and is currently pursuing an MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Through video performance, installation, and object making Sandoval examines themes of identity, self-preservation, and ultimately futility. Her work is defiant, amplifying the body as a means to protest any general notions attached to it. As a starting point, Sandoval is currently investigating how she can distance herself from her own body (objectifying it in the process). All in order to link body image with the social construct surrounding desire.

Katie Shroeder
My work uses material exploration and performance to discuss a variety of social concerns. By using building materials to create performances and sculptures, I am able to explore the futility of physical consumption, human communication, and the roles we play within our own bodies. I use bricks, clay, plaster, and wood to express cultural standards and challenge the importance of these social norms.
I exploit societal roles through examination of self and culture. These examinations tend to be performances or sculptural objects that involve raw materials encountered every day. I strive to challenge the American standard involving mentalities of home owning, debt, labor,
beauty standards, and lavish spending. Post-performance, what is left is an object or artifact. This creates an opportunity to challenge the viewer as they consider the tension caused between the perceived past (my performance) and the potentially contradictory atmosphere created by the presence of the physical relic.
In my most recent work, I use found materials, raw and fired clay, and photography to position my audience as both an active participant and as a viewer. This dual role encourages the audience to question the truth behind the ideas presented in the work and to evaluate their relevance within contemporary culture. The potential distress between what is possible and what is impossible becomes a key function of the work. It allows for a reflective moment between object and interpretation; between my audiences body and my own.

Nick Witten
Witten is obsessed with figuring it out. What is it? It is him, his art, you, us, how he interacts with you, how he interacts with people, how you interact with people, how people interact with people, what’s funny, what’s sad, what’s funny and sad, who is in control, who is out of control, what is control, what’s performing, what’s genuine, what’s smart, what’s dumb, what is the grey space between and whether or not he is rambling on right now (also if that was a good joke or not).
Through video based performances, found and manipulated objects Witten creates work that unfolds into different avenues of conversation only to fold back in on itself. This möbius strip, paired with formalist qualities, invokes a feeling in the viewer that is hard to pin down. In this strange area humor becomes a lifeline. The work strives to understand how humor helps to build the social world around us, how to utilize this tool, and what it means to function in society today.

Image: Second Skin, Clare Gatto, 2016