Multimedia madness

New UC art exhibit converts poetry into 3D printed sculptures

Seeing your work come to life is a dream come true for some of the students in Dr. Fagan’s poetry classes. 

The “Indie Incubator: From Poem to 3D Print” exhibit began with a collection of poems written by students and, thanks to the help of many students and faculty members, became an exhibit everyone can enjoy. 

“The poems are based on four types of conflict—about eight poems were selected. Those poems went to the Kendall College and students from the life drawing illustration class gave the poems a character. Those characters were given to the digital animation students who turned the characters into 3D models. After that, they were given to students at the 3D printing program,” Ferris gallery and museum director and Ferris and Kendall alumna Carrie Weis said. “We are using the gallery, in this exhibit, to showcase what students in different programs are doing.” 

The students started working on the project at the beginning of last semester. Each student had about three weeks to work on their portion of the project. 

“I hope that viewers are able to see the relations between all the mediums. Each artist has their own vision and as collaborating artists we work to create a unified idea,” Ferris digital animation and game design sophomore Angela Dato said. 

Dato worked hard to keep to the original design of the 2D artist as much as possible and because of this, there was no personal spin added to the end result. Her main goal was to imagine the character in a 3D space. 

“My favorite aspect was seeing things come together. The entire sculpt began with a sphere so when things started to take shape, it was really exciting for me,” Dato said. “I also really enjoyed making the cracks on her skin. It was the very last thing I worked on and it was a lot of fun getting to cut into the sculpt.” 

Much like Dato, Ferris digital animation and game design sophomore Natalie Rogers hopes people viewing the exhibit will feel inspired to make their own art. 

“I loved the connection that we were making with students that we had never met. I felt like I was contributing to something big and being a part of the design process was incredible,” Rogers said. 

Rogers’ portion of the project took her more than 21 hours to complete. 

“I hope that future students in the program will have the opportunity to participate in a collaborative project like this one and that I will be able to be involved in another activity like this,” Rogers said. 

The “Indie Incubator: From Poem to 3D Print” exhibit will be held in the UC Art Gallery from Jan. 19 through Feb. 28. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

There will be a reception with food and refreshments on Friday, Jan. 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. where students will get to meet the artists.

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