Current Artists-In-Residence

Tarina Frank is a Houston-based artist and certified high-school art teacher who works primarily in metals and paper.  She began drawing and painting as a child when living and traveling on a 30-foot sail boat with her parents.  She received her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin with a focus in metals and painting.

Tarina’s interest in jewelry and mechanisms has led to a series of work that revolves around ideas of constant change and identity.  She explains, “Our current generation is addicted to the fast pace and instant gratification of the internet and the ability to broadcast information about themselves on social media. In the online world, we are celebrities, and everyone can see what we ‘like,’ who we are dating, and what we are eating.  My jewelry allows you to wear your status updates, your relationships and your political views on your chest.  With a simple spin of a knob, you can change your broach relationship status from ‘single’ to ‘it’s complicated.’”

Throughout her residency, Tarina will continue to investigate ideas of status, allegiance, and kinetics to create jewelry for a more hands-on society.  Her work was recently exhibited in the Spring 2011 SNAG juried student show, and her work is included in the permanent collection of the metals department at the University of Texas.  She will be at HCCC through May of 2013. For more information, please visit www.tarinafrank.com.

Above, from top to bottom: Tarina Frank. Photo courtesy the artist. Tarina Frank, "Relationship Status," 2011. Silver and nickel. Photo by Randall Mosman.

Chanda Glendinning is a ceramic sculptor whose work draws from her interest in the virtual communication networks that enable us to share and acquire information on a global level.  Her thoughts on our modern communication systems are translated into formally arranged sculptural works composed of groups of softly gleaming, white slip-cast components and found objects. While at HCCC, she plans to develop a new body of work that addresses concepts of disposability within our society.

Chanda is from rural western New York, where she received her BFA from Buffalo State College, before moving to Kansas in 2008 to obtain her MFA in ceramics from Kansas State University. This past summer, she worked in the studio at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine.

Chanda’s work was recently featured in a solo show, 37 Tributes to a Bridge, at the Center Gallery in Olean, NY, and has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. She served as Student Director at Large for NCECA from 2010-2012 and organized a fundraising exhibition in April of 2011, Kansas Arts for Japan, to help raise money for tsunami victims in Japan.  Chanda will be with HCCC through August of 2013. For more info, visit www.chandaglendinning.com.

Above, from top to bottom: Chanda Glendinning. Photo by Kim Coffman. Chanda Glendinning, "Arbitrary Syntax," 2011. Slip-cast and burnished porcelain. Cone 04 oxidation. Plastic construction barrier. Photo by the artist.

Susannah Mira earned a master’s degree in environmental art at the University of Art & Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) in 2008.  Born in San Francisco and raised in a nondescript Philadelphia suburb, she champions a highly itinerant artistic practice based out of a station wagon.

Susannah utilizes manufacturing sidestream to create intricate, geometric constructions that give form to notions of progress.  During her residency at HCCC, she will continue a series of sculptural objects that reflect the ways in which people plan for an uncertain future. Susannah’s work relies on massive quantities of discarded industrial items such as fabric, foam, paper, and plastic. She welcomes leads on sourcing such materials in and around Houston.

Susannah comes to HCCC having been awarded artist residencies over the last year with Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO; Art342 in Fort Collins, CO; Spiro Arts in Park City, UT; and the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC.  She will be with HCCC through August of 2013.  For more information, visit http://susannahmira.com/.

Above, from top to bottom: Susannah Mira in her studio, 2012. Photo by Ben Premeaux. Susannah Mira, “Water Tower,” 2012. Pool wall foam, monofilament. Photo by the artist.

Jaydan Moore’s career began as an undergraduate student at California College of Arts, Oakland, where he earned his BFA in jewelry and metal arts. During his time there, he focused on the production of oil cans and their representation of craft and the Industrial Revolution. While studying at CCA, Jaydan worked as a machinist and bench jeweler for the high-end metal production company, Svartvik Metal Works.

At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he earned his MFA/MA in jewelry and metal arts, Jaydan began focusing his interest on the heirloom. Using the imagery of found silver-plated tableware, he fragments and reassembles these objects into new forms to challenge and commemorate the individual’s ability to designate value to his/her own valuables and memories. By fabricating a new object from stylistically and historically related wares, he creates a new image that takes all memories of its use into consideration, maintaining some semblance and evidence of their past incarnations.

Jaydan will be with HCCC through August of 2013.  For more information, visit www.jaydanmoore.com.

Above, from top to bottom: Jaydan Moore. Photo courtesy the artist. Jaydan Moore, "Ends," 2012. Found platters. Photo by Jim Escalante.

Originally from Freeburg, IL, Robert Thomas Mullen received his BFAs in metalsmithing and photography from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a MFA in metalsmithing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  This past summer, he worked as a studio technician at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh and assisted Daniel DiCaprio at Penland School of Crafts.

Robert’s work is highly influenced by his current local environment and culture, as well as places he visited on family trips from his childhood:  “My jewelry is a way for me to materialize the world I have experienced.  I can take my environment and hold it in my hand, allowing me to better understand my surroundings.”

After taking two workshops in wood jewelry earlier this year, Robert has discovered his love for the material and enjoys working with both native and exotic woods.  During his residency at HCCC, he hopes to refine his techniques and combine wood and metal in unique ways to create his jewelry.

His work has been exhibited at Mesa Contemporary Arts; Society for Contemporary Craft; Cole Arts Center; Erie Art Museum; Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland; and online through SNAG.  He was published in Lark’s Showcase 500 Rings and Chimera 8 and 9.  Robert will be with HCCC through May of 2013.  For more information, visit www.robertthomasmullen.com.

Above, from top to bottom: Robert Thomas Mullen. Photo by Kim Coffman. Robert Thomas Mullen, "Canyon," 2012. Pink ivory, mammoth tusk, brass. Photo by the artist.