Artist Talk: Owen Schuh

Schuh flipping the pages in his notebook for some students.

A visiting artist, Owen Schuh, came and gave a lecture on his work hanging in the Wriston Art Gallery. His work is all mathematically based which was something I hadn't prior been exposed to. To me, his most amazing works were the ones where he mapped out the different ways in which you could cut a cube. I was thoroughly confused during multiple periods of his lecture. He would state which theory or type of math he used in a piece but didn't explain how it worked so the technical jargon didn't help my understanding of his works much. This doesn't mean, however, that I didn't form a deeper appreciation of his work through the context he gave it. He likes the idea that there is no correct way to cut the cube he uses in his work, which is something I wouldn't exactly expect from such a technically based artist. Schuh even admitted himself that his explanations do not help to understand the process of achieving the images he makes but that his notebook does. I haven't seen an artist's notebook in a gallery installation in a while, and I liked seeing his. I try to keep a sketchbooking practice and understand how important the doodles and half formed sketches are to creating greater works.