Image: Joe Skinner, graduate student with a studio art MFA and interdisciplinary focus, holds two of his pieces on February 20th, 2024 for his thesis exhibition show in April. Photo by Kayla Brotherton
Story and Photo by Kayla Brotherton | Translation by Rodolfo Fabela
Joe Skinner is a graduate student in his thesis year seeking a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Studio Arts, and also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in printmaking at TAMU-CC. Skinner is currently preparing for his thesis show that will take place in the Weil Gallery on April 25. While making the pieces for his show, the facilities available at the I-Create Lab have been very useful to Skinner.
The I-Create lab, located upstairs in room 217 of the Mary and Jeff Bell Library, has various technologies that are available to be used by students for free or at a low cost. According to TAMU-CC’s website, the lab has technologies for everyone to make use of, “no matter their field of study,” but Skinner says he feels as if “a lot of the fine arts students don’t utilize [the lab] as much as they should” and that mass potential lies within the resources available.
Skinner’s thesis surrounds the ideas of chance, hope, faith, and probability. The exhibition will be filled with mixed media, from printmaking to paintings and even sculptures. Each piece is made of thousands of lottery tickets gathered from various convenience stores across Corpus Christi from the past three years. He says the tickets’ “colorful appearance entices us with rows of golden stars and dollar signs, as if they might be tickets for admission to an earthbound paradise,” which could symbolize an idealization of escape, as an “unrealized potential.”
His experience in the I-Create lab has been described as freeing, he says the lab has “made [his show] possible,” and that the show would be much different without relatively inexpensive access to the tools he has used in the lab, such as the large format printer, laser cutter, and CNC router. “It was intimidating at first, but the goal of the thesis is to become an expert in your own work and I feel like I am a certified expert in the laser cutter now,” said Skinner. His experience in the I-Create Lab and with its laser cutter was made easier with the help of the staff.
Skinner came to TAMU-CC with a goal in mind: to be taught by Ryan O’Malley, a graduate coordinator and professor in printmaking. Skinner describes his overall experience being in his position and in the art program as “amazing,” and worth every penny. To him, O’Malley has truly made it worth it, being the “definition of above and beyond,” teaching him the key principle that with anything you want to do, the main goal should be to “simplify and amplify.” Skinner said, “We are taught these days to overcomplicate something with concept or detail but some of the best pieces are simple.” To those who wish to take on a bigger project but are afraid to take those steps, Skinner gives the advice that “you don’t know you can’t do it unless you try.”