A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

Stacia Laura Yeapanis

Associate Professor, Adjunct

Bio

Instructor, Fiber and Material Studies (2012). BA, 1999, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH; MFA, 2006, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Exhibitions: The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Maryland Art Place, Baltimore; Des Lee Gallery, St. Louis; BOLT Project Space, Chicago; Baang and Burne Contemporary, New York. Siena Heights University, Adrian, Michigan; Heaven Gallery, Chicago; Riverside Arts Center, Riverside; Dominican University, River Forest; Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis; Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery, Palos Hills. Publications: MP3: Midwest Photographers' Project, co-published by Aperture and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Bibliography: Artforum.com, New City, RadarRedux.com, Badatsports.com, Fiberarts Magazine. Collections: Museum of Contemporary Photography, J.G. Wentworth Collection. Awards: multiple CAAP grants.

Personal Statement

My impermanent installations self-consciously echo the anxiety of constant doing that defines contemporary life, while simultaneously providing an antidote to this pervasive busyness. They are improvised arrangements of thousands of distinct parts—byproducts of non-goal-oriented, repetitive gestures—which will be reconfigured in future installations.
My raw materials are the collected detritus of my life as artist, consumer, teacher, waitress. But repetition is the true medium of my practice. It is embodied equally in the cycles of nature, the pleasures and perils of consumption, work-related tasks, the accumulation of both waste and valuables, meditation and the internal systems of the body. Repetition has the capacity to be alternatively monotonous, frenzied, soothing and transformative. This capacity permeates my practice, embodying acceptance of and engagement with what is, rather than a striving towards what should/could be.
My installations mimic landforms: mountains, meandering rivers, slowly eroding and accumulating piles of rubble, pooled water, climbing and hanging vines. I approach these forms as metaphors for change and impermanence in relation to human desire, loss and culture. My unnatural landscapes always include embedded sites where it appears unrecognizable, sacred rituals have been performed and continue to be performed. I'm interested in the human devotional impulse as a necessary (perhaps instinctual) response to impermanence, loss and awareness of death.
My haptic meditation and the viewer’s visual contemplation of the result are intimately connected. Both are sensory experiences of repetition that can transform anxiety about impermanence, uncertainty and imperfection into curiosity about the mystery of what’s actually here in the present moment.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This course explores traditional and non-traditional methods of altering, enriching, and manipulating existing fiber-based materials and objects; using techniques such as soft-sculpture building, stitching, cutting, dyeing, wrapping, printing, stenciling, paper manipulation, and layering in combination with waxes, adhesives, and collage. Projects may range from fabric sculptures to embellished clothing to altered objects to layered reliefs and beyond. Emphasis is placed on surface treatment and experimentation while also considering conceptual concerns to create portfolio-quality works. Looking to artists such as Nick Cave, Tara Donovan, Anna Betbeze, Isa Genzken, Carlos 'Dzine' Rolan, and Samantha Bittman, students learn to make artwork through appropriation and object/paper manipulation as well as an introduction to soft sculpture techniques. Trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, thrift stores, and local galleries/studios, artist presentations, and group critiques supplement the studio experience. Artwork and/or performances that are temporary in nature or that cannot be easily transported will be properly documented through photography and/or video. *NOTE* Students do not need prior experience for this course, but basic hand sewing skills are helpful. Students are encouraged to bring their own digital camera, tablet, and/or laptop for homework/research and after-studio hours projects.

Class Number

1044

Credits

2

Description

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips. By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities. Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

1545

Credits

3

Description

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips. By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities. Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

2211

Credits

3

Description

The word 'craft' has been used both as a badge of honor and as a dismissive slur. This seminar will explore the stereotypes, the history and the changing status of craft in relation to contemporary art in America. We will read essays by craft theorists and makers including Marie Lo, M. Anna Fariello, Bruce Metcalf, L.J. Roberts and Namita Gupta Wiggers and watch the PBS Docuseries 'Craft in America' to help us triangulate an ever-shifting definition of craft. Students will bring previously-critiqued, in-process and revised work to 3 critiques, where an emphasis will be placed not just on WHAT objects mean but also HOW they mean. Course work includes weekly free-writing, reading discussions, and several assignments designed to help students articulate their artistic concerns and contextualize their work.

Class Number

2214

Credits

3

Description

This professional practice seminar emphasizes sustainability (emotional, economic, and environmental) as key for living artists. Each student will develop a sustainable work flow for organizing opportunities, documenting expenses, and applying for exhibitions, grants and residencies. Emphasis will be placed on sustainable material sourcing, both for environmental concerns and our own economic needs. Discussions and readings will revolve around how to keep making art, even when life gets in the way. Students will learn practical skills that serve their work (tweaking artist statements for various opportunities, developing and maintaining a website, ongoing research ) along with stress-management techniques (organized work flow, time-management, knowing when to take a break and how to rest more effectively, peer-to-peer support, dealing with rejection). This course will address the myriad ways studio artists get paid outside the commercial gallery system via recorded interviews with living artists. Readings include 'Art and Fear' (David Bayles and Ted Orlando) and 'Artists Gotta Eat and Other Things We Forget to Remember' by Tempesst Hazel. Past Visiting Artists have included Selina Trepp, who uses and reuses the material in her studio, and Sadie Woods, who is an artist, curator and DJ. Similar Visiting Artists will be chosen in future semesters. Each student will create a personal opportunities database, create a submission for the opportunity of their choice, write an artist statement, bio and CV, build a portfolio website, give an artist talk and develop a sustainable plan for sourcing materials and managing stress.

Class Number

1938

Credits

3

Description

Students who enroll in Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition must have been assigned the Spring exhibition at SAIC Galleries. The Spring exhibition assignment takes place in the preceding term (Fall). Enrollment in this course will only be permitted for students eligible for the Spring exhibition. Students who fail to subsequently complete the Spring exhibition registration process may not ultimately participate in this exhibition-focused course. This interdisciplinary capstone class is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their practice and to help contextualize their work in preparation for their Senior Exhibition. The class will collaboratively organize a group curated section of the exhibition. Students will tackle both critical and practical aspects of exhibition planning from writing conceptual supporting texts to the nuts-and-bolts methods of installation and preparator work. An assessment of previous work will be the starting point for ongoing critical inquiry into your creative professional practice, and how you might position and locate your own work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary. Class visits by local artists will provide the opportunity to have a conversation about their lived experience sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a body of work or project for the Senior Exhibition, building a strong portfolio, and planning for post-SAIC life. Prerequisite: To enroll, students must be assigned to the Spring exhibition at SAIC Galleries. Assignments take place in the preceding term (Fall). Students who fail to complete the registration process may not ultimately take this course.

Class Number

1457

Credits

3