Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Their Childish Ways
By DeAnn Welker | Season 1 | Episode 7 | Aired on 07.21.2010
China wonders if Nicole's series of Styrofoam plates, "Surfacing Memories," are supposed to be palettes. Nicole thinks it looks like a solid piece of art. Ryan's "Drawn Excavations" is about excavating into his past and bringing emotions to the surface. He says he cried while he made it, and Will thinks he's trying to get back into his childhood. Jaclyn's "Untitled" actually looks pretty cool. She divided the tree in two (and it looks almost ovarian this way). Bill thinks it has a Rorschach vibe. Jaclyn thinks this cold image says a lot more about her than people think, and she hopes the judges will like it. Miles eloquently titled his piece, "A Complete Roll of Duct Tape Over a 4' x 6' Plane, Accompanied by 3 Rubber Band Balls." Peregrine tells him it's Tetris, and he laughs. Will relates this one to his own childhood, by thinking of Space Invaders. Miles says he used feelings of depression from childhood to get where he wants to be as an artist. Good story.
China calls Abdi, Nicole, Peregrine, Ryan and Jaclyn for the crit. So Miles and Mark are safe and get to say good night. They start with Ryan. He says he began drawing how he drew when he was young, and the memories started hitting him. Will says Ryan's experience was the most intense part of this, so he has to think about how to translate that. Then he asks Ryan about the stuff on the floor (discarded construction paper, pencils, and other children's art supplies). Ryan says it's the first drawing he made. They all think it sucks and looks like a kid did it, and nothing more, that the process is more interesting than what it looks like. Peregrine explains her crazy childhood and how the people around her died of AIDS. Bill says he teared up, as a parent, seeing the drugs and candy together. They all love that it has details that tell the story. Jaclyn then explains her piece, and how she felt about trees as a child. Jerry and Bill have no emotional reaction and see nothing of her backstory in the work. Nicole explains her vignettes of her memories, and what each one means. Jerry likes that it created mystery for him. Will thinks the level of obscurity of what she put in it is just right for him. They all love it. Abdi explains being called on to draw these things, and feeling useful. They ask him which pieces he feels drawn to, because what's missing is editing. They think he's removed himself from the exercise. The artists have to go back up and wait to be called while the judges discuss.
The judges discuss. Bill says it's a fine line to create something inspired by childhood versus something that comes off as amateurish. They loved Peregrine's piece, and felt she was a natural with this material, and she took a risk. Will says making it personal made it universal. They love the mystery of Nicole's piece, and how she used these materials in her own vocabulary. Moving on to the pieces they didn't like. Ryan's first. Will wanted to know him more from those drawings, and wishes he could have seen more of Ryan's anecdotes in them. China wonders if they're getting through to them. China says Jaclyn's most successful work has been leaving herself open and vulnerable, which she didn't do here. They don't understand it and think she just threw something together with no idea development. They were very disappointed by Abdi's dull and safe piece. Weird. I sort of liked it. Definitely better than Ryan's, even though I think Ryan's has more heart behind it. They think Abdi's weaknesses are showing, and he's too self-satisfied. They've made their decisions, so it's obviously time for commercials.
First, they call Peregrine and Nicole back to praise their imaginative and personal pieces. But only one of them can win, and it's Peregrine. Will tells her he doesn't often see art he wishes he'd made, but he felt that way about hers. She says the cool gay guys she was friends with as a kid would be proud of her. So, okay, she did awesome and I'm glad she didn't get eliminated last week. Especially since Erik just became an artist and wouldn't have had much on this one. Next, the losers come in. Jerry tells Jaclyn they were disappointed in how guarded she was. Bill tells Ryan he gave them something that looked like it was made by a child. China tells Abdi his piece was conceptually and visually bland. So one of them is leaving tonight. Abdi's safe. So it's Jaclyn or Ryan. And we all know it's Ryan, which is sad. He had the saddest story to tell, but obviously didn't get it across. He thinks Jaclyn's piece was worst and is sad to leave, but now he'll go back to making what he loves: realistic oil paintings that he won't have to explain to anyone.