Amy Fleming

http://amyflemingstudio.com/home.html
https://www.facebook.com/ConcordStudioWorkshop/
Art Hound Interview

 Artist Statement

When does something, or someone, become superfluous? People, animals and objects transition into something no longer regarded as valuable once age and damage set in. I spend a lot of time in the woods near my home in North Florida, digging through old dump sites and collecting bones after deer hunting season ends. There is often a theme to the discards I find out there: a toaster next to a coffee percolator, a shot up refrigerator, a busted up typewriter with a ruined time clock, maybe a side view mirror and a piece of a car horn. I pull these things out of the ground and imagine the stories behind them.

 Q & A

What have you been doing since graduating from FSU?

Basically, teaching here! I am a printmaking professor in the lovely basement of the Kellogg Research Building. Aside from that, I have been maintaining my own studio, Concord Studio Workshop, as well as exhibiting my work at international and national print conferences. I have also had residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts and Columbus State University.

What did you learn at FSU to get you there?

Well, I’m still here, so I would have to say that the community at Florida State has helped me quite a bit! One major reason why I chose to come here was for the multidisciplinary nature of the Masters program. I knew the core of my art practice, but within the program I was able to extend my arms in all different directions. Now, I remain mostly printmaking with decent parts sculpture and assemblage. Learning about how to use multiple mediums to properly create the work I envision regarding discards, consumerism and hyper-consumerism has allowed them to evolve, and now I am tying these concepts into ageism, focusing on the transitional period from want to not want.

What advice would you give to art students?

Learn and DO as much as possible! Maximize your time here! Take advantage of studio space, equipment and a community! Become as well versed as possible in design software and make yourself familiar with the equipment in the sculpture lab. Chances are, at some point or another, you will have to support yourself and being knowledgeable in these two areas specifically will provide many ways to do so! Again, I can’t stress this enough, you have access to so much potential and knowledge here, USE IT!