Claudia Mastrobuono

Residency date(s): March 17 - May 8, 2014Exhibition: Opens Thursday, May 8, through June 6Learning Lab: Force Beacon Boys & Girls ClubMaterial Expectations opens May 8 at PlatteForum.Claudia Mastrobuono is visual artist working primarily in clay and fiber. Using the dynamics of emotional relationships as the basis for her work, she illustrates the coping mechanisms that humans use to deal with their insecurities. Often, her large-scale sculpture work pairs anthropomorphic clay forms with mixed-media support systems which speak to the vulnerability and desperation that can occur within the self.  More recently, Mastrobuono has been investigating traditional fiber processes, such as felting and crochet and will incorporate these techniques into her installation work while at PlatteForum.During her residency she will lead a series of Learning Labs with youth from Force Beacon Boys & Girls Club. "Felting will play a large role in the work that I do within the youth workshop series.  Wool is a versatile material and can be formed and dyed using very simple techniques.  My hope is that the workshop results in a large installation."She received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in May 2012 and is a recent addition to the Fine Arts faculty at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Mastrobuono has participated in other residencies, including Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts and Haystack Mountain School of Craft.  In 2012, she received a Professional Development Fellowship from the College Art Association and the University of Massachusetts Watershed Scholarship.  She moved to Colorado from Massachusetts in November of 2012 to work as a studio assistant for Colorado-based ceramic artist Kim Dickey and now works out of her own studio in Lakewood, CO.This artist residency + learning labs are proudly sponsored by enVision and support by Fancy Tiger Crafts