McArthur Freeman
Associate Professor, Animation & Digital Modeling
MFA, Cornell University; Master of Art & Design, North Carolina State University
Phone: (813) 974-2360
Email: mcarthur@usf.edu
Office: FAH 255
Website:
McArthur Freeman鈥檚 practice explores how concepts of identity construction and hybridity are visually generated. The series 鈥淔inding Forms: Organic Abstraction鈥� consists of globular, abstract forms and appendages that are spliced together and covered in skin. The strange mutations suggest familiarity, while simultaneously collapsing into abstraction, proposing the breakdown and reformation of new identities. One such sculpture, titled 鈥淧ine App,鈥� began as a speculative drawing鈥攁 term coined by the artist to express the automatic and intuitive nature of his process. From this step, Freeman translates the drawing into a digital sculpture, fabricates the object using a 3D printer, and finally casts it in bronze. The pseudo-scientific, multi-step process allows the artist to intentionally conceive forms virtually and then physically materialize them in the world.
Freeman is the recipient of the prestigious McKnight Junior Faculty Fellowship from the Florida Education Fund. His work has been exhibited in over sixty group and solo exhibitions in the United States. Most recently, he had a solo show, 鈥淪trange Figurations,鈥� at the Carver Center Gallery (2017) and participated in 鈥淒igitalia鈥� at the Barrett Art Center (2017). During 2017, he presented talks at SIGGRAPH Asia and more recently at The National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts (NCECA), titled 鈥淒igital Clay: Hybrid Practices for Digital and Traditional Sculpting,鈥�. Freeman鈥檚 work has been published in the 鈥淣ka Journal of Contemporary African Art.鈥� He earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Florida, an MFA from Cornell University with a concentration in Painting, and a Master of Art and Design from North Carolina State University in Animation and New Media.