Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/110922
Sarasota News Leader February 22, 2013 more than another layer ��� she moved around the stage in a manner that could have expressed triumph, lamentation or both, before dropping to the floor in a fetal position. After a few moments, all light and sound abruptly ceased, and the room was enveloped in darkness and silence. This lasted for a short period, following which the house lights came up and Gressman bowed to enthusiastic applause from the audience. Page 106 Once she had changed into her street clothes, Gressman returned to the floor to take questions from the audience about her inspiration for the piece, its technical design and performance and some of her own personal experiences as a performance artist. Gressman explained she had developed Wall of Skin as part of her master���s thesis project at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received a Master of Fine Arts in Performance Art in 2012. However, she clariBEHIND WALL OF SKIN fied, certain aspects of the piece traced back After Wall of Skin had concluded, NMNC Di- to her undergraduate work at New College, rector Stephen Miles took to the microphone where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Huto commend the work and acknowledge oth- manities in 2009. ers who had helped with the event, includ- In the latter case, Gressman was referring to ing NMNC Technical Producer R.L. Silver and the technology that produces the sound and NMNC event sponsors Art and Marcella Levin. the way that it interacts with light. Erica Gressman prepares to tear the first piece of drywall from the sculpture in Wall of Skin. In the Q-&-A session following the piece, Gressman explained that part of the reason she chose to use drywall was because of its associations. ���I think it���s a very intimate and personal object that many youths use as a way to let out anger,��� she noted.