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The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics

ISSN: 2472-7318

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Artist & Writer Statements

Artist Statement for Ashley Pryor, Ph.D.

I am the Associate Dean and Chair of Faculty and Associate Professor of the Humanities in the Jesup Scott Honors College at the University of Toledo. Whew! That’s a mouthful!  I am also a (largely )self-taught visual artist with a special interest in digital and analog collage (the majority of my published work appears under the name Ashley Geiger). While my doctorate is in Philosophy, I have always been an intellectual mutt. As an undergraduate, I majored in Art History and Philosophy, and as a graduate student my primary interest was in the relationship of Literature and Philosophy. Collage appeals to my innate disdain for fixed categories, genres, and aesthetics.  It encourages endless juxtapositions,  and playful reconfigurations --the more unexpected the better. It is an art practice that is open about its theft – ahem—I mean creative appropriation ( although we collage artists too have a healthy concern to stay on the right side of copyright law). 

I have all but abandoned Photoshop. Instead, I do almost all my work on my Ipad using multiple apps (Icolorama, SuperimposeX, ArtStudio are three of my go-tos). This practice stems from practical concerns. I have committed myself to a daily art practice, and the Ipad allows me to work between meetings and competing life obligations. You will never hear me complain about long waits in the doctor’s waiting room.  As mentioned above, I work in layers, so  I can complete even the most complicated image in fits and starts, without waiting for paint to dry, or glue to set.  I confess to be being endlessly fascinated by the many different filters that are offered through competing apps. And while all of these can be recreated in Photoshop, I like that I am never beholden to any one vendor. Call it artistic freedom.

One of these days, I will create an online portfolio; until then you are welcome to follow me on Instagram at @ashcat7077 where you can see my daily art practice in action.

 

Writer Statement for Barbara Schneider, Ph.D.

I am the Associate Vice Provost for Assessment, Accreditation, Program Review, and Faculty Development at the University of Toledo. It’s an awkward title for an introduction at a dinner, but a satisfying job. My doctorate is in English studies with a concentration in rhetoric and composition, so I served as director of Composition and director of the Writing Center for more than ten years before stepping onto the administrative track. I have successfully written numerous academic articles, chapters, policy statements, and a book. I sometimes enjoy reading what I wrote in those venues, but I rarely enjoy writing them. 

Before I turned into an academic, I spent almost twenty years as a free-lance writer of whatever they were paying for---newspaper articles, magazine pieces, columns—a family life column in Spokane and a food column in Detroit…consulting reports, and public affairs before I enrolled in graduate school. Many of those stories, particularly the columns—which I mostly just made up as I went---drew heavily on my experiences as a mother. I have not written in this creative non-fiction vein since I left graduate school. I only now recall the sense of exposure I felt then, putting real stuff into words others might read. And I only now recall what fun it can be to just write what seems true. 

One of these days, I will write more of this and less of that. Right now, I have new webpages to produce.

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