THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Student Gallery 1996
SOURCE: Teenology correspondent Luis Paredes
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A BROKEN BIRD WING. Violin music. Three dice. An incomplete deck of cards. These objects may seem unrelated, but to Alan Tuazon they hold a deeper meaning: They represent his childhood and much of what he is.
Alan's two assemblages earned him finalist status at Student Gallery '96. The glass-fronted boxes are divided into compartments, each containing significant objects - from railroad spikes to shells.
``The boxes are a reflection of my past and what has happened to me,'' said the 18-year-old artist.
It took him three years to find the objects that he used in his assemblages, and three months to construct the boxes and arrange the pieces. ``Years of work,'' he stressed. ``It's a very long process.''
A senior at Princess Anne High, Alan's inspiration for making the boxes came years ago during a school field trip to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where he saw the work of 20th century surrealist sculptor Joseph Cornell.
``When I saw that type of work, I really liked it, and it inspired me.'' Later on, he read about the artist, looked at pictures of his work, and studied his philosophy. In the end, he said, ``my pieces are basically in the style of Cornell.''
Alan's objects represent pieces of his past. The three dice - one yellow flanked by two white dice - symbolize what it's like to be a minority. In particular, ``what it's like to be Asian,'' he said.
The broken bird wing mounted on violin sheet music also has personal meaning for him.
``I felt like I had a broken wing,'' Alan said. ``I felt different growing up because I was Asian.'' The wing is attached to a sheet of music - actually, Gioseffo Hectore Fiocco's ``Allegro.''
The title means ``fast,'' he said. ``I had a very fast-paced childhood.''
In his second assemblage, he addressed man's abuse of nature. Within the box's compartments are rusty railroad spikes, a shiny metal gear and flasks filled with water.
``The bottles? Well, I guess we bottle things up,'' Alan said. ``We put everything under glass. But we always destroy it first, and then put it in a bottle. The water will eventually stain, tainting something that was originally pure.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
[student art]<
by CNB