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The Valley Advocate 2/5/09
Results
By Tom Sturm
The Hampden Gallery at UMass-Amherst has paired a couple of artists of
extraordinarily stark vision, both of whose work is as crisp in its contrast as
it is in its commentary.
The first, Timothy Gough, spends unimaginable amounts of time creating
aggregate sculptures whose constituents (nails or thumbtacks, for example) are
all exactly the same. Perhaps like atoms or molecules, alone they are
unremarkable and commonplace, but as a collective they can become functional,
meaningful or even beautiful. Gough has compiled 18 months of work for his
portion of this winter's show, calling it The Resulting Effect.
Kristin Nason's work, both 16/28: PLACES/YEARS (from which
is pictured, right) and Cold Storage, is perhaps more reflective and pensive.
The former examines and juxtaposes the 16 places she's lived in her 28 years,
and the latter explores the mystery of memories and how we process them. Both
artists are UMass-Amherst alumni.
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The Daily Collegian 1/29/09
Gough brings 'everyday' art
By Heather Waxman
Timothy Gough was not your typical middle schooler. Instead of tackling his homework, he sat at his desk and fiddled around with anything he could get his hands on. He removed the silver handles from a couple of binder clips, linked them together, and unveiled his very first sculpture. He didn't know it at the time, but this moment would later serve as an awakening.
"I remembered this discovery during my time as an undergrad [at the University of Massachusetts] and decided to explore it," Gough said. The outcome of his pursuit has surfaced in his debut solo exhibition entitled "The Resulting Effect," which will debut at UMass' Hampden Gallery this Sunday.
Despite his knack for sculpting, Gough only developed the art bug a few years ago in 2005, when he transferred into UMass' art program. "In hindsight, it could have been a disastrous move," said Gough. "I took a ceramics course my second semester as an art major and the professor, Nancy LaPointe, convinced me to focus on sculpture."
Despite being a newcomer to the field, Gough did not allow himself to feel belittled. He viewed his inexperience as a unique asset - a way to stretch his audience across a broad spectrum. "I feel that I can relate to the average person on the street who hasn't been formally trained to appreciate art," he said. "One of my highest priorities is to create work that is accessible to this particular audience...I have to be able to please both crowds." Gough has put his best foot forward in order to accomplish this with "The Resulting Effect."
Over the last 18 months he has managed to create an array of sculptures that are made out of large quantities of everyday objects, such as nails and thumb tacks. "Most folks don't know what 43,000 nails look like or what 36,000 thumb tacks look like," said Gough. "A large quantity of an object also lends itself to repetition and pattern, two characteristics that I find particularly appealing."
The artwork for this exhibit comes as a continuation of a series Gough completed for his 2007 thesis entitled "Alchemy," which consisted of four pieces on display at the Student Union Gallery. "For the Hampden exhibit, I tried to create pieces that would be familiar to the folks who saw my first show as definitely Tim's work, while at the same time, retaining the shock of seeing something familiar in a new and exciting format," he said.