Tracey Cockrell: Desire Lines

Exhibitions

October 18 - November 23, 2020

Drying experimental sheets of vegetable papyrus (amaranth leaves) for use as audio speakers (photo credit: Kristin Dillon and Maine Farmland Trust’s Joseph Fiore Art Center)

Reception and Artist Talk: Thursday, Oct 22 at 6:30 PM at http://bit.ly/DesireLinesUMassD with the artist present at the gallery (Meeting ID: 965 2866 7639; Passcode: 1022630)

Location: CVPA Campus Gallery; In-person visits available only to UMassD students and faculty/staff

A site-specific/interactive project by this year’s CVPA artist in residence, Tracey Cockrell, explores the connections between sound and vision. Using the gallery as a laboratory, Tracey will share her combinations of field recordings and experimental musical instruments. Programming will include listening walks, sound broadcasts, and live performance. The gallery will be open to UMass Dartmouth students and faculty/staff on October 19th through November 23, 2020. Please join us for the reception and artist talk on Thursday, Oct 22 at 6:30 PM at http://bit.ly/DesireLinesUMassD.

Performance on experimental musical instrument (photo credit: Jeff Wolf)

Tracey Cockrell is an interdisciplinary artist who synthesizes sculpture, experimental music, and linguistic theory. Since 1998 Cockrell has been working on multiple collaborative projects, engaging with other artists, writers, and musicians to compose with invented musical instruments. Cockrell’s sound art has been featured in radio broadcasts through alternative programs such as ‘A Different Nature’ and ‘Discreet Music’, heard in live performances at festivals in San Francisco and Seattle, and currently featured in Platform Projects Walks 2020: ecologies of the local.

Digital print of performance with experimental musical instruments on Kezar Lake

Most notably, Cockrell mounted a collaborative project, POEMOPHONE: a cacophonous collaboration and reading series at WorkSound in Portland, bringing national and international collaborators to compose and perform on experimental sculptural instruments. Cockrell’s sculptures and installations have exhibited nationally, and discussions of her work can be found in Sculpture Magazine, Art New England, the Boston Sunday Globe, WGBH tv’s ‘Greater Boston Arts,’ and Maine Public Radio’s ‘Maine Things Considered.’

Tracey Cockrell is currently an artist in residency at College of Visual and Performing Arts at UMass Dartmouth. She teaches in the MFA in Studio Art at Maine College of Art (MECA). At MECA, Cockrell also served as chairperson of the Sculpture Department, helped launch New Media curriculum, and became deeply involved in collaborative teaching and student-centered learning. Cockrell is a former professor and academic dean at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, Oregon. While at PNCA, Cockrell also served as chairperson of the foundation department, associate academic dean, and founding chairperson of the Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies.

The gallery is currently open for the UMass Dartmouth community only. Please email us for more information.