Anthony Tino spends the majority of his time working with plaster gauze, fabric, metal, plastic and video.
Tino, a fourth-year printmaking Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), said he focuses on several mediums and is currently working toward preparing for his senior thesis show on display at the Dorsky.
His show, called “Yotonyo,” will include a large format digital print with silkscreen, an assemblage type of sculpture and a video monitor.
Though Tino entered New Paltz studying literature, he found himself being drawn more to the formation of a book than the content of it. He learned how to design images and after taking a class about creating sound experiences, he realized he belonged in the Fine Arts Department.
Since then, his focus has shifted toward working with visual and audio mediums to communicate his art, he said.
Over the past two semesters, Tino has accumulated works from his time at New Paltz and elaborating on them.
“I think there might be a few themes in the show that include disguise, fetishism and subversion,” Tino said. “There will also be alternative ways of using materials, which all kind of boils down to my making a show that’s about an exploration of taste.”
The most challenging part of putting together his thesis show, Tino said, was scaling back the work he wanted to show. He said he overproduced and then had the difficult task of fitting his work into the space he was given.
The inclusion of several different mediums in Tino’s thesis has not discouraged him because the chaos reinforces the show’s themes and is embedded in the pieces on display, he said.
“I think the more confused the viewer is, the better,” Tino said.
Coupled with the show’s chaotic nature, Tino said he created the show to feel as busy as a conversation might. A clear vision of what the finished product would look like is not evident.
“I am an artist and printmaker but above all, I am in love with the way aesthetics works, movements are created and artworks that make us think,” Tino said. “My show deals with how images are recycled and how the act of production is mimetic of things that have come before. My show undermines notions of the individual artistic genius and places that emphasis on culture while simultaneously glamorizing myself as an artist and my personal interests.”
Tino’s BFA thesis show will be on display at The Dorsky from May 4 to 8.