Interdisciplinary Works — Sabrina Thompson

Journey in RootsDecember 2021 12” x 9” x 11” Clay, fabric, paper, fiberfill, polymer clay, embossing powder, clip-in hair extensions, acrylic During the lockdown, I found a community in Facebook's Black natural hair side. Because we could not go to the hairdresser, I stopped straightening my hair, and eventually, I saw my natural pattern for the first time EVER. Society and beauty standards always want to hide and insult Black hair with relaxers and other chemicals. I wanted to highlight the beauty and versatility of natural hair by leaving it half down half in Bantu Knots. I wanted to highlight what Blackness means, especially in America. Without a DNA test, you do not know your roots. So I used lots of different African fabrics, and big gold earrings’ used the fabrics to draw attention to her lips, cheekbones, and forehead. The African masks inspired me we have in my house, so I painted the sculpture black. This also made the bright orange and blue pop more on the surface. I had fun making this sculpture.

MarissaI made this collage of my sister. I wanted to accentuate her curly hair, so I decided to make her face more realistic with magazine cutouts and keep that part subtle and highlight her hair. I cut out squiggly papers with my exacto knife from the various cool patterns I found in the magazines I used for her hair.

Charlevoix Stone Earrings I cut a Charlevoix stone in half with a rock saw, then polished both sides and rounded them out to create thin oval earrings. I used polishing wheels of various roughness as well as hand polishing for extra shine.

Camp Michigania ClockI made this for a secret Santa Christmas in July gift. Camp Michigania is the family summer camp I worked at all four years of college. The sections of the clock represent the program areas at Camp. I got someone to cut a circle out of wood, then I sanded and widdled the circle down till it was more of a perfect circle. Then I used a Dremel to put a hole in the middle and widdled to make the hole big enough for the clock piece. Additionally, I widdled a square indent in the back for the clock piece to slide in. Then I stained the wood. I painted a horse for the Riding section then used leather braided bracelet pieces for its mane. For the Kids Camp section, I cut out paper versions of children’s book characters from the 90s since that’s when the person I was gifting it to was also born. I painted the background a light yellow because it made the pictures pop on the dark wood background. Then I used mod podge to attach the images. I polished a bunch of Petoskey and Charlevoix stones for the Nature section and used E6000 to glue them to the wood.I just painted a picture of the swimming docks for the Swimming section.I got an archery staff to give me an old target for the Archery section. I cut the target out to fit on the clock face.I was inspired by the Lifetime Fitness white silhouette people doing activities for the fitness and yoga section. So I paired those together with symbols commonly used in Yoga studios. I got an old tennis racket from the tennis staff and cut the net part out for the Tennis section. Then I painted the racket and a ball below and glued the netting over it. I used paracord in triangular shapes for the Ropes section to fill the space. I used nails and super glue to attach the rope. It was a trial and error process. I got old Hobie sails from the Boating staff for the Boating section. Then cut them to look like tiny sailboats on the lake. I painted the boat logos on each of the little sails I made.I got used targets for the Riflery section and mod podge them onto the wood. I made a stained glass dragonfly for the Ceramics and Arts and Crafts section. I cut the pieces out of big sheets of glass, sanded the edges down, and saudered the pieces together. She worked at Maintenance, so I included that as an area at Camp. I hammered nails into the wood and geometrically arranged small wood pieces. I also painted the Michigania sign that directs people to CampCamp, because they make the sign at Maintenance.I sealed all the paper and paint sections with polyurethane, so it was a multiple-step, multiple-day process. The whole thing took four days: polishing the rocks whittling, painting, scavenging for materials, and putting it all together. I finished the clock with some lines from boating, which I nailed to the perimeter of the clock.

FishI made this stained-glass fish. First, I drew out the design I wanted and selected glass I liked. For the fins, I chose a textured clear glass that looked like scales. Then I cut the glass to size and smoothed the sharp edges so that the copper tape would adhere. Then I added the flux and soldered it together. I finalized it using glass paint to add details and glued a melted glass bead on for its eye.

Petoskey Stone Knife I bought a knife. Then I took the handle off. Using two Petoskey stones, I used the shaping wheels we had at the camp I worked at to make them into the shape of the knife's handle. The other side was the reverse, dark on top, light on the bottom. It was challenging to make the back of the rock flat to glue it onto the knife. All and all, it was a fun process and took several hours on the wheels.

Wood Burned Cutting BoardI made a personalized cutting board as a secret Santa gift for someone who was going to culinary school. I wood burned the cutting board with his initials, dog and favorite activities, and other interests.