In anticipation of her upcoming project for the Festival of the Arts, JustArts talked with Livia Bell '13 about her project, entitled "Structural Healing." Bell describes her project as a commentary on the dilapidated architecture on campus and the idea of a Band-Aid as a quick fix. Bell, who took several years off before coming to Brandeis, is an Education Studies major and Sculpture minor.

JustArts: What are your plans for after graduation?

Livia Bell: As of right now, I'm going to be spending the summer in either Philadelphia or Seattle. In late July, early August, I'm heading to Samoa for six months to work in an art center. Basically, I'll be teaching art classes to children and working with two artists, Wendy Percival and her husband Steve Percival. He is a documentary filmmaker and she mainly works in ceramic, but also bone carving and woodcarving.

JA: Do you work in other art mediums besides sculpture?

LB: I used to paint, but I don't consider myself a painter ... I would love to paint more, but I haven't really been brave enough to go into that. We use a lot of different mediums within sculpture, which is great. Lately, I've been working with latex paint, but this semester I've also been getting into working with clay and forming the human body.

JA: What is it about sculpture that initially drew you to it?

LB: Specifically at Brandeis, I took a 3-D design class with Prof. Tory Fair (FA) and she made it so that it was accessible to everybody and made it clear that it was something that could be done by anybody. I didn't feel that way about painting or drawing and I felt like I could develop my sculpture skills in a much more free environment.

JA: Can you explain to me your Festival of the Arts project, "Structural Healing?"

LB: I'm trying to make students more aware of what's around them on campus and help foster this feeling of responsibility-the fact that we can help take care of our campus and make things happen. It's also commentary on Band-Aids as an inaccessible tool in a sense that they are not the color of everybody. I wrote in my first description of the project that I read this article called "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" and in it they talk about [the color of Band-Aids] and it's a really amazing article. I read it years ago, but it's still in my mind. My project is putting brick patterned Band-Aids on every building, including the new non-brick buildings, to highlight the disparity between the conditions. Similar to the way a Band-Aid's color does not reflect the skin it sits on, these Band-Aids use the universal color of brick to describe architecture in very much the same way as skin tone.

JA: What else besides art helped give you the idea for your project, including the anthropology article about the knapsack you previously mentioned?

LB: I was a preschool teacher before I came to Brandeis for about five years and I'm always trying to make art projects that are accessible to children and everybody. I would see these Band-Aids that had dropped on the ground and in the beginning, it wasn't yet about the ideas I've developed for the project. It was just about making art that was accessible to all-people who would recognize what that is and hopefully ignite some spark in them. That's kind of my idea with children-I'm always trying to encourage them to create and express themselves through whatever they choose. A lot of what I do in art is me being a teacher through my art.

JA: What do you hope the Brandeis community will take away from your project?

LB: I'm hoping that they see it as something that they can partly appreciate as something interesting and accessible. There's also the social justice factor aspect of it and wanting people to see a difference between the buildings that are repaired, newer, and the ones that are dilapidated. Ignite that sense of responsibility for our campus.
JA: Have you been part of the festival in previous years?

LB: No. Last year, I helped my friend Sarah Hershon '14, who was the "yarn bomber." I didn't have a big enough idea until this year.
JA: Could you describe previous sculptures you've created or any projects similar to this?

LB: I haven't worked with latex paint before and this is the first time I've attempted to create large Band-Aids. I did another large-scale sculpture three semesters ago, which was an eight by eight umbrella and represented a form of shelter because that was an assignment for a class. It was so much fun to make something so giant. Mostly what I do are things in smaller scale. I like working with my hands a lot and forming things.

JA: What's your favorite class you have taken at Brandeis?

LB: I would have to say "Implicating the Body in Sculpture" with Tory Fair. Basically, we get to form bodies with our hands or we get to cast pieces of our body or someone else's. It's an exploration class and we got to experience all these different materials and body parts.

JA: How would you describe the purpose of the Festival of the Arts and its significance on campus?

LB: I think it is Brandeis giving students an opportunity to do art and feel supported when they do it. In sculpture, it's really difficult to find funding and the money to pay for everything you need, as well as the advisers that the festival supplies who are rooting for you. That's what you're getting with the festival-these people who are saying yes, we do believe in this project that you want to do and we see the merit in it, so let's make it happen.

JA: Do you have a particular memory or moment in your past that inspired you to do sculptures?

LB: When I was younger, I would go to this camp at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in California, and we would be doing art including sculpture. I would be sitting at the table and I would want to spend hours more doing this project. My favorite project I made was a giant giraffe out of toilet paper tubes and my mom kept it for like 10 years. I can still see that image in my head, how proud of myself I was that I made that. It wasn't even whether it was a good giraffe, but that I made the giraffe and someone appreciated it.

JA: If you could describe your art style in one or a few words what would it be?

LB: Accessible and interactive are the two words I would go with because that's how I like to experience art. At the museum, if I could, I would go up and touch every painting but obviously I can't. With my art, I want everyone to think that they can touch the Band-Aids, and experience what they feel and look like in every aspect.

JA: Is there any particular piece of artwork at the Rose Art Museum that you identify with?

LB: Most recently, what I can think of is when they put the mirrors on the ground. It was just the fact that the mirrors were something people could come in and break. I love a lot of the artwork there but because of the sculpture aspect of me, [the floor] was like a huge sculpture to me.

JA: Is there any particular artist who has impacted you as an individual and artist?

LB: I've been working a lot with Prof. Deb Wheeler (FA). She's been really influential. We don't have similar artistic styles, but it's just the way she thinks about her art, the pace at which she does things and it's great to have another artist on campus to work with.

JA: Are there any other experiences you have had that have impacted you as an artist?

LB: It took me a long time to come to this point in my thinking about art and being able to even apply for a grant for the Festival of the Arts and thinking that I could do this large-scale project. Part of it is obviously that I took a break and then came back to college and had all these life experiences in between, which really changed me for the better. It's also that my brother is an amazing artist, so I've had that around me my whole life and being able to see what he can do has been a big positive influence on me.

JA: What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating "Structural Healing?"

LB: It has been a series of challenges. I started the project last semester before getting the Festival of the Arts grant. It took me all last semester to figure out the right paint to use for the Band-Aids. So I would say the entire project has been a challenge that I was not willing to give up on.

JA: Is there any one sculpture you have done that was the most challenging to create?

LB: I guess it would be this project because it's something that is so in the public eye and that's a big deal for me. Usually, projects are small and internal, but now I am throwing it out there and hoping that everyone appreciates it. But if they don't appreciate it, that's great too. Whatever they have to say about it because I just want them to have something to say. Making this project has taken a lot out of me-in a good way.

JA: Do you have any piece of artwork that stands out in your mind as more meaningful, or a favorite?

LB: Yeah, I'm working on something right now that I feel very connected to. It is part of a series I'm starting to do-the transformation from liquid to a solid. I'm trying to form liquids into clay or hard materials, and then that liquid is going into the form of a woman. I've made two so far. One of them is this woman who is a big woman and it looks like she has been poured into a mug. She's made out of bronze. There is another woman that is in the form of a stream of water. I'm going to make her out of wax. They are small pieces and every mark I've made with my hands and I feel very invested in the project.

JA: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

LB: I see myself, hopefully, making art or opening an art-based daycare somewhere where that usually wouldn't be available to children and families because that's usually only in affluent areas.