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Justin Novak

Associate Professor

Availability:

Education:

BFA, Communications Design, Pratt Institute
MFA, State University of New York, New Paltz

Bio

Justin Novak is an artist and an Associate Professor of Art at ECU. Justin worked for 17 years as a freelance illustrator in New York City, for a range of book, newspaper, and magazine publishers. A second career followed, as an exhibiting artist working primarily with ceramic and drawing media.

Websites:

Research Interests

Justin Novak's research interests span illustration and ceramics. Having trained as an illustrator and worked as a freelance illustrator (whose clients have included The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Macmillan Publishing, HarperCollins, Tor Books and the Book-of-the-Month Club), his work has since shifted mostly to small-scale experimental projects, recently in collaboration with Lodger, an intermedia exhibition and event space, small press and communal dining hub. His work in ceramics has ranged from figurative sculpture to tableware. Much of this has been initiated or developed within international residency programs, including the Kohler Factory in Wisconsin, the Wałbrzych Factory in Wałbrzych, Poland, the Arabia Factory in Helsinki, the International Ceramic Research Center at Guldagergaard in Skælskør, Denmark and the National Workshops of Art and Crafts in Copenhagen.

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Ceramics CRAM 303 26/SU

Description

This course varies in topic from section to section, and is repeatable for credit provided that the thematic topic has changed. Because Ceramics spans a wide range of processes and skills, and traverses the realms of contemporary art, as well as the applied and decorative arts, the curriculum necessitates diversification. Students will develop their craft while responding to a specific cultural context or the unique implications of one approach to the medium. Merging critical inquiry with manual skill-building, this course will integrate a specialized focus with an investigation of broader poetic concerns of ceramic practice. Topics will span sculptural approaches, utilitarian design, and practices that bridge both.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Industrial Design INDD 330 26/SU

Description

This course explores the concepts and materials of ceramics as they relate to studio practice. Assigned projects provide expanded learning of materials, equipment, techniques and processes of ceramics, with an emphasis on the concepts and contexts of contemporary ceramics, and a focus on personal work and individual exploration. Self-directed projects included determining the core concepts and intents of the work and the choice of techniques, materials and type of firings. Participation in group activities such as critiques, lectures, presentations and demonstrations form an integral part of this course.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Ceramics CRAM 208 26/SU

Description

Students will develop their craft while responding to a specific cultural context or the unique implications of one approach to the medium. Merging critical inquiry with manual skill-building, this course will integrate a specialized focus with an investigation of broader poetic concerns of ceramic practice. Topics will vary in topic from section to section, and will span sculptural approaches, utilitarian design, and practices that bridge both.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Foundation Studio Courses FNDT 174 26/SP

Description

This course introduces students to the basic vocabularies, materials and methodologies of contemporary illustration. Through presentations, research, iterative exercises, group discussions, and constructive critiques, students will explore the key fields, processes, and media that form the basis of illustration practice. Students will form a basic foundation of the materials and principles associated with visual communication, and their professional outlets. Through critical analysis and reflection, students will explore the utilization of these artistic concepts and principles, contextualized within social, historical, and contemporary frameworks. Upon entering the illustration program in their second year, students will have a strong underpinning of technical and conceptual skills ready to develop further in a variety of illustration fields.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Praxis PRAX 300 26/SP

Description

This third year course offers the opportunity for students to develop their practice within the discourse of contemporary and historical art discourse. Students will acquire a critical vocabulary for understanding their own trajectories in dialogue with the context and history of art, through group critiques, discussions of pertinent writings, and individual and group presentations of research on a variety of subjects related to their area of practice. A Dialogues course is an investigation of artistic practice premised on a student's own interest to situate their work in a broader discourse and professional realm. They will learn skills related to completing projects, making presentations, speaking in public, leading discussions, writing, and integrating research and knowledge within their creative practice. Weekly meetings will allow for critiques of self-directed studio projects, discussion of assigned readings, and presentations of research projects.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.