Week 15- Artist Interview- Sara Garcia

This week in the art galleries was the Drawn Out 2015 BFA Illustration/Animation Senior Show. I was really intrigued by all of the beautiful animation pieces because I had never seen anything like it before in the art galleries. I thought it was really cool and I loved looking at every piece of work. In particular, I really loved artist Sara Garcia’s exhibition. I loved all the pastel colors she used for her illustrations and the characters she was bringing to life on paper. Looking at each illustration I could see there was a small caption telling what was happening like a narration. I loved this the most because I wanted to know more about what was happening in the picture.

According to Garcia, she is a “head in the clouds kind of person”. She daydreams a lot when the real world becomes tough. As a sort of escape, she imagines stories about “fairy tales and fantasy” and this is what influences her work. She also has her stories take place in the past. I felt I could relate to Garcia’s work because I loved her escape from reality. The real world is tough and we all need something that can help us cope. For Garcia, that is drawing out stories from her daydreams and imaginations about a different time for her stories.

Week 15- Classmate Interview- Christian Posada

This week in the art galleries I had the chance to meet and have a conversation with fellow classmate Christian Posada! It was really nice talking to Christian because he was so nice and easy to talk to. I found out that he used to be a biology major but is now a psychology major. When I asked him what he wanted to do with his major he said he wasn’t really sure yet.  Christian is in his fourth year at CSULB and will be graduating next year. He told me that he is from West Covina which is pretty close to the city of Pomona. Chrisian dormed his freshman year but is now commuting to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it takes him an hour to get to school.

Christian told me that he has been working at Chipotle for two years now but just put in his two weeks notice. He used to be the manager at Chipotle. Christian seemed really excited about his new job he just got at Wells Fargo bank working as a teller. He said that he is excited and nervouse about starting at his new job. He also said that during the interview process he did really good and the managers liked him a lot.. Even another Wells Fargo was trying to get him to work at their location so that were fighting over him. Somehow Christian and I started talking about raves haha. He said that he has been to a few and he really likes them and I have been interested in going to one with my friends.

Week 14- Artist Interview- Andrea Albarran

This week in the art galleries the shows displayed many paintings which are one of my favorite types of art to view. The Liminal show was very interesting and i loved the variety in all the paintings. Liminal was the title which means, of or relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. The painting that I liked the most was Mi Familia by artist Andrea Albarran. What appealed the most to me was all the vibrant colors that were incorporated in the painting itself. Also, the painting looked like it depicted a hispanic family. I come from a Mexican Family so I felt that I could really relate to it. I have had family members who wore the traditional dresses the girls in the painting were wearing also.

However, what I also noticed from the painting was the serious and almost dark mood that it gave me. The colors were very bright and light on the family members but behind the colors contrasted making it seem much darker in the background. the family also looked unhappy to me and a little sad. I felt that there was tension and issues the family was having. I felt that there was a story about the hardships the family had went through. According the Albarran, “The utilization of color exposed” emotion to her. I could tell there was definitely many emotions the artist was portraying throughout her contrast in colors.

Week 14- Classmate Interview- Kylie Louthan

This week in the art galleries I had the chance to meet and have a conversation with fellow classmate Kylie Louthan. Kylie was a very nice person to talk to and a cool girl. Kylie is a first year at CSULB this year just like me so we had that in common. She is a film major also and wants to be a film editor as a career. She commutes from the City of Stanton which is close to Buena Park and Knotts berry Farm. Kylie attended Los Alamitos High School which I was familiar with because I went there for a soccer game in High School. I learned that Kylie played a sport in High School for four years as did I and she played tennis. She said that she really enjoyed the sport and did it for fun.

During our conversation Kylie and I talked a lot about our jobs and how we manage school with a job. She said that she works at a small movie theater in West Minister and  has been working there for three years! Kylie also told me that she was too young to be working when she got hired at the age of sixteen but the theater really needed new people. She said it was a little difficult working while being the youngest at her job and getting along with her co-workers. She says that the job is pretty easy for her. Kylie’s favorite food to eat is Mexican food and Italian food. her favorite movie is Kick Ass and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Week 13- Artist Interview- Shihori Nakayama

This week in the art galleries i found myself intrigued in the Dutzi Gallery. The art show was called Recapturing the Moment by artist Shihori Nakayama. It was Nakayama’s Illustration MA Thesis Exhibition show. The art pieces in the exhibit were beautiful and I really loved the little details that went into every drawing. Nakayama combined pen and ink drawings and prints for her art pieces. What I thought was really unique in this exhibit was how the artists didn’t just want the viewer to look at each drawing, but to look closer and see what is really there. There seemed to be so much detail in each pieces throughout the drawings and it made me want to look at what the smaller, fainter images were.

According to Nakayama, the drawings in the exhibit were imagery based on her personal life. Her drawings aim “exploring specific memories” and trying to “reclaim those significant moments in her life”. One thing Nakayma enjoyed from this process of creating these pieces was “creating line and mark through pen and ink”. The artist’s goal was to “create a world that engages viewers to look closely into all the details and be lost in that moment”. This exhibit was truly a journey in which Nakayama takes us on, to look into her memories that she has recreated with her detailed  drawings and prints so the viewer can look closer and not just the big picture but the specific points behind it.

Week 13- Classmate interview- Alexx Dunk

This week in the art galleries I had the chance ti have a conversation with fellow classmate Alexx Dunk. Alexx was a really nice a friendly person to talk to and overall a cool person! Alexx is in her fouth year at CSULB and said that she is planning on staying a year and a half more. She is majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry. However, she said that it it getting very difficult and tough these last semesters beacause she took all her GE’s first, and now she’s piling up the hard classes. Alexx’s goal is to become a dentist and is going to be taking the dental admissions test this summer. She is stressed at the thought of having to study all summer for the test. Alexx is originally from San Diego dorms at the hillside dorms.

What I thought was pretty unique and funny is that Alexx says that she wanted to attend CSULB because of the band Sublime which is her favorite band and she loves rock music as do I! I told her that my favorite band as a kid and still is is Paramore and she said that she likes them too. Alexx has been working at Hooters for two years and she started working there since she was eighteen. Alexx told me that she enjoys working at Hooters because its fun and defended what people think about her job and said that its a family restaurant. Alexx aldo told me that she has a younger brother which she is concerned about when he leaves too college soon because he is nervous. She also is very artistic and enjoys painting in her free time. Her favorite food is quesadillas  because she likes cheese and is a picky eater.

Week 12- Artist Interview- Katherine Cox

This week in the art galleries I really loved the art show in the Dutzi Gallery! The show was a ceramic show by Katherine Cox called Domestic Implications and it was her BFA Exhibition .  I felt I could really relate to this style of art because I took a ceramic class when i was in tenth grade in High School and i really loved it. Although my ceramic class was just a beginner class i felt like i could connect to the art pieces. I thought the pieces were so beautiful from the designs on each piece like the flowers, bears, and wolves, to the glaze color on each pot that shared the same color which was like a light blue color that I thought looked really beautiful and connected each piece to each other.

While I was viewing the art pieces around the room, I felt some ” Human experiences” as Cox described that we, as the audience are going to feel when being “drawn into the natural elements of the piece”. Such as the pieces that were decorated with flowers on the pots were according to Cox ” suggest a presence of the ideals of femininity”. I couldn’t help but be captivated and intrigued by the flowers because as Cox pointed out, it appeals to me being a woman. 

Week 12- Classmate Interview- Kimberly Carrasco

Week twelve in the art galleries I had a chance to meet and have a conversation with fellow classmate Kimberly Carrasco. Kimberly told me that she is a sophomore at CSULB this year how exciting ! I thought it was really cool that Kimberly is a sociology major. I took sociology last semester for the first time and I really enjoyed the class, it was really intriguing to me. Kimberly told me that she works with a professor with the  undergraduate research opportunity program. She told me that they have been working on a poster to present recently  on the subjects autism and equity. Kimberly’s favorite color is red! She also told me that she is from the city of Lynwood and played soccer until she was in tenth grade and had to stop to focus on school more. Kimberly also has some siblings; one brother and one sister.

Kimberly commutes to school by taking the bus. Kimberly told me that this summer she would like to volunteer somewhere, maybe the youth center by her house to work with kids. I also asked Kimberly in what she was interested in doing after college. She told me that she would like to be an autism therapist for kids, but she is still not sure. One thing she is sure about is that she would like a job where she can be around kids and help them. I thought it was really cool that she said she has traveled to Mexico before and she would also love to travel Europe. Specifically places that has nice beaches because she enjoys going to the beach. Kimberly’s favorite food is hot wings and I also love hot wings. I told her that she should try buffalo wild wings and she says that she will.

Week 11- Activity- Plaster Casting

This week eleven was to do plaster casting. I chose to do the activity at Seal Beach and had my boyfriend helped me with it. First of all, I went to Home Depot and bought the necessities. Such as plaster, a bucket, and stir sticks. I already had a shovel at my house so I didn’t have to spend money on that. Then we drove over to Seal Beach, found a good spot, and started to dig a whole in a damp enough part of the sand. I tried to make a mold of my hand in the sand a few times but the sand kept falling on it. Eventually the mold of my hand kept its shape a little so thats when I started to mix the plaster with some water. However thats where I messed up a little. The plaster was drying really fast in the bucket so I tried pouring It in the sand and It didn’t turn out very good:( . The result was not was I wanted but It was a good try haha. After the plaster casting I just stayed at the beach a little longer because the weather was nice  and I ended up having a good time at the beach.

Week 11- Artist interview- Arezoo Bharthania

This week 11, my favorite show in the art galleries this week helped me get out of my comfort zone because I chose a different form of art to view. I usually tend to be interested in art that has people as the subjects in paintings or drawings because I feel that I can connect to it and be more familiar with it . However, the art show in the Gatov Gallery East called Escape The Gaze of The Blind Censor was very different than paintings or drawings. The art show featured an arrangement of colorful fabrics hanging around the room that looked like curtains with different designs on them. The art show was artist Arezoo Bharthania’s  MFA Thesis Exhibition in partial fufillment of the studio art degree.

I found it very interesting with the descriptions posted around the room which had the title of the pieces along with something else written in a different language but I’m not sure what it is. It might have just been a translation as well. Moreover, the exhibition gave off a dark feeling to me with the dark colors of the curtains. Also the dripping of the paint in one piece made it seem as if it wasn’t supposed to look perfect. According to Bharthania, she feels that the curtains represent “shrouded restraints”  and “the other side of the curtain” was her home which I found very insightful.