Student art exhibit reception planned Dec. 3; show closes Dec. 12

A reception for “Imaginarium,” a student exhibit at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences gallery, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3. The show, which runs through Dec. 12, features work from the Materials and Methods course in the Visual and Public Art department. Senior lecturer Juan Luna Avin teaches the course and curated the show. 

Work by 15 students makes up the exhibit and incorporates a variety of media, including works on paper, paintings, sculptures and a video installation. They were created as part of the capstone project process.  

“Students were encouraged to work in their media of choice as they explored content and strengthened their ideas for capstone,” Avin said. “They also learned installation logistics, including how to measure, display, and light artwork and create exhibit labels. This hands-on experience will help students professionally present their work in a gallery setting for their spring capstone group exhibition and beyond.”

One piece by Melanie Gatica, titled “It’s Far too Hard,” is an acrylic painting that incorporates charcoal and soft pastel. It features an image of a woman’s eyes framed by a car’s rearview mirror. Flowers and a chain with a cross adorn the mirror, but beyond that, the canvas is black.

In her artist’s statement, Gatica said the piece is, in part, an homage to the “Chicano tradition” of decorating the rearview mirror. The woman’s eyes are meant to hint at “sadness and emotional weight. The stark black background symbolizes confinement and overwhelming emotions,”

Cate Goldberry’s “The Machine/Unborn Chicken,” is an imaginary still life focused on Millenial information overload and inspired by Radiohead’s 1997 album “OK Computer.”

“In this piece,” Goldberry said in her statement, “the ‘unborn chicken’ (in reference to Radiohead lyrics) represents … humanity as infantile, vulnerable, and asleep.” The chicken appears on a computer monitor. A second monitor is filled with advertisements and messages that are feeding into the chicken’s monitor.  

“I want to stress with this piece that since we are a new generation, born into a new world of technology, we have no idea the repercussions that could come down the road as a result of this constant overload of information and media we are subjected to,” Goldberry said. 

Hours for the gallery are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.