The first adjunct faculty art exhibition held in three years will feature a painting of family, a sculpture made from an American flag and cacti, handmade performance props and more, with an opening ceremony being held Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the LBCC Art Gallery.
Gallery Director Karla Aguiniga seeks to revive a campus tradition of having adjunct faculty pieces at the gallery with the exhibit, titled “Satellites,” which runs until Dec. 10.
“We (had) at least one exhibition a year where we have either our part-time faculty or our adjuncts to try to have at least one opportunity where we can show the work of our current part-time faculty. This is the first time we’ve done it in three years,” Aguiniga said.
Aguiniga emphasized the importance of spotlighting the faculty who balance their teaching and creative practice, and shared that a wide range of mediums are to be featured at the exhibit.
“There’s painting, there’s drawings, there’s sculptures, there’s mixed media. We have some print making work, there’s even jewelry that’s also a video, so that’s more mixed media …. This one artist, she’s showing a video that is from a performance and then we’re showing some of the props she made for that performance. … We have some work from not just the visual arts, but also film, from our film faculty, there’s set design from our now full-time scenographer,” Aguiniga said.
The decision to name the exhibition “Satellites” served as a metaphor for how adjunct professors work across multiple campuses, with Aguiniga crediting Printmaking Instructor Christian Ward for the name.
When it came to selection, Aguiniga said the process was open and inclusive, allowing faculty members to represent their own field by submitting three pieces, and picking based on what would seem interesting to students.
Adjunct Art Professor Deitra Charles contributed her work titled “My Brother”, which she made with water soluble graphite in 2018, and explained that the piece carries both symbolic and literal meanings saying that the scale of the piece was intentional.
Adjunct Art Professor Deitra Charles below her art piece “My Brother” on display at the LBCC Art Gallery at Building K today.
“It’s actually one of my brothers, he was probably around 21 at the time. … I wanted to kind of demystify a lot of the stereotypes out there about black men and the fear that people have of black men and I wanted to empower him. … I wanted people to see that. I didn’t want it to just be a small piece, I wanted it to be bold, big and in your face, yet approachable,” Charles said.
She hopes the work encourages open interpretation and dialogue.
“I hope they take the many different interpretations that come from this piece. It can stand for social justice, it can stand for empowerment. So I wanted it to be whatever it means to them. Whatever it means to me personally is one thing, but I always want my art to be whatever it means to the viewer looking at it. I also hope that they take away a new medium, perhaps that they can work with,” Charles said.
Participating in “Satellites” also gave Charles a chance to reconnect with the LBCC art community, explaining that it allowed her to “get involved in a way where I can see the work of my peers. I’m excited to see the works that are in the show.”
Adjunct Art Professor Luis Moreno, who is also an LBCC alum, contributed a piece called “Postcolonial Self-Portrait”, a sculpture composed of an American flag cut in strips with its stars cut out, hoisted up by real cacti bearing fruit.
Adjunct Art Professor Luis Moreno prepares a shredded American flag lacking its stars for his sculpture “Postcolonial Self-Portrait” at the LBCC Art Gallery in Building K today. A fan underneath the sculpture is intended to be used to keep the piece moving. (Rafael Gomez)
”The cacti represents my body. I have a lot going on, and wanted to render that through it. … I always want there to be a relationship, that both of these things are in a process of change, always. The cactus is an alive, living thing,” Moreno said.
Adjunct Art Professor Robert Acuna’s work draws inspiration from automotive culture, blending art techniques with materials and aesthetics found in the car industry, describing his process as straightforward and rooted in personal enjoyment rather than interpretation.
“I play with a lot of automotive industry work. So a lot of airbrush metallic paint, metal flake, lowbrow car culture. I try to keep it subtle, … I’m not that deep about my paintings. I just hope that when viewers go see them, I hope they enjoy them visually and that’s enough for me. … I make stuff that I want to see,” Acuna said.
Acuna also mentioned that the upcoming exhibit is a step in the right direction for representing adjunct faculty and the work they do.
“This is the first one I’ve been in that’s just adjunct (faculty) itself so I think it’s a really good representation. … I think that the art department here is really strong, the faculty in general, they are really good,” Acuna said.
An Art Talk will be held on Nov. 15, where students are able to talk to the adjunct faculty who have their work displayed at the gallery.
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