The newest showing at LBCC’s art gallery, “Satellites”, featuring adjunct art professors’ work, open through Dec. 10, features unique pieces of work such as giant stone sculptures, black and white graphite paintings and abstract decomposed photographs. Some of the artists were featured in a panel to talk about their work and their status as adjuncts on Nov. 15.
Panelists included adjunct art professors Dietra Charles, ZZ Krebs and Christian Salcedo Ward, who talked with the curator of the gallery, Karla Aguiniga, answering questions from students, most of whom were in painting classes just before the event started.
The artists explained why they decided to submit their pieces to be featured in the exhibit, revealing that some have existed for many years before being shown off to the public.
Adjunct professor Dieta Charles featured her graphite art piece titled “My Brother,” originally conceived in 2018 as a way to honor her beloved brother and also relate to race-based tensions.
“I wanted people to see the kindness and gentleness that he represents and that I grew up with. … I wanted to break down the stereotypes of black men and show him as approachable,” Charles said.
Artists submitted at least three works from their portfolios to Aguiniga, the curator, for consideration to be included alongside the meaning and what the work means to them.
ZZ Krebs, the artist behind the sculpture “Momentum,” an abstract work made of stone and glass crystals, discussed how the piece doesn’t have one set meaning and how the art and creative process mean to her.
“I kind of think of them [art pieces] as like stories within themselves, when I have a show I think about how the work connects to each other, … The viewer can create their own interpretation to the work, which is really important to me rather than being straightforward,” Krebs said.
Artists’ work went from the extremely “out there” concepts, such as a giant obelisk made of beeswax covered in political slogans to the more mundane, such as adjunct professor Christian Ward’s work, which featured printed abstract interpretations of photos taken on his morning walks.
When asked about his creative process for the pieces, he credited simplicity and the mundane.
“Just like unimportant things in the street kind of have influence over me, it’s kind of powerful. It’s kind of what these pieces are about, just looking and finding values in simple things.”
Throughout the event, the adjunct professors brought up their adjunct status and compared the pros and cons of being part of it.
One of the major cons mentioned was the fact that they had to work in multiple colleges and come from a long way, one professor featured in the exhibit being from Oceanside in San Diego County and others having to teach in community colleges as far away as Palm Springs.
This has caused a lack of time to work on their own art.
The term “Satellites” for the art gallery was chosen due to the metaphorical “satellite-like” nature of the adjunct-artists.
“Like satellites, these artists travel their own arcs across the city–crossing freeways, weaving through neighborhoods, and carrying the weather of their studios with them–before converging in Long Beach to share their work,” according to the LBCC website.
“Satellites” is set to run for three and a half more weeks, with the last chance to see the exhibit on Dec. 10.
