CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated the wrong location for LAC’s art gallery.
An art exhibition featuring bold student artwork in various media like photography, ceramics, sculptures and paintings will open Saturday at LAC’s art gallery.
The opening event will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the K building in room 100.
This annual exhibition named the Juried Student Art Exhibition, is put on by LBCC’s Visual and Media Arts department and has a contest component.
The top three students will be announced at the closing event on March 26, and $2,000 will be given out in prizes. The first place winner will be awarded $1,000, the second winner $600, and third place $400.
Among the competitors is studio arts major student Hannah Justesen, who experimented with film photography for the first time in preparation for the show.
Her piece, a large-scaled 24 by 36 inch photo print, was created using a traditional darkroom technique known as a “negative sandwich,” a process that combines two separate images into one during an enlargement process.
A submitted photograph to the Juried Student Art Exhibition that was created by studio arts major student Hannah Justesen is displayed. (Jacyn King)
“So it’s a picture of an arm and a mouth put together in an enlarger,” Justesen said, “It was a new medium and it’s film photography and it was something that I’ve never done before. So it was a lot of trial and error especially with an experimental technique like developing two photos together, trying to get things in focus was just a little difficult.”
The imagery in her work is centered around themes of self-consumption and anxiety, referencing personal experiences and symbolic references.
“… I worked from images of self-cannibalising, so eating yourself as a way to express mental anxiety… I started from images of ‘Ouroboros,’ the serpent that eats its own tail, looking at that idea of what consumes our time, what consumes our thoughts … Experiencing anxiety and also experiencing the body that doesn’t always function in the way that I want it to, so having to sit with my thoughts a lot just was a jumping off point for it.” Justesen said.
Despite the competitive nature, Justesen explains what the event means to her, “It’s a nice way to look at everyone’s work and kind of celebrate the program and the professors and the students because a lot of people work so hard. I think it’s more about making connections with other students, people I want to work with. I think that’s the best thing to come out of this show”.
Solomon Weekly, an art major student, is also in the running, submitting an animated music video to the competition. This is his second semester at LBCC, and he learned about the exhibit through campus promotion.
Weekly’s submission is an animated music video built around an original character he created, inspired by the song “Garbage” by Tyler the Creator.
“When I hear music, it inspires me to make visuals for it,” Weekly said. “ I love storytelling and story building, so with this song, I wanted to create a character and make a mini cinematic story for them.”
Weekly, who has been working in animation for some time, said the Juried exhibit offered a professional platform to showcase his work.
While all students, regardless of art experience, can enter the competition, there will be an initial screening to determine who will make it onto the exhibit.
According to ceramics professor Gerardo Monterrubio, one of the judges involved in the selection process, the goal was to find pieces that stood out.
“It has to be dynamic enough to catch your attention,” Monterrubio said. “Something about the work has to be visually intriguing.”
A painted clay sculpture of a pair of overalls stands among the rest of the artwork submitted by students to be judged, chosen and eventually put on display during the Juried Student Art Exhibition. The chosen artwork will be displayed at the on-campus art gallery at LAC starting Feb. 28. (Jacyn King)
In addition, the art department is aiming to award students impacted by ICE a $1000 prize.
Art Made Between Opposite Sides (AMBOS), a binational artist collective documenting life at the border through art and mutual aid to advance pro-migrant narratives in the U.S. and Mexico, donated $500 to the added prize pool.
While Karla Aguiniga, the art gallery director, expects to raise the last $500 through donations.
“There’ll be the separate at least $500 for this… I think we are calling it the “Art without Borders prize,” said Aguiniga.
“…For the past two years we had an art prize where at least one of the three top winners was an undocumented student out of their own merit. So this year, I was like, … it should just be a given that we give a prize to a student who is undocumented out of, like, just obviously, stuff is really hard right now. So just kind of out of awareness of the immigration crisis, obviously all the raids, like that’s impacting a lot of our students,” said Aguiniga.
Monterubbio, reflected on the diversity of the student body, highlighting how immigrants and undocumented students have been represented on campus.
“We are showing the talent of a lot of students here, undocumented. People are here to get an education, and when they get an education, they contribute to society. Historically, the best societies are those that are diverse in ideas and backgrounds,” said Monterubbio.
He goes on to add that the exhibition is reflecting just that, featuring work from students across disciplines and experience level, from ceramics, sculptures to paintings and video graphics.
“ICE is terrorizing our communities and people rightly fear this,” said Monterrubio.“For art to provide some type of symbolic piece that maybe celebrates the positive contributions that students provide in the art world and in society in general. I think because we are showing the talents of a lot of students here, undocumented… you know it’s the opposite of crime, it’s talent.”
The exhibition will conclude with a closing reception and award ceremony March 26 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m also in K-100. Prize winners will be announced during the event.
Jennifer Morales, an instructional associate in ceramics at LBCC, looks through jewelry and metalworking pieces by students submitted to the Juried Student Art Exhibition. The exhibition opens on Feb. 28. (Jacyn King)
You must be logged in to post a comment.