Recently I’ve thought about how we all grow up from being a little kid and exploring this world and becoming a unique human being. I’ve also seen a lot of the bad that people have done like school shootings, robberies, and child abuse like ion the case of a kid named Gabriel Fernandez. These thoughts led me to the idea that we are innocent when we’re little kids, but as we grow older, individuals turn into these ugly beings that cause harm to others and hurt people in so many ways. What I tried to communicate in my drawing was exactly that on how innocence goes away as we grow older and for some people it just gets so bad that people cause harm to others. I think I was successful in sending that message because I turned something that reminded us of our childhood and turned it into something ugly that doesn’t go with that innocence. People will see the middle fingers and words that offend and want to take that apart from their childhood because it wouldn’t be something a little kid would do or say. If I did this message again, I would probably add more detail in the background to create a stronger message and show how society can take away this innocence as well. Another idea I would explore is how Downtown Long Beach looks compared to other parts of Long Beach by taking pictures that not many people would be comfortable with looking at.
Melissa Flores is an undergraduate trying to reach her BFA in Drawing and Painting. Some of their interests and ideas that they like to explore are American consumerism and in this work specifically, they explored growing up and how memories fade over time which fits into the exhibition title Near Far and how some memories perhaps are near and others are farther.
This art piece was black and white and they used charcoal. It appeared to have a sort of soft texture because of the thin horizontal and vertical lines behind the main object which was the girl with soft skin and soft clothes. The work was pretty big as it was about half of my size and I’m 5’9 so it allowed me to see what I was looking at more clearly. The work had realism because it depicted a girl and a ballon in one drawing and a bird in the other which seemed pretty realistic like many of our memories. The texture and the creases in the clothes and the balloon made the work seem more realistic because it had a lot of detail making it even more realistic.
This work encompasses the ideas that our memories fade over time which is depicted by the cutting of the balloon that will float away as well as the bird that could at any moment fly away. I asked if you could just look at one drawing and still get the same ideas or if you had to look at both. They said it would be better to look at both as they go hand in hand with each other and demonstrate the idea more powerfully if they’re put next to each other. Her drawings discussed the elusive nature of memories which could also be referenced by her older self portrait with a balloon that perhaps represents a memory as a child.
After discussing with the artist and understanding their ideas better, I viewed these drawings as what she said. Our memories fade over time and I could really see how this was represented by the bird and the cutting of the balloon. I thought it was a really interesting topic as well because often times I think of memories that I forgot about or I perhaps don’t even remember some memories although I wish I did. The soft texture and the black and white in my opinion resemble my memories quite well because the images of my memories are sort of faint as they are never really strong and I can clearly see them. Instead they’re sort of hazy and not really in color. Even memories that weren’t too long ago are like what the artist discusses in how memories fade away and they even become harder to remember. These art pieces although realistic, had so much depth into them that if I never discussed with the artist, I perhaps wouldn’t have understood the idea behind them.
The hail and rain from the rain on the morning of February 22nd has left this fence drenched. Rain water has filled the pots of these plants to help them grow and stay strong in the cycle of nature.The bright red of this flower contains rain drops on its petals and the green plant behind it is also completely covered in rain water. The streets of North Long Beach and the cars are left covered in water making the road conditions a little more dangerous, but even then there is beauty when you stop and stare.A river flows along the sidewalks of North Long Beach carrying the dirt and debris that could potentially end up in the ocean. Three different clouds can be seen where the on on the left is the most grey which perhaps poured all the rain. There is a contrast between the left, middle, and right cloud as they are all a different colors and the blue sky is trying to squeeze between them.
I chose the story of the rain that fell on Saturday because rain isn’t something that happens every day in Southern California. Therefore, I saw it as something special and worth taking a few moments to appreciate and look at. I think I decent because I thought I captured some images that are beautiful because it shows the bright colors in the rain like the red flower. I also managed to show the ugly side of the rain like the dirty water that could potentially end up in the ocean and the wet streets that make it more dangerous to drive. I would say that the image with the grey sky and the black asphalt is the “best” because there is a lot of contrast between the two colors. Additionally, the black and gray car also act like the sky and the street as they are the corresponding colors and also contrast against each other. I thought it created a certain environment that you can sort of feel and smell that gives a feeling of wanting to be in home and stay cozy because it looks so rough outside. I feel like the first image of the fence drenched in water isn’t typically a “great” image because its just wet fence with some hail on it. I still believe it helps show more of the rain on how along with water came hail which is even more rare than even just rain happening in SoCal. Next time I would go adventure more around Long Beach and capture more pictures to diversify what I can show to viewers instead of some views from just around my house. Another photo story I would tell is maybe about homelessness in Long Beach that way viewers can see the suffering of these individuals and force the local government to act more quickly and efficiently on this issue.
Artist:Amanda Quinlan Exhibition:unknown Media: Oil Paint Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Gatov Gallery East
Amanda Quinlan is a student at California State University, Long Beach, who in this piece, explored the theme of fog and its ability to defamiliarize, obscure, and alter perceptions. I forgot to ask what School of Art she was in but I would assume Drawing and Painting because on the website “https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-the-arts/art-design-events”, her name is listed under Drawing and Painting as the focus in her art show. She is into photography which helped her create this art piece as she took archived photos from a natural gas site, and combined her own photos of the site to create this painting. Her work explores the ideas of the importance of natural gas sites in a negative way as they pollute the environment and change the way nature is around the site.
This painting is composed of primarily green and blue oil paints that are very vivid and scream at the viewer. They scream at the viewer even more because of the fact that the canvas was large causing the colors to stand out more. The painting had elements of abstract and realism where there was a balance in between both to portray the large green natural gas plants. The green seemed to infect the clean blue as it spilled into the water and went into the sky. The painting seemed very rough due to buildings where the metal was accentuated by the green. It also had a lot of shapes because the buildings would be cut off in certain parts by the colors making it look sharp and jagged.
This painting is about the importance of the damage that natural gas sites have on the environment where they infect the surroundings through pollution in the air, water, and land. This painting is a combination of many photos throughout its existence where currently it is under construction. She chose to put the painting on such a large canvas because as a person, we can relate to it better because we both have a similar size. Many times, we relate better to those who are more similar to us and for this reason, she chose such a large canvas. She was stating how the color makes an overpowering experience for the viewer to help them truly realize the importance of the plant. The main idea the artist was exploring was that natural gas sites cause so much harm and she used strategic techniques to help the reader discover the meaning behind the painting and relate to it better.
Living in Long Beach, whenever I go Downtown, I see the port of Long Beach and all the toxic smoke that is being released into the air. I saw a similar idea in this painting where the natural gas site had a very big impact on the environment. Green can symbolize sickness and I saw that through the green buildings that could be said to be infecting its surroundings. In a way the green made me feel sick because I felt worried for the blue sky and water that looked to be clean. The port of Long Beach has existed for many years and over time it has had an importance in the environment such as the pollution in West Long Beach. Being that the painting was comprised of various photos throughout the history of the natural gas site, I was able to resonate with it because it showed something that was close to me and has had an impact on my life in some way. The size and the colors drew my attention because it was the biggest and brightest thing in the room. The message behind the painting drew my attention even more as I often see in person what was in the painting making me relate to the work to a greater extent.
This activity got frustrating especially when it came to drawing the trees because I tried to draw as best as I could but they had so much detail in them. I felt impatient with the process of drawing all the leafs or all the branches and so I tried to the best I could by being somewhat simple but I still tried to do add some emotion into it. I think I would like to do it again in the future but in a more comfortable setting as I think I would have preferred being in a park than at school. I think I would get better if I practiced for a long time because I would know how to draw something more realistically rather than something that looks odd and funny. I would need to focus more however because I need to practice correctly or else I will just continue to draw the same way and get the same ugly drawings. My major is Kinesiology and some simple sketches of the human body could be useful in my major as it can show me the anatomy of the human body or even the different bones inside the body. It could show me the way humans create movement or the proper form to do certain movements that could prevent injuries. I would agree that drawing is a language because you can convey messages through drawings wether it’s stating the importance of friendship or how we are oppressed by time. Drawings give us the ability to communicate feelings through different shapes and its edges or curves and color if it has any. Texture also provokes us to understand things in ways that words would be too blunt for. I think drawings can say things that are hard to say with words such as expressing your emotions of anxiety. A drawing can convey anxiety far greater than just saying “I have a lot of anxiety”. Drawings are another means of communication and they enable us to express ourselves to a greater extent.
The form of this art is large, it has a rough texture, and its color is a dull grayish and brown. It also has lines wrapping around the tree which create the rough texture. It aesthetic is that it creates an emotion of wisdom, pain, and sadness because of the texture and color of the tree. It makes me feel old yet young but like if I have gone through many struggles to get to where I am. The main message behind this art piece is that growth is rough. You will face struggles that will ultimately help you grow. You start off as one but as you grow older you begin to branch out and experience new things even if they’re struggles. Growth isn’t easy, it’s rough, but it very beautiful to watch. This tree was art before we put the frame was around it because the meaning was there regardless of the frame. The frame simply helps others focus on it and try to understand what it is saying. Therefore it will also be art even after we remove the frame. Art resides in every single aspect of the object because we have an experience with all those aspects combined which make us feel a certain way. Art can be in an action as well because it can still make us think more deeply and feel a certain way. Art is the result of thinking beyond only what is there and it encourages you to have a meaningful experience with something regardless if it’s an object or not.
The experience was weird but satisfying because typically when I do art I have something in mind that I want to put on the art piece. This time however, I had more fun because I was able to just do whatever I wanted instead of getting angry because I couldn’t draw or paint what I wanted. It was easier to do abstract painting and it was relieving because I was in a flow with my paint and I could just put my feelings down. My sister however seemed a little bit frustrated because she didn’t have an objective on what she was trying to paint. Most paintings are very obvious as to what they are showing so they have a lot of realism and there isn’t much thinking to them. Aside from admiring and looking at the technique in which the art piece was created, there is very little thinking. With my painting, I could put my emotions down and viewers could interpret my work in different ways.
As I performed maintenance art around the USU, I felt odd because no one really goes to school to clean an artwork. It was interesting however because it also felt alleviating to take off the dust and leave the metal shiny. It was like if I had taken pressure off of myself. Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum are different because Ukeles has more emotions of peace and tranquility to discover beauty under the dirt. Serra however produces emotions of rage and anger as if he wanted to destroy something. They are also the same because both are doing something to alleviate themselves because Ukeles perhaps found peace to find relief meanwhile Serra found alleviated himself by expressing his own emotions of anger. I believe both are art because there’s an intense display of emotions that can have an individual in awe to watch them perform these acts of art. Ukeles art was art not because she performed it at an art museum, but because it was an expression of emotions that can intrigue an individual as to what the purpose is behind her art. I believe art is supposed to be creative and it is up to the artist as to what “medium” they will use. All paintings on a canvas can be art not because art is typically displayed on a canvas in a museum, however, a canvas is simply an option for an artist to show they’re art. House painting can also be art because of the way that the art pieces are able to interact with the environment of a home, to produce feelings of comfort. The pieces themselves can also have their own beauty and emotions that intrigue the viewer. A painting on a canvas will always be art because even if paint accidentally fell on a canvas, a viewer can see a meaning on the accidents of life that we have to face. Painting a house can be art because there is a process by which it gets painted and the labor of the painted house can be appreciated. Both Jennifer Lopez and Ukeles have made me think more about “Women’s Work” and see how it is under appreciated and actually art as well. I believe “Women’s Work” is also art because it is a physical art that can be performed and when it is done an individual experiences tiredness or satisfaction and thus we can see the beauty behind it therefore it is also art. I would clean Adam Sandlers star because I love his movies and I know that whenever I’m going to watch a movie with him in it, I am going to laugh so much and be entertained.
Ernesto Alonso Mendoza Pelayo 