2019 BFA & BA Graduating Seniors Exhibition

Graduating Seniors Exhibition

Stan State Art Space

Department of Art

School of the Arts

California State University, Stanislaus

DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD

The University Art Gallery is pleased to present this year’s graduating seniors. This exhibition and accompanying catalog showcase the many gifted artists graduating this year from the Department of Art at California State University, Stanislaus.

As Gallery Director and Professor of Art, I have had the pleasure of working with these students in their endeavors to complete the BFA and BA programs. These degrees are a pivotal part of their development as artists. As a result of their accomplishments, I am pleased to call these graduating students “colleagues”. I look forward to seeing them have wonderful and meaning careers in the arts.

Many colleagues have been instrumental in this exhibition. I would like to thank the BFA and BA students of the Department of Art for their work and being part of the exhibition, the College of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus for the catalog design and Parks Printing for the printing of this catalog.

Much gratitude is extended to the Instructionally Related Activates Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue. Their support is greatly appreciated.

Dean De Cocker, Director University Art Gallery California State University, Stanislaus

BFA IMAGES AND STATEMENTS

SAUL ACEVENDO G O MEZ

Understanding everything as a phenomenon, I produce lithographs, paintings and sculptures that come from experiences between humans and the natural world. Interaction with manmade objects, architecture, the environment are important connections for imagery and further research. My landscape portraits capture a plotted space for the viewer to interact with wonder and set the viewer in a position of daydreaming. The human figure appears in abstract form to imply the complexity in which humans adopt to make sense of reality using earth as paradise. Taking life, nature and our complexity as a phenomenon for them to experience the present, I hope for future generations to not experience this portraits as memories of struggle, that humans prepared for them.

VANESSA AGUILERA

Creating art work has always been a source of freedom for me. Having a learning disability has made learning difficult for me over the years. In having the need to see, hear and fisacly do something in order to retain the information that was taught or presented to me. As a result, art has come relatively easily to me. Art has allowed me the freedom to express myself, but also prove those who thought that I would struggle and was in a way unteachable.

My body of work has changed and is completely different from my previous BFA review. While I liked what I was previously doing. I found myself overthinking and trying to control every aspect of the piece that I was working with and it showed in the work. I have chosen to work with mixed media this time around and get out of my comfort zone. Although I am still incorporating the figure into my work it is just a gesture pose and is unfinished. I have also chose to use

skin tone because they were the stronger colors and looked the best. By overlapping patterns that I have created through using a string. Then going through with pens and attempting to give the flat image depth, but also pulling out figures that I would see come through. Doing this allowed me to step back and gave me a freedom, yet did not allow me to over think and try to control something that can’t be controlled.

Unititled, mixed media, 2019

MATTHEW ALESON

Since starting here at Stanislaus, my best works came from an unlikely place. I thought I knew a specific path I wanted to take, but my interest and abilities guided me into printmaking, specifically Intaglio. Inspiration came anywhere from Rembrandt and Goya to Escher, but the various techniques of line work and aquatinting captured my focus immediately. Gently guiding a scribe across that shiny, copper surface with careful, intentional marks, gave me much satisfaction and rewarding outcomes. The intricate details I could capture in familiar landscapes, cultivated my love for such a fantastic medium.

BRENDA BARRON

Though my work does not belong to the world I see, to my childhood home, or to my environment, they are constructed in an effort to regain and understand memories through the making of surfaces. My art explores the idea of texture and the physicality of materials and shows how they change over time. I challenge myself in discovering surfaces through the repurposing of elements and materials often overlooked in daily life. In my constructions, I incorporate rough textures and earthy surfaces that evoke childhood memories that continue to be a part of me. My work reconstructs these small overlooked fragments of my life to form a whole. My birth home is an examination of my identity and my upbringings; therefore, my paintings bring life back into my memories and serve as documents of my infancy.

The themes in my paintings embody the atmosphere and environment of my childhood and I frequently use materials from the home where I cultivated a love for nature and animals. Unexpected materials like dirt, tree bark, and dried cactuses are used to celebrate evocative memories. My work is inclined to embrace the natural process of the material and to show the

blurry recollections of my childhood home and its beauty. With that in mind, my ideas grow from the memories and nature through which I experience.

I incorporate many elements and join them together to find meaning through a direct emotional response. The work is refined through many layers of acrylic paint and gesso, that is, adding, subtracting and adjusting elements in the process. I use palette knives and brushes to build up and carve into the layers of pigment to develop a visual language through a method where I am not in control. This aspect of my work challenges me to create a dialogue, make marks, resolve problems and find connections between my materials and my memories. Nonetheless, my pieces change through the chaos and control of color and rough surfaces.

The Hole, mixed media, 2019

DANIELLE BODAY

Emotion Within Text

My artwork is meant to convey a sense of humanity during a time when people only want others to see the best side of themselves. Through the use of social media people tend to only show themselves as happy and successful. This one dimensional view of people is unrealistic. The goal of my artwork is to explore the complex and contradictory nature of emotions as well as the multifaceted nature of being human, and to capture the essence of what it means to be human. Currently, my artwork is focusing on my new role as a mother. This emotionally charged transition into being a parent is a main theme in my current work. While I am still exploring emotions in general, my main focus has been around how parenthood has affected me emotionally. I am hoping that others may relate to the contradictory emotions that I have personally felt even though the viewer may not have the same experiences as me or even be a parent themselves.

My artwork is also questioning societal roles placed on both men and women. As a mother, I am now navigating how to raise a boy in our society that pushes gendered expectations onto everyone. My work is currently exploring the complex emotions of raising a child while also questioning the accepted gendered roles of society.

My artwork is also exploring the use of text and image, text as image, and fabric as image. Through the use of text I am hoping to create a dialogue between my artwork and the viewer. My artwork aims to stir a sense of relatability, while also questioning our society. Overall, the intent of my artwork is to stimulate emotion.

CRISTI DENNEY

Creative expression has always been a vital component in my life. As a child, I had great difficulty communicating my thoughts and feelings easily with others. Art gave me a voice. My work focuses on concepts relating to psychology, such as perception and cognitive processes. I am interested in creating spaces for others that serve both as an interactive activity and an opportunity for self-growth.

By utilizing a combination of two-dimensional surfaces and installation methods, my work can be viewed in a variety of ways. Black light elements are incorporated to manipulate the work itself and reveal divergent layers of cognizance. I draw from my personal life experiences to try and relate to others in a broad manner. Each body of work pertains to a specific time and moment in life, which helps facilitate different perspectives to be linked together. I believe that all living things are connected within the universe and every individual can benefit from this vast relationship.

A mentor of mine once told me that the more personal your art is, the more relatable it is to others. I think this is a wise statement—a true one. The more ugly and taboo the topic, the more interesting and captivating it becomes. Perhaps this is why art has appealed to me so much, a beneficial avenue of communication beyond the usage of the verbal language; creation that is being constructed from a deep crevice within my psyche, aching to escape and to breathe-to be free. Released.

Untitled, Drawing, 2019

MANUEL ESCOTO

My artwork depicts sociopolitical subjects especially those involving LGBT social issues, highlighting the injustices we face today. Using subconscious painting techniques based on fantasy and whimsy, I begin to develop shapes that evolve into figures in my works. Using pop culture References and media currently relevant, the use of whimsy and fantasy in the works allows me to dive into different aspects of gender based norms to highlight the inequalities constructed by society in an actual or allegorical way.

MAGGIE LUNT

All my life, I have had a fascination with the California Oaks that can be found in the Central Valley. These are trees that have to withstand the ever-persistent droughts that can plague the valley. They are big, and wild, and gnarly. They have tough, sparse leaves that allow for the trunk and branches to be prominently shown. It is the shapes the trunks and branches make that hold my attention.

Following up this observation, these forms also reminded me of medical images of vascular structures shown through angiograms. I would find myself comparing the trees to angiograms of brains, hearts, and lungs. I became intrigued by the comparisons between the similarities of seemingly different forms.

My work focuses on these comparisons, first through abstract shapes inspired by these forms. The practice of pulling forms in the 3D sculpting program Sculptris, trying to create dynamic compositions. Now, I am shifting into creating recognizing forms based on their vascular structures; a hand, a heart, a brain. Through 3D printing, I create sculptural compositions that are delicate and intricate and then cast in metal. It is a process that I enjoy and plan to continue. Through 3D sculpture and printing, my art can be made anywhere.

ARIYANNA MARTINEZ

When I look at a landscape by Van Gogh or Turner, I find they are the peak of what “traditional” landscapes should look like. They capture the scene for how they saw it. If I try to produce a similar piece, a traditional landscape, I end up hating it. This is the reason I have chosen to create my own landscapes, the way I see them, in a nontraditional way.

Focusing on color and line, I have created abstracted pieces based on all the forests, parks, and beaches I have traveled to in California. I use a repeated pattern of the topography lines on the maps I have saved, and paint or screen-print them onto a painted canvas. Because I associate everything with a color (emotions, sounds, words, and places) I think of the emotion I felt the day I was in one of these specific locations or I just repeat the name of that location to myself and use the color that comes to mind.

In previous work, I try to connect humans to nature and the relationship we have with it, but I never really depicted my own relationship to nature. These “landscapes” in turn become a window into how I see these places.

MICHAEL MENDIOLA

There is movement and rhythm in all objects, whether they are organic or not does not matter. There is an obvious fluidity in water and rocks have a natural rhythm based on placement. Trees have a lot of gesture and have their own personalities. I use these natural gestures as inspiration for my figures and other works. This is my focus: not just what I see, but what I feel.

ELIZABETH RUVALCABA

Art has always revolved around my mental state--usually focusing on the hardships of my negativity. Rather than relying on my mental state, I want to focus on how I see others through my eyes. Instead of inducing a sense of sadness or discomfort, my goal is to bring about the feeling of content and satisfaction. To do that my work consists of broken down portraits of others that reflects the qualities and characteristics of that individual.

My focus in my current work revolves around female empowerment. I aim in capturing the strength, beauty, and realness of that individual through an animal presence. Using both painting and printmaking, I use either textures or the actual presence of that animal to capture the fierceness of what it means to be a woman. The decision of the type of animal I use comes through the careful observation of that individual. Not the physical characterization but more of a spiritual aspect; using the inner strength of an animal to my figures reinforces the connection of strength.

JENNIFER VAN OOSTENDE

My work explores the emotional qualities found in gesture as a form of communication. The works transmit emotional states for the viewer by capturing segments of emotions, which are then transformed by the viewer through personal associations. The images speak to emotional connection and gestural formation as a language between the viewer and the artwork. The layering and movement conveyed through the soft edges within my photographs enhance the emotional state. The blurred movements in my photographs address not only the ephemeral nature of the act of gesture, but also the nature of a photograph. The photographic image is a ghost of a moment that simply no longer exists. By being the subject of my photographs, I am unable to see what is being photographed in the moment. This process brings a sense of freedom of the mind, which allows an exploration of emotional states.

My imagery focuses on fragments of the body within the picture plane to present a transformation of an emotional essence. The work brings attention to a moment of expression, as well as the emotional transformation that is expressed through communication.

Through the viewer contemplating the representation, there is a conscious awareness of the communicative actions between people. Although gestures can be made consciously, the purpose of the presented imagery is to make the viewer aware of what an individual may not be actively cognizant of in communicating. Everyone communicates in different ways, and by bringing focus to the communicative process, the work forms a dialogue that resonates with the viewer.

Trepidation, photograph, 2019

BA

IMAGES AND STATEMENTS

DENIS H BENITEZ

I have to admit my artworks, in the last four years, have varied in media, as well as in theme. I tend to think that I was experimenting within the arts to figure out what interests me the most. From time to time, my work shifts from fine art to popular culture, vice versa. It is important to understand fine art, as it not only allows me to express myself but it also helps me convey messages that challenge environmental and societal issues. With these types of artworks, my goal is to have viewers feel some kind of emotion or question the issue being addressed within my piece. In regards to popular culture, my works target a wider range of people because I do not focus on creating representational or creative artworks, but rather express society’s shared experiences. My works heavily express my thoughts and emotions on certain issues and interests.

HUDSON BERDINO

With a foundation in illustration and a passion for drafting, my work has ultimately transitioned into a key focus on oil painting. Though my paintings are representational, I find beauty in abstraction. I am infinitely more concerned with color interaction than I am with true-to-life imagery. I strive for accurate marks when rendering an image, but fine-tuning comes in the form of layers of color rather than tedious attention to detail. If one seeks to create a realistic “life-like” image, I am of the opinion that they should purchase a camera. The medium of oil paint offers me a means to sculpturally create space and form with simple variations of value and temperature. I am not ultimately concerned with any kind of message that goes along with my work, but rather the raw effectiveness of the pigments interacting across my canvas workspace. I paint for the sake of painting because there is color

in everything, and color creates and moves. As colors create mood and set effective tone, I can interpret the world as I see it with my painting. Simply put, I paint both to understand life, and for the simple excitement that comes from colors dancing together and moving one-another on a flat canvas plane.

COLE BODAY

The Cult of Technology

My artwork is about the toxic devotion our society has towards technology. Technology is a double edged sword; it can be both good and bad. However, due to our current dependence on technology society has shifted from a society of humans to a society of cyborgs. My artwork critiques this dependence as well as highlighting the toxic nature of worshiping technology.

DAO CHANG

In my work, I attempt to underline the expressions of those who were diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, Depression, and other forms of PTSD. Being directly involved with people diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder and Depression, I found myself relatable to its symptoms through my enthusiasm for abstract expressionism. My work, the Aching Soul Shall Not Rest, not only aimed to just express those whom are in emotional pain but to highlight the cultural significances of my ethnicity where one’s soul can be stranded or abandoned forever resulting to cause sickness to him or herself.

Being inspired by the works of Frank Ouerbach and Francis Bacon, I tried to engage my ideals of abstract expressionism to form this figure in distress. Although the work’s meaning is already expressively literal, my first and true intention was to keep the meaning vague but poetic and only through the aggressiveness and intensive visual marker strokes, one can relate or understand this piece symbolically.

Aching Souls Shall Not Rest, mixed media, 2019

MARCUS CUNNINGHAM

The ability to create a grand narrative or offer some form of insightful social commentary through figural representation has always been a marker of successful art in my mind. However this standard I set for myself often resulted in sub-par and confusing work that needed extensive commentary by myself for support. I have recently begun embracing the abstract both in my method of application as well as in my thought process. I have found this shift yields much more satisfying and intriguing work that stands on its own without needing an artist’s explanation to tell the viewer what the piece is about.

KIERRA DYAS

I make art because I love that an artist can create stories through images. My main goal with my art, for now, is to combine food, landscape and figure illustrations to craft whimsical worlds. I am currently doing a lot of different studies of those elements so that I can better compose them together. I prefer to illustrate digitally. I love the portability of my work when it is digital and I love the ability to jump from layer to layer while I sculpt my drawings. I also enjoy taking abstract photos because, through them, I am able to share the beauty that I find in everyday objects that are often taken for granted.

ANDREANA ESTRADA

My artwork comes from subjects that inspire or resonate with me. The subject and concept are personal. Making artworks from various mediums is important for showing how complex art, subject matter and concept can be. The completion of an artwork is important, but the process on how the artwork was made and how it felt mentally is essential to me. The importance of my art is for therapy. Art influences include Frida Kahlo and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.

Non-Art influences include: pain, Identity, sexuality, heritage, nature and family. All art work is made due to priority for practice, expression and experimentation

GERARDO GASCON

The works I have created so far consist of what most would consider the art basics. It is a display of the techniques I have learned and influences from the works of others. I would not say I have found a preferred media as of yet because I enjoy venturing through different forms of art. I do not create with the intent to express emotions, even in works which I may sprinkle a hint of how I was feeling at the moment. I am more fascinated in composition and continuing to expand my personal knowledge in the different ways I can use the medias I choose to work with. I am still relatively new to the art world but my goal is to learn new things and broaden my creativity.

ASHTON HOLMES

My work borrows from folklore; stories that have been told to me and ones that I’ve found on my own. Mythology has always fascinated me, specifically ones that come from my own culture. Storytelling is such an integral part of African American culture and my work allows me to continue this practice that is often overlook. My earlier paintings were literal interpretations of the legends. This evolved into surreal depictions of sights around my hometown of Inglewood, California; creating illustrations that borrow from both real life experiences and the imagined. I want to create spaces that seem both familiar and foreign that evoke a feeling of magical realism. With my work I hope to create pieces that have larger narratives outside of what is being viewed. While painting or drawing I’m often reflecting on the fleeting nature of tradition and nostalgia.

JENNIFER LAMERE

Welcome to my world. There is a place where my mind lives that is sometimes as dark as night with no light and eerily silent, but sometimes there is an abundance of light and music. My art is the visual depiction of the moments of where my mind is currently living.

In my darker pieces I am confronting my depression and sadness. When my mind has escaped into the dark silence, I throw these feelings onto the canvas to explain what state a mind can be in while facing the inner demons of darkness and hopeless thoughts. In this darkness there seems to be little hope of escape. Moments when the world seems so far away and savage. The heartless demons within express themselves in discouraging words. When I am creating a piece like this I am usually in a moment of pain or suffering. I let my hands work as I let my mind relax and meditate. These pieces are usually created without much thought being put into them and seem to express the feelings of anxiousness or clutter. The second thing that comes into my work is when my mind is clearer.

My mind has its moments of light and music, where the world is more ideal and positive. In this frame of mind there is a tree that gives life to the things around it. The ideas from this state of mind brings the ideas of life and love into view. When I am creating these pieces there is more exploration, fun and energy. I research new techniques and find new tools to use in

these works. Sometimes in the middle of creating one of the lighter pieces a migraine will come and I either have to decide to continue the piece and mix these two worlds or stop and wait until the pain passes.

In the world I often find myself lost and alone. Even when I am surrounded by people, I find it hard to sometimes connect to people. Through my artwork I seem to be able to express the emotions I often find hard to convey in words. My art helps me feel at ease when talking to people about it. I want my art to inspire others and to help others to overcome those dark moments in their own lives. I want my art to express to those that may feel lost, that they are not alone and that even though it may not seem like it there is indeed light in those darkest moments, you just need to find it. I want my viewers to also know that it is important to express yourself and to get those emotions out into the world in a healthy way

I hope that through my art, music, and writing that someday I can make a difference in the lives of the next generation, but if it only makes a difference to a few people, I will still be satisfied. I just want to help and inspire others.

Musical Love, steel sculpture, 2019

SARA MACHADO

I want my art to evoke delight, intrigue, and at times, even deep emotion. I hope that all I create will inspire others and motivate them to pass on a creative and happy outlet. I enjoy making art, and I find a sense of joy and calm in the process. I have a very crafty side which has influenced me in extending my creativity and thought process through all my works and hobbies. Two of my art pieces are here to give a visual example of one of my art styles (“Witching Hour” and “Elysian”). I find that I prefer to draw females compared to men, simply because I find drawing the delicate lines and soft curves something I can relate to more. While the other (“Fusion”) was a class assignment that required us to choose one realist art piece and one cubist art piece to merge together as one cohesive work. Although “Fusion” is not the art style I enjoy, trying other art types gives you a more appreciated outlook on them and broadens a person’s skill which is something I am grateful for (no matter how many times I have grumbled about it over my years of learning).

HUMBERTO MALDONADO

I am interested in making my life experiences redundant. I hold on to moments in my life, I look back at them and cannot let go; this is where my work comes from. I am not trying to be original or a cliché, I am simply discovering who I am and exposing myself as I go. I have so much to say and even more to show. I have placed so much of myself in the closet that few have really seen me, and have buried parts of me so far down that I have even lost parts of myself.

Through my art, I highlight my queerness and reflect myself in my work. What you see from my work is self-confusion and self-hate dancing in a cycle, working towards self-love and acceptance.

ANDREW MOUA

My drawing process is to study the object from observation. It is difficult to draw from my imagination, but drawing from the real world can expand my visual library. I love inspiring moments in anime which created my interest in drawing. Holding on to that feeling, I want my work to someday get to that level where it can capture people’s attention and create strong emotions. The journey is still the same, to learn and sharpen my skills one step at a time. The 3D world has captured me, which I am currently working on learning more about. Drawing out in 2D forces you to translate the real world or ideas in your head onto the blank canvas. Then with the understanding and observation from drawing, you can sculpt it out to the real world or into the virtual world. I want to remain on the technology side of art because technology continues to grow and opens up to many exciting possibilities.

KARLA NOWICKI

In the boundaries of four edges, I paint and draw in the effort to portray the beauty of objects and figures that have been overlooked with negativity. Through my paintings, I have learned to dive deeper into the colors of landscapes and objects that most only see on the surface. For example, beneath a patch of green land, there exist warm or cool yellows that support the beautifully bright greens that come forward to the surface itself. The simple arrangement of objects and landscapes become possible stories for the viewers to create for themselves. My painting of a small box, a hammer, and a towel may create the story of moving out or possibly a story of unpacking and getting acquainted with one’s new environment. Through my lessons in drawing, I have tried to progress further than the concern for accuracy of line and depth and instead, use charcoal to immerse in an active background that highlights the simplistic beauty in a figure and the space around. At first glance, a drawing is merely charcoal or graphite on a piece of paper, but by looking deeper into the piece, I hope my drawings become an active piece of artwork that creates an emotion of solitude, confidence, or loneliness.

Growing up in a small town left many trapped to limited ideas of their future, I knew that I wanted to be different. I challenged the norms of my hometown and their expectations of the high school graduates by deciding that my own path would be to see the world through a different lens despite the path being its own. I aim to create or further the beauty I see through paints of oil and acrylic, charcoal, and graphite. I challenge myself against the styles of my brother and my father to become an independent artist with my own separate style, while continuing to look over both family member’s shoulders to learn the techniques.

MARIA OCEGUERA

Expressing yourself is great for the inner peace and soul! My work for the past 2 years has become a series of inner thoughts and fears portrayed within a canvas or assemblage. But my imagery within my pieces are not sorted out or planned. It develops as the process of painting continues. It embarks on color, shapes and texture, unconsciously becoming a story related to myself as imagery appears to my eye and later emphasized. This process of creating art has become a form of understanding and accepting yourself. Within each piece I have understood in a deeper level my behaviors, my way of being and forms of thought. I anticipate that as viewers come across my work they build theirown personal connect in which to relate to and hopefully further express this thought elsewhere.

YOMAIRA QUIROZ

As an artist, I begin my work with an idea. The same way many things in life start off as; a simple thought. However, those ideas don’t always carry forward. I find myself changing my whole mindset by the end of the process. Every indication and detail is altered, sometimes even in the slightest bit. As a female artist I am continually seeking inspiration from books, artist, the people around me, music, and plainly just waking up in the morning and going through every motion. I try to convey events that happen in my daily life and project them on a canvas as a scope into my own distorted deliberations.

I try my best to produce paintings that people can feel free to analyze and interpret for themselves. My goal as an artist is not to make people feel what I felt when I began the long cycle of the creative process, but to look at the painting and create their own notions, their own personal stories, so that they too can add life to the canvas at every visit.

JAQUELIN RICO

I consider myself a digital artist/graphic designer. This includes typography/calligraphy, print design, branding and logo design. The subjects of my pieces tend be an exaggeration of daily life and menial objects/themes. I love taking mundane things and making them interesting to the eye. I am still learning and developing my signature style of art so most of the work I do is relatively experimental. My work tends to be very stylized and graphic. I am very interested in bold colors and lines in my artworks. I enjoy the stark contrast one can achieve with the combination of vibrant colors and neutrals. My work tends to draw from fantasy, science fiction, and any unrealistic situations or imagery.

The artists I tend to admire don’t always work in the same mediums I do. I am drawn to stylized, bold, colorful, and often cartoonish work. Aside from drawing inspiration from artists and their artworks I am also drawn to fashion, music, product packaging, cartoons, comics, and the aesthetics of previous decades. These are my main sources of inspiration. My goal with my art is to create and learn. I love trying new things and testing new methods of creating art.

Untitled, acrylic and wood, 2019

JENNIE ROBLEDO

From a young age I have been strongly influenced by the design and structure of art. Today, I am interested in taking classic art and making it new again, using old techniques and designs, revitalizing them to fit into a modern aesthetic. My work aims to evoke a style that is modern but classic with life-loving character. Currently my work is an exploration of mediums and themes with muliebrous influences. These works are a visual interpretation of my travels and life experience. My work embraces themes such as landscapes, botanicals, and the female form. With simple line work I create soft curves that hint at feminine figures and other objects that appear in nature. Each body of work celebrates the natural beauty of each object, bringing it to life with implied shading, volume, and value.

Chained, intaglio,2019

IDALIA ROJAS

The Art Studio classes I took at CSU Stanislaus has prominently influenced my art skills for the better. I’ve picked up an interest and the importance of still-life’s during my studies. My present work includes studies of still-life using oil paints as the medium. Most of my images are stripped down to compositional elements using color, line, shape, and texture along with new challenges. I enjoy representing emotions of struggle and growth into my art studies by capturing elements of shadows, lights and forms. I use direct, external and natural light to evoke emotional responses to my work. I focus on the aspects of constantly learning and improving my art skills as an art student who worked under amazing professors at CSU Stanislaus.

CARLOS ROMERO

The beauty of photography often goes by unnoticed and is often criticized as “its just a picture”. The determination, countless hours, exploring and editing that goes into capturing the perfect shot is what makes the end result worth it. Through my work I attempt to make my photographs aesthetically pleasing and personal to draw an audience in and engage with them on a personal level. For me, black and white photography is a personal favorite due to the fact that it creates an aesthetic of simplicity and clarity without having an array of colors. Natural photography has always been a personal favorite due to the way it presents itself. The way light hits it, the never ending infinity views, it presents itself in such an interesting way, making it the perfect subject for photography.

FREDRICK STEVENS

I am a mixed emphasis art student whose works include ceramics, painting with acrylic and oil, pastels, printmaking, and assemblage. My works serve to honor a promise made to my mother who died in 2008 from cancer and to engage me in a better lifestyle where I am learning, exploring, and contributing. My interest and love of art began only recently yet it reflects the things I have seen or felt throughout my life. My piece represents various animals in abstracted form. With this work I was able to tap into the archetypes of my subconscious. Incorporating nature and animals into my works is a way of connecting to the environment and respecting the fact that my environment has change for the better. My work is an example of my understanding of how to control and respect the chaos and using art as a way to demonstrate where I have come from and where I am going to. I use the desire to be a better person and live a life that my mom would be proud of as an inspiration for my art.

KRYSTALL WILLHITE

I am interested in exploring art as a form of commination, and a representation of memory and anxiety. My childhood was ridden with experiences with domestic abuse, home instability, and financial difficulties that have influenced myself as an adult. My childhood anxieties and traumas were always a piece of myself that was kept hidden from friends, teachers, and many others since I had always had troubles communicating and connecting with other people about personal problems. Instead of communicating my problems with others, I focused on personal distractions such as drawing, stargazing, and watching sunsets. Eventually, these topics became my foundation’s for subject matter in my work. I focus on my personal memories from dealing with instances, such as domestic abuse and nature, and find ways to depict them in a way that communicate various memories from my childhood into my art.

My subconscious plays a heavy role in developing my art. It is difficult for me to consciously apply meaning or a theme to my art work. Most of my work begins as drawings via pencil and paper, as it is easy for me to express my anxiety, troubles, or surroundings with a familiar medium. My drawings turn into foundations for my work when I find meaning within a piece. A random color may represent the light reflecting off of clouds, A black dot I created in frustration alludes to an article I once read on how a black dot on a

palm of a hand as a sign that someone is a victim of domestic violence. From this process, I develop my work using any materials I find useful, appropriate, or just easy use. Assemblage has become a cheap, easy, and useful way in which I can reflect my subconscious in a conscious manner. I find objects that hold physical similarities to what I want to accomplish, hold a double meaning, or the objects function relates to the purpose to which I want to use it for.

My aim is to focus on the multi-media plane of art, to find and use the realtionships between different mediums to magnify idea’s or representations in my work, and to continue with the conventions of self-potratiure and nature. I plan on developing more abstract or non-representational ways of self-portratire and redifine what constitues as a selfportriat. I want to focus more on natural occurances and surroundings, especially those which frequent in the California Valley, finding diferent ways to express them through my art, and grow more in learning how to prefect landscapes. I will continue to incorperate matter that weighs heavily on my concious, and subconcious, mind, such as domestic violence, into my art work, and plan on working towards making my art more relatable and meaningful to viewers.

LIZETTE ESTRADA

My work, whether it is a painting or a video has an inclination to become very simple and to the point, yet I have more of a tendency to create my artwork with experimental concepts. In which with my works I am able to create a different concepts by merging my works together. I find it fascinating to have a form that does not have very much detail, yet has the capacity to convey a thought or emotion .I have done various works that are based on drawing, painting, and digital media, which have helped me further expand my knowledge and understanding of what one can do with the portrayal of the artwork. Painting has demonstrated that one can show their feelings with the stroke of the paint brush making the artwork much more connected to oneself to the piece. My work has taught me that you do not have to follow many of the ideals of others. That artwork is the idea of creating something to captivate the change that is needed to be seen by others.

JOHN VANDERVORT

A large part of my motivation for pursuing a career in the arts is a desire not to spend the rest of my life in wage slavery, toiling away in the Walmart retail mines in order to feed and clothe myself. That being said, I have always had a passion for creative pursuits. I find more fulfillment when creating garbage to entertain others than I find when doing anything else. I primarily see artwork as a means of carrying a narrative. I’m intrigued by the countless ways that stories are be constructed and presented, and I wish to use my artwork to tell stories of my own. I most enjoy working with markers. They have a solidity that I feel brings stability to unreal and outlandish subjects. I also find enjoyment in trying to chip away at that stability. In my time here I’ve also discovered the stupid, fucking bullshit I can do with digital modeling, so that’s good. Bullshit is good. I think galleries are miserable, so I hope you enjoy the show, if you can. If not, pray you aren’t there too much longer. I certainly hope not to be. I already spent way too much money here as is.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

California State University, Stanislaus

Dr. Ellen Junn, President

Dr. Kimberly Greer, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs

Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Art

Dr. Carmen Robbin, Chair, Professor

Dean De Cocker, Professor

Martin Azevedo, Assistant Professor

Tricia Cooper, Lecturer

James Deitz, Lecturer

Daniel Edwards, Associate Professor

Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor

Daniel Heskamp, Lecturer

Chad Hunter, Lecturer

David Olivant, Professor

Patrica Eshagh, Lecturer

Ellen Roehne, Lecturer

Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Associate Professor

Susan Stephenson, Assistant Professor

Jake Weigel, Assistant Professor

Meg Broderick, Administrative Support Assistant II

Andrew Cain, Instructional Technician I

Jon Kithcart, Equipment Technician II

Stan State Art Space

Dean De Cocker, Director

Leon Bach, Gallery Assistant

School of the Arts

Brad Peatross, Graphic Specialist II

2019 BFA & BA Graduating Seniors Exhibition

May 9–June 15, 2019 | Stan State Art Space, California State University, Stanislaus | 226 N. First St., Turlock, CA 95380

300 copies printed. Copyright © 2019 California State University, Stanislaus • ISBN: 978-1-940753-44-7

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. This exhibition and catalog have been funded by Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus. Cover design and illustration by Vanessa Aguilera.