Isabel Inda @isabelxinda - Tumblr Blog

E. Art & (my) Life

E. EC: Feedback

1. What did you think of the format of the class?

The format of the class at first was honestly a bit confusing. That is because I missed hearing when the deadlines were in the beginning. By the fourth or fifth week, I got used to having activities due every Sunday,

2. What did you think of making & presenting your Art Gallery?

It made me dive deeply into my artist’s idea and vision of the oceanography. I was rather nervous of presenting, since it is a big class of over 100 students, but when it was time to present, it was not bad at all. Nerves went away and I was ready to present.

3. What did you think of visiting the SOA Art Galleries?

Visiting the SOA Art Galleries was very interesting because not only was I looking at art online, but having the opportunity to go visit and see some actual art pieces every week was cool.

4. What did you think of the weekly Art Activities?

The weekly Art Activities were fun. Although it was honestly difficult at times to find enough time to complete and post about them, I always completed them on time. If a student works on weekends, and goes to school during the week, there will always be some time to do these activities.

5. What did you think of the “7 Ideas about Art”?

I liked how the professor included real life events and things that related to the seven idea about art.

6. How did you feel about using Tumblr for your blog?

I liked Tumblr as a source of posting everything. I felt like it was very well organized. However, it did a few tries and time to get used to and to learn how to use it properly— I’m still learning.

7. How did feel about using Wix for your virtual art gallery?

I liked using Wix for our virtual art gallery. But, in the beginning it was challenging to understand how to use. I feel like for future classes, try to give more examples of how to use the website. Perhaps, a video to show the class?

8. What did you think of using the class website, glenn.zucman.com/i2va, plus your own websites, instead of BeachBoard?

I liked using all the websites instead of BeachBoard. Mostly because I felt like I got a break from all the other professors who always do everything on BeachBoard. Plus, BeachBoard is not so artsy.

9. What did you think about having a class with no tests? I don’t just mean “was it cool to not have to take any,” but students use tests to guide their study and participation in a class. Students tend to learn what’s on the test, and to not learn anything that isn’t. Did not having exams make it harder to focus or find importance and relevance in the class?

I loved having a class with no tests because it made me less stressed. I have noticed that other classes that involve tests and quizzes are those where I feel like I do not learn much because I am only focused on what is going to be on the test. For this class, I learned so much without the pressure of knowing what would be on a test or not. Not having an exam made it a bit challenging to focus at first but I did find important and relevance in the class.

10. Any other thoughts?

It was an interesting class! I will take what I learned and use them in my everyday living,

D7- Artist Conversation- Short Fictional/ Non- Fictional Story

This is a family of six who took a family picture together. The mother and father come from a little “pueblo” in Mexico. The parents in this family photo had a childhood with not much of a guaranteed successful future. Years passed, they were in their early twenties and they were best friends since children. As a result, they confessed their true feelings for each other, dated, years passed, and got engaged. Maria, the mother in the photo, was pregnant at three months when she began to think about the future and bettering of a life she and her soon to be husband wanted for their children. The father, Jose, eventually persuaded Maria in entering the US for a better future and better job opportunities. Maria, being pregnant crossed the border with Jose and landed in the US with no problem. The wedding took place in the US and that was their bright start in a new country.

Fifteen years later passed, and it was mother’s day when they took this photo of their complete family of six. Maria and Jose were happily married, with children who have began and some even completed higher education. Maria worked as at a grocery outlet while Jose worked as a farmer at a little ranch. Little did they ever know what was about to happen was going to change their lives forever.

One afternoon, at Maria’s job, ICE showed up, and Maria unfortunately did not have a source of identification that proved she was a US citizen. As a result, she was taken to detention and later removed from the US.

This was the most shocking news Jose and the children ever received. Cries every night, “I miss mommy”, just lonely thoughts was the pattern along this time.

The picture that was taken that mother’s day, was torn by immigration. Not literally, but emotionally. Their family was no longer the same. Maria, since that day is still in the photo, but not fully, it is as thought just her shadow is there. The blue figure of Maria is her emotional presence because as a mother she won’t be able to watch her children anymore. But she is able to speak with them.

Deportation happens every day and people everywhere think about it and scared to admit it. This is something that people should not be afraid to speak up about because coming to the US in full good intention should be looked at as a crime. Families should not be separated and torn apart.

D7- Remix Culture- Flickr

1. The freedom & fear, the empowerment & risks, of Internet Culture.

While creating this remix, I combined two images into one single image as you can see in the first picture. There was a lot of freedom and empowerment as to what I could have done with these images. The fear involved in this is anyone could have used these photos with negative intentions. In my case, I used them with good intentions, to create a result that gives off some sort of message to viewers. The risks that I noticed could be possible is like I mentioned, bad intentions, or the creation of fake profiles, etc. Internet culture has changed a lot in the past few years. Most people have their phones with them 99% of the time. Having internet has now become a “must have” in many environments including school. All in all, the internet culture is only expanding as time goes and perhaps, we should limit the use of internet more often.

2. Your thoughts about Copyright: is it working as is? Should it be strengthened, weakened, or modified?

My thoughts about the use of copyright is that it is not working as is. I feel like it should be more strengthened for the sake of keeping the internet-public-user’s personal information safe. Additionally, the incorporation of other people’s photos, audio, whatever it may be, should be protected by copyright with more strength. With that being said, I also think that for the person who uploads, should know that even though copyright is included, someone may find a way of using their material somehow in other platforms.

3. What license you’ve chosen for your work and why.

The license I have chose for my work is Attribution CC BY. On Flickr, I chose License> CC> Modifications Allowed in order to choose images that I would be able to work with and change any aspect. I chose the second and third image posted here from Flickr, and used an app called, Photoshop Mix, to remix those two images together and I’m pretty happy with the result. I chose this license because I wouldn’t mind my work to be used by others and modified because the included photos let me modify them as well.

4. Your experience of making your Remix piece. How did you do it? Did it come out as you expected? Were there surprises? Challenges? Insights?

First of all, I attempted to make a remix on CC Mixter, but I found it too difficult to choose songs that would sound nice mashed up. As a result, I then tried to remix images and I loved the result. As mentioned previously, the way I mashed them together was with the use of the Photoshop Mix app. I made the picture of the guy’s eyes, lighter, so it would blend in with the deserted landscape. Surprisingly, it did come out as expected. I thought it would not blend out good, but it did so I’m glad with my work. Challenges I did face, however, were finding those photos. There are thousands of beautiful landscaped on Flickr and thousands of eye images as well, so I chose the ones who spoke out to me the most. My insight on this activity is that it was interesting! I would do this again with other images.

D6- Storytelling (Photography)

Red polka- dot umbrella sitting on a wet table.

Flowers that have experienced rain and are currently wet.

Leaf that is in full autumn form, also wet because of the rain.

Drops formed on a plant.

Cloudy skies and sun peaking through.

View from the fourth floor of the USU and cloudy skies.

Questions to Answer

1. Why did you choose this story?

I chose to capture the story of plants and trees, along with objects during a rainy day because I feel like attention is away from these sorts of things when it’s raining. While most people are trying to get away from the rain, I stopped to admire and capture these as a story of a rainy day for plants, trees, and objects.

2. How do you think you did?

I think I did pretty well on capturing these images. I wanted to emphasize the drops that fell on the plants, I wanted to have rain be the focus of the story. That is why I chose to capture the clouds, and umbrella, and the little puddles of rain that is left behind. Overall, I am happy with what I made.

3. Which image do you think is the individually "best" image in your story?

The image that I think that I did “best” on is the third one. The third picture is the leaf that is in full autumn form. I really liked how the background was blurred and the single leaf had the full focus on which really brought the attention to the idea that it is fall and the time of cold and rainy weather has arrived.

4. Does your photostory contain an image that you think is not, by itself, a "great" image, but that is nonetheless important because it helps to tell your story?

An image that I think is not by itself, a great image, but it helps tell my story is the first one. The first picture is the red polka- dot umbrella sitting on a table. The table is wet and it is obvious that it is wet due to rain. The drops are all over the table and on the umbrella. I believe that this image tells the story that I want to show, because it’s an umbrella which one thinks of rain immediately and the focus of my story is rain.

5. What would you do different next time?

Next time, something that I would do differently is perhaps blur the backgrounds to have the vision focus on what is important on each image; to be more clear on the message that I am trying to get across.

6. Are there other Photo Stories you might like to tell?

Another story that I wish to capture is family or pets. I love plants and the rainy weather which is why I chose to use this as my story, but another story I would like to tell is within family or plants which is another subject I care about.

D6- Artist Conversation- Julie Fallon

Artist: Julie Fallon

Exhibition: n/a

Media: Animation

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Marilyn Werby Gallery

Website: n/a

Instagram: julie_fallon_

Julie Fallon is currently an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor in Fine Arts this spring. The program that she is in is Illustration and animation. She grew up in San Diego. She describes herself when she was small as a quirky, cartoon- loving kid. She had a bit of trouble making friends, but as a result she found herself making connections thought the world of cartoons. She enjoyed the characters and joined them on their “wacky” adventures every afternoon.

Julie Fallon presented her artwork and to describe formally, she made small to medium art. Colors that she used were more on the dark side, as most of her art consisted of halloween themes. Two of her artwork that she had up were sketch- like, so they consisted of colors on grayscale. Most of the her work had multiple figures on them placed separately on the same board.

Her art her way of showing her affinity for watching those cartoon shows as a kid. Drawing the characters lead her to form real life connections. Her goal is to form connections in real life with other people who are also the same as her. Quirky, with the fond of loving cartoons. Her passion for art helped her find a sense of belonging and it also helped her find a purpose. With her work, her goal is set as an animator is to impact kids of future generations in the same way the shows and films she would watch and love impacted her.

While I was looking around the art gallery, Julie Fallon’s gallery caught my attention the most. It reminded me of when I was small, and would always watch cartoons in this style. It gave me sort of a nostalgic feeling. One of the cartoon figures that she made actually reminded me of a show I used to be obsessed with. The halloween themed cartoon animations she made were interesting to view as well because they look well fitting for the kid’s eye. Julie Fallon’s art gallery overall made me remember of my childhood presence.

D5 - Artist Conversation - Alan Vidali

Artist: Alan Vidali

Media: Acrylic, installation

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Dutzi Gallery

Website: alanvidali.com

Instagram: N/A

1. On Wednesday, I payed a visit to the art gallery before class, and luckily, I found and met with artist, Alan Vidali. I had the chance to have a conversation with him and I learned that he is Italian. He is currently a graduate student here at Long Beach State. He is pursuing his Masters in Fine Arts. Alan Vidali is a student in the School of Art’s Studio Art Program. He enjoys working and making art pieces. Alan Vidali is a student in the School of Art’s Studio Art Program.

2. Alan Vidali’s acrylic line consisted of the same circular shape, but formed sort of a jagged line. His work consists of simple colors, but that was his intention. His only two incorporated colors were clear and white. The piece with the cutout shapes of plus signs on the white paper was pretty big, it could be viewed from quite a distance, but it doesn’t stand out compared to the other colorful art pieces that were in that gallery. The acrylic circular line cannot be viewed from a far distance, due to the color being clear and not visible from a distance. Once one comes closer to it, observing the clear acrylic captures the attention and idea of simplicity.

3. While having a conversation with Alan Vidali, I asked him about what his ideas were behind his artwork. I learned that he wants to created aesthetic beauty of how whether one looks as what they look at. He stated that anything from a leaf to the expense of the universe will hold beauty. In other words, his ideas are created with simplicity, Anything small that does not grab ones attention, are left out. But when one comes close into looking at the small things— things that people do not seem to notice or take recognition, they are captured by their beauty and one catches themselves in what they are seeing. Alan explores ideas of wonders that will seize with simple things; attentiveness in short supply. In Alan’s work, he explores enduring beauty in simplicity and clarity with the removal of clutter— bringing complexity into art. Another question that I asked Alan Vidali was how long it took him to create his art, and the answer I received was unexpected. He didn’t know. But the reason for this is because each piece he has to take to get laser cut and was created in design software. Some pieces happened quickly, and others didn’t. Everything he made is made out of acrylics. He implied that is depends what the nature requires to create his artwork.

4. In the beginning when I first entered the Dutzi Gallery, I couldn’t find my own meaning behind it until I had the conversation with Alan. I did originally think that they were buttons, but they are instead made by acrylics and design software which I found to be quite interesting. I was captured in looking closely at the circular linear acrylics that were hanging from a pipe down a cord. I really liked the way it looked and how jagged the circular acrylics become towards the bottom of the line. For the artwork that was placed on the floor, to me it was simple, but the plus signs made me ponder as to what message was held behind it. I thought it was about people coming together and being “added”. After learning Alan Vidali’s ideas and explorations he meant to make with his work, I then understood more about how his ideas fits into his work.

D5- Architecture & Urban Planning- USU Wedge

1. The design that I created for the USU Wedge is shown in the drawing. I figured that the reason that it is there is to hold the building in place. Without it, the building is capable of collapsing, in my perspective. With that being said, I left it, but changed its shape. The new “V” shape makes it easier and safer for students to walk by it without worrying about bumping into the corner of the bench that is hiding right behind the wedge.

2. As you can see in the before and after drawing I made, I made it pretty clear what the changes are. For starters, I changed the shape of the wedge. Before, it was very bulky and got in the way of students. After the changes I made, the slanted “V” shape makes it much easier for students to get by and in both directions. Additionally, a change I made was removing the bench completely that is positioned right behind the wedge and serves as a danger for students. I, myself, have encountered bumping my leg on that bench, and it hurt.

3. My design of on the USU Wedge will be better for students because they don’t have to worry about bumping into the bench that creeps behind the wedge. Also, student won’t have to worry about how crowded it gets at the wedge. It would be better because one is able to get by much faster and easier. Anyone can say to simply just walk around the wedge, go on the actual pathway to walk, but in reality, no one really likes to take that extra step.

4. The only tradeoff on the site is leaving the wedge, but making it easier to go through. I noticed that our school created multiple cowpaths in front of the Hall of Science because they observed students going across the grass at certain spots. I thought about how they observed students and the cowpaths, and I wondered why it hasn’t been done at the wedge located at the University Student Union. That being said, it gave me the idea of creating sort of a “cowpath” in this wedge because I go pass it almost every day, and it is always a struggle to go through. I made the choice of creating a slanted “V” because it gives students the ability to have a much bigger area to walk through.

5. I understand that former students have some sort of affection towards the wedge, but the campus will always continue to grow and changes will always occur. I think that students would always remember the old wedge, but would love the new design because they don’t have to struggle to get through. A year from now, my predictions towards what students will talk about the new access route will be positive, along with old humor of the old wedge and many stories I’m sure it consists of.

#art 110

C4 - Artist Conversation - Heidi Fernandez Saavedra 

Artist: Heidi Fernandez Saavedra 

Exhibition: A-Number? You’re A-Number? My A-Number? My A-Number? Am I A-Number? 

Media: Installation, Sculpture

 Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Dr. Maxine Merlin’s Gallery

 Instagram: littlemiss_heidi 

1. Heidi is one of the two artists that collaborated together to create the piece. I payed a visit to the art gallery before class, so I had the chance to have a conversation with Heidi, which was the only one present of the two that worked for this piece. While having a conversation with Heidi, I learned that she is currently an undergraduate student and is working on her senior year to receive her Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts. She will be graduating in the spring in 2020. Heidi Fernandez Saavedra is a student in the School of Art’s Sculpture / 4D Program.  

2. The art that Heidi created is titled, “ A- Number? You’re A- Number? My A- Number? Am I A- Number?”. Some of the formal qualities that were included were foil blankets, and black pieces of paper that were randomly placed on the floor. A projection was also included in this piece that showed an image of a gate. Additionally, an audio clip was repeatedly being played children crying. The overall piece, was a big, one piece artwork that can be identified of what its meaning is.

 3. This piece was planned since the summer and took an overall of three months. Research, material gathering, audio searching, projection placement all took place during those three months to create this piece. According to Heidi, this piece is to bring awareness to the public about immigration and inhumane detaining centers. This brings an interpretation of political action. Heidi’s main goal was to remind society that this is something that is still going on; people’s families are being separated, kids are being taken away from their parents, and being taken to foster homes where they do not belong. Heidi and her collaborated wanted people to participate if they want to put themselves in their shoes of the detainees. The foil blankets were very thin, which was the actual blankets detainees are given in extreme cold weather temperature in facilities. The audio is children who are being separated from their parents. Overall, this piece is meant to portray a traumatizing moment that goes on and the issue is ignored.

 4. My experience, first of all, was very emotional. From the outside of the gallery, children’s crying caught my attention and as soon as entering this gallery, I knew what it was going to relate to. The audio of the children crying was really difficult to listen to because it just showed how traumatizing this event was to be for the poor children and their families. I felt heartbroken and frustrated while listening to the audio and looking at the floor with the foil blankets they are given at detaining centers. I did feel overwhelmed; it was hard to stand there and just listen to it over and over.

#art 110

D4- Student Choice- Crayons

1. As you can see in the last image I took, the crayons end at a certain point. My message with this relates to life-- sometimes, unfortunately we don’t get to see the different colors off of somebody. Perhaps, in unfortunate circumstances, they don’t live long enough to have had enough time to add more “colors” to their life and “complete the image”. Sometimes, our image never gets to its full format and we are left with only the wonders of what could have been in the remaining space, just how the crayons stop. On the contrary, people are working every day to build on with different colors, to build on to their character, capabilities, and obstacles that we as humans experience. Overall, what I wanted to say in this piece is that life is a continuous journey of discoveries about ourselves and others.

2. The media that I chose to use for this piece are crayons and paper. The reason to why these were my choices was because they are simply an innocent tool that kids use to color with--light and playful. I wanted to relate simple crayon colors to life because the beginning stages of life, we are taught to color, to write, to talk, etc. In other words, crayons, for me was a great use of media to portray my exploration because they are what the majority of society uses in the stages of childhood, and eventually builds up to use colored pencils, then markers, but the crayon will always, for the most part, be the first tool to express oneself.

3. My thoughts towards this piece and what I wanted to say turned out to be pretty successful. I believe that this piece may have different meanings to other people, but overall, I feel good about it.

4. Having to experience coloring with crayons gave me back memories from my childhood of when I used to color with crayons as a kid. My experience while creating it was fun with the intent of creating the look of colors building up continuously and suddenly stopping giving some sort of a cliff hanger.

5. To me, this project meant the growth of life and it’s beautiful depictions that are shown to themselves and to others. The growing of one’s characteristics. Whether it is ones physical appearance, or gaining of something personal, an addition to one’s life, etc.

#art 110

C3 - Artist Conversation - Chris Suarez

Artist Conversation #3

Artist: Chris Suarez

Exhibition: Anaheim to Avalon

Media: Ceramics, wood, brick, wires, Mixed Media

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Marilyn Werby Gallery

Instagram: toe_fair

1. Chris Suarez is currently a senior in the ceramics program here at Long Beach State. He is completing his last year to receive his Masters in Fine Arts degree. He enjoys playing sports, especially soccer. His hobbies include doodling in his scratch notebook during his free time. I learned that the reason why he wasn’t able to be there during his art gallery was because he was at underprivileged schools teaching children in art programs as well. His friend was there to answer questions for us in place of Chris Suarez, the actual artist. More about Chris’ background is that he was born and raised in Long Beach.

2. In Chris Suarez’s artwork, he used many ceramics, which is his primary focus. His shapes are similar to what fences are to look like. The shapes in his work vary, ranging from circles, to squares, to jagged structures. He doesn’t seem to use many colors. I noticed that he mostly used colors like brown, black, or a similar not-so-bright color. Most of his work was medium sized; easy to spot from a particular distance.

3. This artist was inspired by his childhood to adulthood traveling from one city to another. More specifically, his ideas in exploring his artwork came from his memories of going to his cousins house which was located in Wilmington. The structures of buildings and gates captured his attention and he was motivated to create what he has in his gallery. His art consists of familial history, love, and intimacy. He wants to show the recognition that most people tend to ignore; reveal parts of the world that we pass by without appreciating. He wants to question the stability of our infrastructure that we have in place.

4. During my experience of viewing his artwork, I had my own understanding and felt connected to his work because it showed hard work and labor that hispanics are known to go through. All the construction and labor work which is a big part of Mexican culture. I felt like I saw his story in his work. I took his work as an extension to society. Additionally, one specific art he had reminded me of China culture, which was quite interesting.

D3 - Speech Actions

Art & Speech

The media that I decided to use were ink markers. The way that I wanted this to speak for me is having no need to use big canvases to portray how important climate change is. The usage of paper in this to show how anyone can express how they feel onto a piece of paper and show it off to the outside. The reason why I used markers was not only because I was unable to purchase paint, but because anyone who may see this can be able to draw something similar or the same with any media simply as pen and ink, and gain audience attention towards the issue of climate change. I want this medium to speak for the issues we currently have with pollution and how it is increasingly affecting our earth, our only home. The hourglass with a sad face expresses that we don’t have much time before global warming may be irreversible. I think I was pretty successful for the most part; I do feel like my art expressed my speech. If I did this project again, one thing I would do differently is incorporate more media like the use of paint.

C2 - Artist Conversation - Eva Grello

Artist Conversation #2

Artist: Eva Grello

Media: Comfort, Bedding, Wallpaper, Clothing, Stationary

Website: evagrello.com

Eva Grello is a graduate student here at Long Beach State. She is in the process of getting accepted for advancement to candidacy for the MFA degree. The MFA degree is the Master of Fine Arts— basically the highest degree there is to gain in the Arts. The MFA degree may be equivalent and is like receiving a doctorate, he highest degree. First one receives a BA, then Bachelors in Fine Arts, then Masters in Arts, and last but not least Masters in Fine Arts. Out of the 11 programs that the School of Art offers, she is in Illustration and Animation. One of her interest when she was little was to read illustrated books. Ideas that her work explores is letting go and freely expressing herself apart of the world.

Eva Grello’s artwork consisted of light colors. She incorporated in her work plenty of different random but cute characters in her work. She drew what she had in mind first, then made it come into reality by actually making every single piece. The only thing she did not build by hand was the piano. For the wallpaper, Eva Grello mentioned that she screen printed it. Additionally, she stated that she hand drew the floor. All in all, she made most of all the soft things in a bedroom setting with a cat, toy train tracks, and so on as one can see in the image. After speaking with Eva, I learned that it took her about a month to create 2 paintings. She, of course, works on 2 to 3 paintings at a time. I also learned from her that since she is at school 12 to 14 hours a day, she had plenty of time to complete her work and did not feel rushed for the advancement of candidacy for the MFA degree.

According to Eva Grello, she wanted to show how the world is full of skews. She wanted to portray in her work that she is engaged in knowing that the world is a mess. By creating her work, this was her way of escaping reality. During my conversation with her she said that art should be based off of hope and as a breakthrough from darkness. She added on with stating that there will always be a little bit of some kind of sort of feeling unsatisfied with everything but we keep going. Her work is metamorphosed. After she hand built the real bedroom setting, she made an animation in that bedroom setting of the owner of the bedroom, a cat, having a little odd adventure with the toys in the room on the toy train tracks. Eva mentioned also that the animation goal of the cat was looking for turtles. A big part of her animation had references to turtles.

From entering the room, Eva’s work caught my attention the most due to it pastel colors and tiny art along with the built bedroom setting and the animation film that was made while recording every single second of movement. I know that filming took a long time, and I appreciate her work and the passion is shown with her art. Eva mentions in her paper that she loves the contextual democracy of pattern and/ or visual complexity. She is also obsessed with the topic of justice and fairness on a sociological level, and her vision have no visual hierarchy. I really felt what she was saying here because I love her idea towards art having no hierarchy— a breakthrough. Her statement that stood out to me the most and I completely agreed with was that the longer she gets to be in her own playful world of color and whimsy, the less time she has to acknowledge the brutality of the world, especially in this country.

D2 - Zines (Identity)

Zine

The goal for my zine was to describe in picture how my ideal day looks like and how each day has sort of a different mood. For example, Monday’s I’m usually tired and on Thursdays, I’m happy because it’s my last day of the week for classes. And the cycle continues. I feel pretty good about my zine.

Something I would do different next time is probably write more and add color to it. Also, I would perhaps make it a bit more personal.

Other things I would explore in future zines is grabbing different topics, maybe make it more comical. I would explore different ways of exploring identity within zines.

#art 110

D1 - Finger Painting

Finger Painting

Finger painting was fun to do. It was easier than I thought it was going to be. The experience of making a painting with no subject was not fustrating for me because I just let my mind free on how or what way I was painting. Comparing this to other paintings I have seen; they have much more detail and most likely took more time to create.

#art 110

C1 - Artist Conversation - Jillian Thompson

Artist Conversation #1

Exhibition Information

Artist: Jillian Thompson

Exhibition

Media: Installation,

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Max L. Gatov Gallery East

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: jillian_thompson

1. Jillian Thompson is a student in the School of Art’s MFA Jewelry & Metalsmithing. While having a conversation with Jillian Thomspon, I learned a bit about her. For starters, she is a graduate student who is working on her last year as a student and will be graduating in the spring. She attended Grand Valley University which she said to be located on the west side. Jillian Thompson is now working to receive her MFA, Masters of Fine Arts. Something that interests her is spending time with her sisters, which highly relates to her work that was shown. Ideas that her work explore is the idea of sisterhood in African American culture and tradition.

2 . The nature of Jillian’s work composed of many different colors from brown to bright colors, different textures ranging from actual synthetic hair pieces, metal, wool, cardboard and plastic bags which are all involved in the packaging and unveiling of synthetic hair. Most of her work is big enough to be spotted easily. Her massive piece of artwork that caught my attention the most was really long pieces of hair braided coming down from the ceiling, hung on a pipeline. Some lines of braids reached the floor and many others did not. She included several different types of hair color: blonde, purple, brown, and black. Many hair ties were knotted in the center of all braids which was also an attention grabber.

3. Her art is mainly about African American tradition and culture along with hair braiding and weaves. Jillian’s wants labor and tradition to be embedded with her artwork. While creating her work, her mind was going through questioning herself ideas about black femininity and what it means to be a woman within the Hip Hop scene and large in society. In her work, she used metal to refer to gold chains which she meant to make stand as a symbol of bodily adornment to speak about issues of gender also within the Hip Hop community. In one of her works, she used bags that once carried synthetic hair and used a soak-screen to print colorful pictures on the bags. She used pictures of herself with friends, disc covers, and even photos from her instagram feed which I found to be quite interesting.

4. The room where her art gallery was located was Max L. Gatov Gallery East, and from a distance, her work captured my attention the most. For me, the mood in the room was happy because she used bright colors instead of dark and gloomy colors. I sort of felt like I was experiencing being at a store and seeing the package that I eventually throw out, but in this case, was used as an artwork along with the plastic bags, The use of synthetic hair in most of her artwork made it clear that there was some tradition or culture of African Americans involved in her work. For me, her artwork meant being proud of her background and origin.

#art 110

C - 2D Art: Painting - Graffiti Writing + Extra Credit!

The two colors that I used was neon pink and neon orange! I noticed it’s a bit difficult to tell. I also visited the Small World Books!

#art 110

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Isabel Inda