The paintings are hung and the sculptures sit on pedestals at Allan Hancock College, where Gallery Director Marti Fast organized the annual Fine Arts Student Art Show.
Located in the Ann Foxworthy Gallery on Hancock’s Santa Maria campus, the annual exhibition showcases a spectrum of different media, highlighting the talent of this school year’s fine arts students. There are 105 works in the show, which opens Jan. 24 and runs through March 9.
This year, the work on display includes mixed media, graphic design, painting, digital arts, photography, drawing, typography, ceramics, and animation.
Fast said the show is a longtime tradition that allows visitors an opportunity to appreciate the creative thinking, imagination, and skill levels demonstrated by fine arts students. The work was selected by each student’s instructor, Fast explained.
Myriad subjects are explored in the show, but Fast said that many students took on portraiture, as it requires attention to detail and structure, all while capturing the complexity of human emotion.
“Whether working from the mirror or from a model, the artists learn to measure proportions accurately, to capture emotion, and render the challenging shapes of the head and features with assurance,” Fast said in a release from Hancock. “This show features numerous portraits in oils, acrylic, charcoal, digital media, and photography.”
According to Fast, there is something for everyone in the show, and the fine arts faculty members are especially proud of the students’ effort.
The show’s contents range in motivation and inspiration, which makes for a unique gallery experience. A lot of meaning can get packed into one piece, like a portrait, student artist Derick Edwards told the Sun.
“I’ve tried to communicate a sense of existentialism with the viewer by painting portraits looking off into the distance,” Edwards said.
There are many notable works to see, including a piece by Dennis Tays, who created two ceramic sea anemones, carefully sculpted, which appear vibrant and lifelike. Painter Cheryl Clark evokes a soft sense of light in her portrait of a Japanese woman, titled Illumination. Digital painter Cristal Rocha captures movement in a portrait of a woman.
Behind each piece of art is a story, with inspiration ranging from natural beauty to politics. One student, Oscar Pearson, was inspired by the recent standoff at Standing Rock Indian Reservation between Native Americans protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project and law enforcement.
The exhibiting work began as research into a sacred place,” Pearson said. “To me it means one thing, to a worker for DAPL another, and to an occupant of the Standing Rock camp again it would have another meaning.”
“It is a direct assemblage of symbols, objects, and materials that struck me as important aspects of the history of the space and key roles in the current events taking place there,” he added.
Editorial Intern Eden Hood can be contacted through Interim Managing Editor Joe Payne at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 19-26, 2017.