by Patricia Frischer
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Christopher Tucker
This intriguing structure of layered facial features.
"Mood Swings is an unusual work for me. I'm combining
a newer technology (3D printing)
with an older technology (turning wood on a
lathe) to make something
that feels to me a little like a toy. Having the
rounded base, and the ability to
rotate the facial features around into
different combinations,
allows a feeling of motion and play."
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If you are anything like me, your dreams come in bits and
pieces and skip around from reality and known subject to complete fantasy and
the absurd. That pretty much sums up the huge variety that you will find in Dreamscape:
Beyond the Veil. Like most juried exhibitions, the choices are made, not so
much to define the theme, but just to choose the best quality work possible.
This exhibition was entirely designed by the students of
the museum studies course taught so brilliantly by Alessandra Moctezuma with able assistance from Gallery Coordinator Jenny Armer. That means students choose the theme, designed and promoted the call for artists, notified
and received the accepted work, hung the show, advertised it and arranged for
the opening reception. Bravo!
Choosing just a few works to tempt you to see the rest of
the exhibition is what I considered to be my job. Full disclosure, I have works
myself in this exhibition and am grateful to be included. You will find not
only dreams but quite a selection of nightmares. This theme lends itself to
surrealism but they are also some abstract works, some expressionist art and
plenty of sculptural pieces. Three dimensional interpretations can be so
concrete and really do appear to go beyond the veil and enter reality.
The
only thing that surprised me was in this age of interactive priorities, there
was not a bed to lie on and create your own dreams on the spot!
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What Drifts Through Your Dreamscape?
Gal Crew (Jennifer Armer, Gaby Espina, Caiti Myth).
Stop before you enter and make sure and look throughthe front window.
"This is an interactive installation that asks people to
share their
dreams or nightmares.... a site specific,
two-sided installation
in the front window of the gallery. One side depicts a
bright,
fluffy cloudscape with happy dreams that we have had.
The other side is
a dark forest full of nightmarish creatures."
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Jeff Kahn
Lush colors, a softer version echoing the works
of Sonia Delauney and her Orphic Cubism style.
"Fresh Perspective is an abstract exploration of
obscured layers,
where the interplay of shadow and radiating light evokes a
sense
of discovery and revelation.... The light, breaking
through the layers,
symbolizes new insight, offering a glimpse of understanding
within an otherwise ambiguous composition." |
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Cheryl Tall
A continuation of her double headed series,
this one with windows to the soul.
"My work engaged aspects of the imagination, fantasy
and the dream world. It deals with buried memories by searching
through mythology, ancient art and current events
to create hybrid creatures."
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Caiti Myth
This is one of the steam roller printers, yes, no printing press! |
"This piece represents the connection between dreams and
emotions.
Through this work, I explore how our feelings, memories, and dreams
all intersect, guiding us in ways we may not fully understand."
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Isa Guadalupe Medina/ Braulio Lam
An evocative video projected above the actual detailed beaded hat
"The idea was to have an unknown location and
not easily identifiable, something with an ambiguous atmosphere, with a
minimalistic look: blue, caramel and red.,,That
connection of the color, textures, materials, and surrounding atmosphere
reminds us that we are part of a human experience that is fragile and mortal. Team Credits: Photography/Video/Music: Braulio Lam, Silk
Costume/Hand-beaded headpiece: Isa Guadalupe Medina, Talent: Coco Delgado |
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| Patricia Frischer |
I am able to add the artist statements for these two lines of records:
Dreamscape:
I used the substrate of vinyl records to spin a tale of a life with lots of
moving parts that have grown out of my imagination. I am using a language of
images developed over a lifetime of creative work. In these two works, the
images morph from circle to circle much like the scenes that appear in your
dreams. You don’t quite know how to interpret them, but know that the hidden
messages are meaningful. The tiny man is an often visitors in my dreams,
watching over me and protecting me. These two series of 4 works were completed
in July and August of 2024 while I was waiting for an operation to remove part
of my thyroid. Yes, the veil that separates life and death seems active and
revealed itself more through my dreams and then my art which gave me great relief
from the day-to-day stress.
Top Row: Surf and Turf Balloons was originally a dream of a friend many, many years
ago, who wanted to take a balloon trip over the great wall of China. But over
the years this idea has morphed with my
art as China has risen in power and as walls have become a bigger and bigger
part of our lives. When we dream, our images, sometimes repeat over and
over…you forget you have a test, or end up nude in public, but these are stress
reactions, sometimes, to daily events. We have to revised the meanings of our
dreams as we grow and change.
Bottom Row:
Intuition is the Direct Path to Truth. As
the title infers, intuition is the mainstay of interpretation of dreams. In day
dreams or those during sleep, a confusion of images abound. It is up to our own
intuition to determine the specific meaning on a particular day. Yes, we have a
profusion of lizards darting across our courtyard, yes, coffee and donuts are
essential fuels, and yes, the amazing flights of crows right before sunset was
a vision to behold. The paths in our lives continue to reveal themselves and we
are lucky to have visual clues.
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christian olid-ramirez
From the press release "...The Gloaming depict a fictional “desert
of the mind” – a mental sandbox exploring the darkest thoughts and impulses of
the human soul." |
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Arie Galles
A Polish Jew, landing in Texas and now residing in Laguna Beach.
(on left) "Spinoza, My approach to this drawing is philosopher Spinoza’s
enduring relevance in contemporary thinking about politics and religion. The
quill in Spinoza’s hand is releasing a galaxy. An original thinker, Spinoza's
belief in a link between human thought/action and the Demiurge/Nature was never
broken."
(on right)" Ecclesiastes 5:7, I find the book of Ecclesiastes a profoundly empirical
exegesis on the concept of justice. Many hackneyed representations of a
skewered scale of justice exist. I envision the scale as not merely unbalanced,
but broken, adrift in the sky. My hope is to see this imbalance rectified. " |
Other participating artists: Adan
Abaquin-Brown, Luis Alderete, Gabrielle Berens, Beate Bermann-Enn, Abigail
Brown, Elizabeth Brown, Sophia Ciuffa, Anni Claflin, Krista Cuellar, Gabriela
Ponce Curlango, Eva D'Amico, Alexis Deming, Meghan DeRoma, Matthew Devoys,
Sheena Rae Dowling, Dana Edwards, Christopher Ferreria, Junko Glawe, John Carlos Keasler, Natalia Kozlova, Sami Leon, Evan Lopez, Rick Macaw,
Evie Maher, Kamaal Martin, Isa Guadalupe Medina/ Braulio Lam ,Teresa Mill,
Michelle Montjoy, Alejandro Morales, James Nelson, Dakota Noot, Susan J. Osborn, Philip Petrie, Lulu Yueming Qu, Chris
Reilly, Josie Rodriguez, Kayah Rybar, Alyanah Santos, Sandra Segovia, Bryan Tipton, Ell Treese, Patricia Valero, Alyssa
Marielle Villagracia, Kelsey Worth, Jessica Yambao. The student created website gives details, illustrations and descriptions of all the wok in this exhibition,
Dreamscape: Beyond the Veil at San Diego Mesa College Art
Gallery
November 18 – December 12, 2024
Fine Arts Building, Art Gallery, FA103
7250 Mesa College Dr. SD 92111
Closest entrance is through Marlesta/Genesee
amoctezu@sdccd.edu 619.388.2829.
Gallery Hours: M - TH 12 - 5 p.m. (Or by appointment.) Closed Fridays, Weekends
& Holidays.
Closed Thanksgiving Week: November 25 - 29, 2024
Gallery Hours: M - TH 12 - 5 p.m. (Or by appointment.) Closed Fridays, Weekends
& Holidays.
Closed Thanksgiving Week: November 25 - 29, 2024
