From ancient cave paintings to modern digital art and social media, artists have explored their creativity by traveling through the looking glass: exploring the complex nature of human existence with abstract art.
Delta College’s L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery introduced a newly curated art exhibition to the public Oct. 12, titled (En)gendered Agency.
The essence of this exhibit is provocative art that transcends boundaries. Art which “promotes advocacy for social change, cultural awareness and empowerment,” said Jan Marlese, Coordinator for the gallery.
Similar to an artist’s blank canvas, Marlese’s creative process also starts with an idea.
“When I curate a show, I start with a theme and search for artists working in the theme… For the (En)gendered Agency exhibition, the idea started with wanting to produce a show for Women’s History Month around the idea of women finding and using their voice through their art as a means for agency.”
She said this is how she invented the title Engendered Agency. Engendered: to develop, cause, or give rise to. Gendered: as determined by gender identity. Agency: to take action in or control over one’s life. The exhibiting artists chosen consist of a diverse group of women:
Recognized for her craftsmanship of fictional celestial planets and Afrofuturistic alien fantasy worlds, April Bey, visual contemporary artist and art educator of Los Angeles uses her childhood memories of black history story-telling with her father to “free Black expression from politics and victimization of Earth’s ingrained power relations…” according to the (En)gendered Agency’s Exhibiting Artist bio and statement.
“Bey’s Colonial Swag” series is a three panel display composed of kaleidoscope elements of women of color, dancing hues of yellows, blues, reds, and plum, encased in fur-like fabrics.
Like Bey, 2022 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SFMOMA) (SECA) Award winner Cathy Lu, uses ceramic sculptures and installations to give life to the traditions of Chinese culture while deconstructing “…assumptions about Chinese diasporic identity and cultural authenticity.”
Lu’s creative project is another collection of three panels: “Peach Garden” is a congregation of five sitting fermented peaches in splashes of pastel colors, “Nuwas Hands” gives a 3D effect of two hands reaching through a wall with elongated claw-like fingernails, “…referencing the Chinese belief that long nails signify wealth…” and “Skin Series” is a graphic piece, illustrating the shedding of skin or unclothing of skin and body decapitations.
Victoria May uses common everyday materials to “…blend intent with accident.” Similar to a wardrobe stylist complicating a fashion decision with three choices, “Blouse Series” is another three panel display consisting of three creatively different blouses. The first blouse is constructed with sand, the second with mini hammer nails, and the last with shards of glass.
Samantha Holcomb, Delta Arts major and Art Gallery intern said it is her favorite art piece of the gallery’s exhibition.
“I was so impressed and surprised when I unpacked these pieces,” said Holcomb. “Her use of texture and found materials make the pieces stand out. I love to look at the little details in everything, especially at the stitches surrounding each piece of glass. I love how she took an everyday object and made me look at it in a different way.”
Geralyn Montano, a current visual art instructor for developmentally disabled adults, creates pieces that “…juxtaposes aesthetic qualities with subversive imagery, never shying away from controversial or provocative subjects.”
According to Montano’s bio and statement in the gallery guide. She uses an array of creative materials such as wood, ceramics, sewing, fiber art and acrylic paint to spotlight the female figure in her paintings and sculptures as well as figurative shapes such as circles to symbolize femininity, the moon, medicine wheel and wholeness.
Titled “Traded Moons,” Montano’s art series consists of four panels: “Sundance in Red,” “Slayer of Fears,” “Little Moon Warrior” and “Put up Your Beau Guard.”Although these pieces are different in imagery and symbolism, the use of young Native American girls, the elements of red and nude tones and the use of circles in the expressive background is prevalent.
“My aim is to use art as a contribution to advocating for women’s empowerment…” Montano said in her artist statement.
Her work in “Traded Moons,” is a creative contribution to the “…sex trafficking of women and girls occuring on Native American reservations at epidemic proportions. I was inspired to bring this hidden crisis to light by creating a body of work for exhibition on the topic.”
Shanna Strauss and Jessica Sabogal are collaborative partners in love and art.
Their creative partnership is one that is culturally and artistically well-blended. Strauss, a Tanzanian-American mixed media artist unveils the unseen beauty of black women, indigenous women, and women of color in her artwork.
“I tend to use a lot of blue hues and earth tones in my pieces. Being raised in Tanzania may play an unnoticeable role in that.” She said when interviewed.
Sabogal, A Cuir Columbian-American muralist and printmaker unleashes artistic rebellion in her art pieces, creating the perfect foundation for their most recent project “This Woman’s Work.” While their series incorporates Strauss’ love of vibrant colors with palettes of ocean blues, shades of brown, gold highlights and deep reds, Sabogal brings context to the pieces with her background in graffiti art and printmaking, invoking elements of abstract art and revolutionary visions of women.
In an ‘Artists Talk’ lecture hosted before the gallery reception in the Tony Fitch North Forum on campus Oct. 12, Strauss and Sabogal invite the audience into their creative process, their relationship, their artistic journey, advice and future projects. “We support each other with our individual and collaborative projects. We get along really well,” Strauss said of her and Sabogal’s creative duo.
Delta’s art exhibitions are informative networking opportunities bursting with creativity and artistic talents.
“Art to me is any expression of your beliefs… how you feel about yourself and the world around you… art has an impact on everything around us from our clothes to the media we consume and the buildings we enter,” said Holcomb. “Which is my favorite part of the event: the first sight reactions from everyone coming into the gallery and meeting new people who love art!”
One can also always expect diversity in these exhibitions.
“Every show that I curate I work to select a diverse representation of artists
… I also work to bring in each of the art disciplines that are taught at Delta College (printmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, ceramic art, and graphic arts). In addition, I work to integrate the arts in other academic areas, such as history, literature, ethnic studies, science, technology, etc. I truly believe that the visual and performing arts are the only disciplines that can integrate with any other educational discipline,” said Marlese.