Featured Artists:
Collin McEachran Smith, Miles Stemp, Mimi Vitetta, Angela Gilbert Weber, Eve Werner, Christopher Williams, Lena T Wright, Jiaxing Wu, Yeting Xiong, Hansen Yang, Leyi Yang, Jane Yuan, Zahra Zare Mehrjerdi, Yourong Zhao, Yawen Zheng
Collin’s work draws from his background in critical geography and broadly examines how our ideological constructions inform the production of space, and how in turn we are governed by the spaces we inhabit.
Image:
Materialscapes, 2020; Pigment print, 20 x 30 inches
Curiosity and a deep interest in knowledge is at the core of my practice. I take concepts, objects, and language apart, figure out how they tick and try to put them back together with playful self-awareness. I create cognitive dissonance by defamiliarizing common objects or phrases to recontextualize these concepts and metaphors, working to create a magical weirdness in the work.
Image:
Whales Over Moby-Dick, 2020; Single Channel Audio, 23 hours
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Three Women Exercise their Horses at the Vallejo County Evacuation Center During the Napa Fires, 2017; Printed digital image, 36 x 30 inches
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Expect the Unexpected, 2016; Inkjet print on paper of acrylic on canvas and computer experimentation, 18 x 18 inches each
The erasure of my childhood home town by the anthropogenic 2018 Camp Fire has me considering the causal effects of human activity. I use natural and man-made materials collected from within the burn area to convey the fragility exposed when fine natural balances are disrupted, challenging the rationality of proceeding as if we can infinitely exploit our finite planet.
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In Defensible Space, 2020; Burnt rifles and chaparral branches, 28 x 44 x 44 inches
My art practice focuses on Black Joy- a spiritual feeling that has uplifted the African Diaspora through countless trials and tribulations in the quest for freedom and equality. It defies a simplistic explanation.
Black Joy is like a heartbeat. Never bitter, it is sweeter than the blackest of cherries or the richest of chocolates. It’s like a steady climb or an out of frame kiss. It is a moment that is magical and void of being Black, judged and discriminated against. My joy, my Black Joy may not be the same as the next. It is my vehicle for connection, educating others and sharing my experience as a Black man.
What makes the journey of my work unique is my ability to develop authentic empathy for my subject matter. I have found this process is like walking to the edge of darkness and then summoning the courage to take one more step to understand what lies beyond our differences. These steps are necessary to overcome bigotry, hatred and indifference, to embrace the pursuit of joy.
Image:
Lift every voice and sing; Oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches
My work is directly connected to my identity and heritage, and centers on femininity and indigeneity as embodied through the vivid paintings, basket designs, and experiences of native women. I use the specifically gendered objects of my culture, such as Yurok basket caps and Paiute shawls, to inspire a new understanding of the gaze, lineage, and the self. Specifically in engaging contemporary materials, such as digital renderings and sculptures, through a humanizing, indigenous knowledge system.
Image:
Heritage Portrait I, 2019; 24 x 66 inches, Watercolor, ink, and cutouts on paper
Since I was a kid, I always spent a lot of time with toys. The relationship between human and artificial objects fascinated me. Thus, I want to discuss this feeling through my works.
791334282kw.wixsite.com/kasinwu
Image:
Calling , 2019; Excerpt from the artist’s book RAN 8.5 x 11 inches
I am interested in finding the middle point of everything, abstract or non-abstract. There is always grey space in between everything. For instance, how we define if a thing is functional or not functional to us, and how this middle point is different to every person based on our different backgrounds.
Image:
c-u-t, 2020; A cut of a tree with a pedestal made of wood, 10 x 24 x 4 inches
A Day in Doors is a documentary film (interview) about Chinese International students during a day of their lives when “Shelter in Place” begins.
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A Day in Doors, 2020; Video, 11:43 minutes
Japanese mythology and Chinese mythology are two types of mythology in my work. Religion is also in my work, and there are the churches of Rome compared with the churches of San Francisco. My film series demonstrate the need for deep belief in God. Interesting variation is contained in the films depicting worship songs, each having different lyrics but the same meaning of humbling oneself in front of God. I am interested in imitating Japanese prints.
unpeufolle123.wixsite.com/janesportfolio2
Image:
Japanese Print 1, 2019; Ink pen on paper, 36 x 72 inches
My work is about my journey throughout the inner worlds. About my roots that stem in the Eastern Cultures while a majority of us are breathing in a Westernized world. My passion to play with light and shadows will pursue me till the end.
zzaremehrjerdi.myportfolio.com
Image:
On the Behind, 2020; Acrylic on the muslin fabric, 40 x 60 inches
Using artwork to express the dilemma of having a traditional conversation within the digital age, I intend for my work to represent how our collective obsession with these new modes of communication has forever changed the function of conversation. Opposing subject and environment coexist within a single space, featuring binary aspects such as the contemporary and the historical, impression or realism, raw and flat, truth or lies.
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Drifter 2.0, 2019; Print on steel and magnet, 36 x 24 inches
