Lian talks to another about her 8-foot magician with multiple bunnies
By Marcia E. Gawecki
The last senior class visual art show at Idyllwild Arts showcased some unusual, life-sized sculptures, along with some standout photos and paintings. Samantha, Ben, Chloe, Veronica and Lian each outdid one another with imagination and artistic skill.
For one of her sculptures, Chloe asked fellow visual artist Sofia to stand on a pedestal and pose for about an hour.
“Originally, Chloe had asked a dancer to pose, but they all were in rehearsal during the visual art show,” Sofia explained. “Someone told her that I had danced before and she asked me.”
Sofia wore a natural colored dance outfit, and Chloe painted over the material, and even her skin with acrylic paint.
“It took me days to get it all off!” Sofia exclaimed.
She said that Chloe left it up to her asto what poses she wanted to perform during the art show.
“She told me just to go slow,” Sofia said.
Sofia became one of Chloe's life sculptures
Another large sculpture was created by Lian. It was part of a series that showcased animals.
In her piece, Lian created an 8-foot magician with bunnies coming out of his pockets, pants and everywhere.
The piece showed Lian’s “dark side,” another student said.
“I think it’s great!” exclaimed Mallory, on the art staff. “It’s expressive and a little edgy.”
Mallory said that Lian coupled the magician along with other circus-type pieces, including a wolf with one eye, and a circus acrobat and clown.
“Lian even added the music, which sounds like circus music,” Mallory said.
She added that all of the seniors had submitted their presentations early on, which were approved by the art staff.
Mallory went on to talk about Veronica’s paintings, which focused on sushi.
“Don’t touch it, it’s still wet!” Mallory exclaimed as I edged closer to a painting that featured a woman’s nude torso with what looked like rose pedals.
“No, they’re sushi,” Mallory said.
She explained that Veronica liked sushi a lot, but was also nervous about its potential to make her sick.
The other two paintings showed a woman’s torso similar to the other one, and rows of different kinds of sushi on a plate.
A sculpture-and-video combination by Veronica personified the “sickness” part of sushi. Mallory didn’t say whether Veronica had gotten sick from sushi before.
On the back wall were a series of student photos by Ben. He hand selected several of his classmates from Idyllwild Arts to act as models. Underneath each close up portrait was a statement about their lives.
Ben showcased photos that revealed his classmates secrets
“I belonged to a religious cult for the first 12 years of my life,” admitted Bram, a theater major.
Later, he explained how the photos came about.
“Ben asked me to model for him, and bring along several ‘secrets’ on pieces of paper,” Bram explained. “The one about me belonging to a cult was considered the best.”
As a theater major, Bram is used to “exposing” various sides of himself. But he was surprised how few people asked him about the cult.
“I think they being too polite and don’t want to pry,” he said.
Bram is open to talking about the experience. He said that belonging to a cult seemed normal, until he turned 12 and rebelled. He tries to take the best out of the experience, including shunning materialism.
Since the leader of the cult died recently, Bram feels a sense of closure. But he’d like to use the experience in his theater art sometime.
“Perhaps I’ll do a monologue and explain how things really were,” he said.
The other photos by Ben talked about personal things as well, such as inability to trust other people.
Ben enlarged the images, and then emphasized some of the features with a collage. Bram’s eyes were emphasized, while Rebecca, an outspoken writer’s mouth was the focal point.
The largest one along another wall featured Deliah, a pretty blonde girl with black mud on her face.
“Her face and hair were so white, that I had to do something different,” Ben explained.
He projected Deliah’s portrait to enlarge it to about four feet wide.
Lian (at L with camera) in pink wig with friends at the art opening
Right now, there’s another visual art show at the Parks Exhibition Center on campus. It’s a group show featuring a variety of work. It will continue until June.
For more information, visit www.idyllwildarts.org or call (951) 659-2171.
Copyright Idyllwild Me. All rights reserved.
All photos courtesy Idyllwild Arts Academy.
Published on: May 21, 2011 @ 16:31
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