U-NITE!

U-nite was April 10th, this year, and I am a little late in getting this post up. Somehow, I had never been to the Crocker, before, so I was very excited to attend the event. 

Andrew Connolly’s Installation and Performance Art class had a great installation in the courtyard. A massive inflated brain took up the majority of the space. Member’s of the class were dressed in character, acting as notable members of the pharmaceutical business world, walked around the large brain thanking passers by for their illness. Some met the public at the front door to the large brain with balloons, and invited them to write down any current or previous medications they might have used on the balloon, before releasing them in to the large brain. I quickly wrote down the ones that I could easily recall, however I felt like I forgot the majority. Inside the brain, you saw balloons covered in everything from Allegra to PCP.

What I was most interested in seeing, this night, was the Faculty Arts Showcase in the nearby building.  Tucked in a little hallway off the courtyard were several amazing works by CSUS faculty, some whom I knew, but most I did not. 

Robert Ortbal

INDIVISIBLE

2012 

Aqua resin, foam, wood and mirrored Mylar

I really like Bob's work. He had a show in the Library gallery last fall that I really liked a lot. It's always eye opening when you get to see the work of teachers you've taken classes with and been critiqued by. One of my first exposures to Bob was in his Intermediate Sculpture class. He was telling us about all the cool finds he gets from dollar stores. After seeing his work at U-NITE, and after visiting his personal show at the campus library gallery last fall, I really enjoy the ways he uses those unique dollar store finds. The foam he uses here is a lot like the no skid foam surface you can use under rugs and carpets to keep them in place. In other works he has used long strips of plexiglass to construct three dimensional structures, or aluminum and moss to make small terrarium foam worlds. I really enjoy his versatility with materials.

Brenda Louie

FOOT JOURNEY SERIES #2011-003

2011

Drawing: Graphite on Mylar with collage

These are amazing graphite drawings on transparent mylar, overlaid on simple constellation maps.

Manuel Rios

SENTIMENT OF INNOCENCE

2013

Acrylic, enamel, oil and image transfer on wood panel

Masamichi Miyagi

INQUILINISM

2014

Copper Wire

I love this. Look at these close ups:

I really enjoy that linear quality. The way the wire creates its shadow on the wall behind is fascinating. It is such a simple work of art, yet I found myself standing in front of it for almost twenty minutes just following the lines and the shadows behind. So simple, yet intricate

I was intrigued by the name, and had to look up its meaning. An Inquiline is an animal that lives in close association with another animal without harming it. Before understanding the name of the work I was amazed by the line quality. After, I'm intrigued by its meaning. Is it meant to be a type of hive? If you stand back and take it all in, it vaguely resembles a plant cell. I still love the lines.