The opening reception for the Jeff Chang and Vivi Fitriani exhibit presented topical issues through various mediums by Cal State Long Beach art majors. Featured artists — Catherine Davis, Karen Utley, and Sun Young Park — consistently engaged with the audience to discuss their creations.
This week’s gallery, featured in the student art galleries, covers artistic styles from ceramics to photography and visual media to studio art. Some of the entries are serious studies of expression through a particular medium. Others are whimsical explorations of the artists’ personalities, while some are polically expressed.
One interesting exhibit is the work of Jason Segall, a ceramics student Segall’s artistic sampling demonstrates a curiosity of ceramics with a playfulness in the medium. His work testes the ability of ceramics to create different textures and some of his results have potential.
“I’m more interested in making sculptural forms so I can get more freedom to reinvent the way these materials are used,” Segall said.
An exhibit that attracts some attention is a work on Muslim women and their experiences wearing various face coverings.
Accoring to Fitriani, one of the exhibit’s creators, the purpose of the show is to challenge stereotypes about Muslim women. Fitrani said that she and her partner conceived the idea in response to a ban on the burqa imposed by the French government in June.
“We felt that this would be a perfect opportunity to collaborate because we wanted to hear the reactions of the Muslim community. … So really, the ban from France is really what sparked this entire project,” Fitrani said.
Park, an international ceramics student from Korea, exhibits his art to portray cartoon-like characters. Park’s figures are characterized by large eyes, limited colors and simple lines to convey a sense of simplicity and childlike sweetness.
The other exhibits are a medley of different personalized-themed projects.
A studio art project features a pool with two artists submerged in it. The idea is measuring one’s physical presence in the universe through displacement.
The artists’ enthusiasm, along with refreshments, made the opening reception a fun and stimulating campus activity for this week.
The Jeff Chang and Vivi Fitriani art event runs until Sept. 16 in the student art galleries between the FA2 and FA3 buildings on campus.
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