California contemporary: Sac State Student Show

Me next to Self-portrait by Josh Lyons

Sacramento State University every year likes to celebrate their more creative students with an amazing showcase of the students. I happened to stop by the student show in the Robert Else Gallery in the Kadema building and what I came across was quite interesting.

First off the show was a lot different from most of the other galleries I have been to, it was very basic, white walls everywhere and concrete floor. There wasn't a lot of the structures in the middle of the floor most of the work was hanging on the walls all around the room. I feel like this was more so the art would stand out bolder then if there was something more such as wall colors or fancy structures. Secondly, there was no titles or names or any sort of description of the works near the work of art. Instead in the corner by the side door there was a diagram of the room and lists of the artist, title, and description of the works. So it was sort of like a game to try and match the works with where they are on the wall. I liked the idea of making the audience interact with the works.

Spill, Va Vue, oil on paper, 33.5" x 21.75"

At first I didn't realize the list of works were in the corner at all so there was an initial walk through of the gallery just looking at the work objectively. It was amazing to see how the work from some many different artists flowed together and I began to try and guess if the artist did the same works or maybe they had a plan all along to collaborate on those specific pieces.

Some of my favorite pieces were done in simple acrylic but I felt they had such a bigger message then just the medium, because a lot of contemporary artists are making their statements through the use of the medium versus the actual work itself, it was wonderful to see it come back to the simplistic features of painting.

There were some that were incredibly abstract like Mass by Shelby Lynn (below), at first glance it looks as if you can run your hand across it and feel bumpy and sharp. According to the sheet she used mixed media so my guess would be a mix between oil and acrylic paints to create the texture. I liked the feelings that evoked by this particular work it reminds me of a storm and an ocean battle the storm through her use of colors and texture you get a sense of battle or hopelessness.

Mass, Shelby Lynn, mixed media on panel, 9" x 12"

Another work that really caught my eye was Entangled: 2 by Brett Melliar, it is oil on canvas a fairly large piece but struck me about it was colors. When I entered it was the first thing I noticed on the wall after a few second the figures in the painting became clear to me, it has a messy elegance to it and makes me a little sad. I felt a sense of entrapment or like stuck but not like you couldn't escape it still felt like there was a chance that figure on the left could make it out.

Entangled: 2, Brett Melliar, oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

There were other works besides paintings such as Figures in Gray Scale by Bruce Smallwood. Made out of clay, these little figures are the epicenter of thought. They may be missing limbs and have sad, almost lost expressions I didn't get any sense of sorrow more like wonder. Wonder at what they were thinking about or why they were missing their limbs, how did it happen, why those particular limbs? This piece left me with more question then I think answers, which is I feel like how these little guys feel, full of question.