“Inhale Possibility: Exhale Creativity,” the Cosumnes River College Art Gallery’s current exhibit celebrates student artists and their work.
The mixed medium art show opened on May 9 and was curated by ceramics Professor Linda Fitz Gibbon.
“I try to get the students to use it as a sounding board for what they’re living through and going through,” she said about the theme of the show.
The art exhibit featured many mediums including: sculpture, photography and ceramics.
Adeli Burdeinii, 20, an environmental science major, created her spray-paint collage “Art, 2022” in Art 300 with Professor Geri Donovan.
Burdeinii sees this piece as political-protest art over the mis-treatment of graffiti artists.
“I just wanted to reflect that graffiti in itself is an art form,” Burdeinii said. “Which society likes to see as vandalism, ghetto, or hood-related. A lot of times it’s the voices of the undermined.”
She chose Van Gogh’s “Almond Blossom” as the center focal piece of the nine-canvas, three-three grid composition.
“Van Gogh in his time did not know his own greatness,” said Burdeinii. ”He was not appreciated. I just thought that that perfectly reflected the anonymity of graffiti artists.”
Yvette Joslyn, a former student and ER nurse, made her anatomical heart-sculpture “Covid-2021” in Fitz Gibbon’s ceramic class.
Joslyn was unable to be interviewed in person for this article as she was quarantined with Covid.
“The sculpture was inspired by my work as an ER nurse. 2021 was a very difficult year for many in the medical field,” she wrote in an email interview. “The piece is about how we take those slings and arrows.”
Annelise Hernandez, 20, a studio art major, assembled her cardboard sculpture “Jessica, 2021” in a three-dimensional design class with Professor Kris Lyons.
“The assignment was to make a cardboard face mask and my professor, she kind of told us that we could do whatever we wanted with it,” Hernandez said.
The piece was inspired by Jessica Rabbit, the cartoon character from the 1988 comedy, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” directed by Robert Zemeckis.
“I feel like for me personally a lot of the time art is more of an escapism thing, to try to get myself away from reality for a little bit,” said Hernandez.
“Look what students can do,” said Fitz Gibbon as she reflected on the exhibit. “Art can change people’s lives.”
The student exhibit closes on Sept. 1. The gallery is open Monday to Thursday, noon to 4 p.m.
The next art exhibit, “Time and Place,” will open in September.