Department of Art

Remote challenges lead to innovation

kelvin — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 17:50:46 +0000

Remote challenges lead to innovation kelvin Tue, 04/20/2021 - 10:50 More Press Releases Mina Shiratsuchi, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications April 20, 2021

Saws, welders and sculpting tables are just some of the resources CHASS art students are used to having access to. Since campus closure in March 2020, the Department of Art has had to find new ways to support its students.

To create a space that mimics in-person learning, Art laboratory supervisors Andrea Hidalgo and Jason Gowans launched a website in August 2020 where art students can borrow equipment and supplies such as camera equipment, and paint.

In addition, graduate students are able to utilize QR code technology to reserve lab spaces on campus. Each lab and studio has a QR code at the entrance that grad students can scan with a smartphone to notify lab supervisors of their check-in. This system ensures that spaces are not overbooked.

“There was no system previously in the art department to assist students and we provided a solution to the problem,” Gowans said. “The new reservation system also provides information about what items are used and who used them so they can be sanitized and restocked. It also provides more accountability surrounding Covid-19 restrictions and guidelines.”

“I used the service last fall quarter to check out a camera and an iPhone dongle for a performance class. I've also used the service to pick up free art materials like paint canvases,” said Christina Kang, a fourth-year studio art major.

“It's hard to work from home when you're in a class like sculpture, because then your bedroom would have to become your workstation,” Kang said. “This service gives art students the opportunity to excel, focus on what you want to create, and make the most of your online classes.”

Photo courtesy of Zaid Yousef.
Each lab and studio has a QR code at the entrance that grad students can scan with a smartphone to notify lab supervisors of their check-in.

Hidalgo and Gowans worked hard to have the website running for the art students by last summer. Hidalgo and Gowans had to develop, test and troubleshoot a way to create separate QR codes for the Art department and graduate student studios.

“...the Art Department was one of the departments that had a quick return to campus in comparison to other departments,” Hidalgo said. “Our students and faculty really need to be on-site to use their studios, facilities, equipment, and to have staff assistance to be able to continue their research and art production. While EH&S and campus leadership were busy trying to develop guidance on a campus level, we were working on this at a department level.”

Additionally, they conducted extensive research on Covid-19 safety regulations in relation to Cal/OSHA, the state guidelines, Center for Disease Control guidelines, and an understanding of the needs of UCR students, faculty, and staff to create the QR codes and list of necessary items for check-out.

“It was a lot of research to understand how to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe at a time when there was still so much unknown about Covid-19,” Hidalgo said. “As a team, we really had to rely on each other, to do the research, make the best and safest decisions, get feedback, and be open to changes.”

With assistance and feedback from UCR art and art history department’s administrators, Susan Komura, Leslie Paprocki and Andrea Heraz, Hidalgo and Gowans were able to address concerns and efficiently release the website for official undergraduate and graduate student use.

The group is continuing to look at ways to further implement the QR code reservation process within their own departments that need to provide physical equipment and space to students. Hidalgo and Gowans are open to discussing with other UCR departments on how QRs can be implemented in their areas.

FEATURED PHOTO. Stan Lim/University Communications.
Gallery & Graduate Studio Manager Zaid Yousef posts QR codes that art students can use to reserve labs and borrow equipment. Utilizing QR codes was the idea of two CHASS lab supervisors, Andrea Hidalgo and Jason Gowans.

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Class of 2020 Art Exhibition

kelvin — Fri, 29 May 2020 07:57:56 +0000

Class of 2020 Art Exhibition kelvin Fri, 05/29/2020 - 00:57 More Press Releases Devany Harden, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing & Communications May 29, 2020

Every spring, seniors in UC Riverside’s Department of Art participate in an exhibition at the UCR ARTS Culver Center of the Arts in Downtown Riverside. With social-distancing protocols in place to slow the COVID-19 outbreak, the exhibition has moved online along with art, classes, and jobs across the country.

The virtual exhibition titled, Home Bodies, goes live on Saturday, June 6, and features work from 26 graduating seniors.

The show operates out of an academic course titled “Senior Exhibition Seminar.” This quarter, the class is guided by Department of Art Professor and Chair Yunhee Min and graduate student Cara Rae Joven.

“A big part of the experience of this course is being around other students -- the communal and social learning and the discussions that take place,” Min said. “It’s very intuitive to interact when we are in the same room. You don’t have to think about it and you can see what other people are doing. We’re missing that.”

“I’m never going to make a case for exhibitions to go away,” Joven said. “I want to be in a room with artwork, but from a teaching perspective, I think there’s something useful about [going virtual].”

As the seniors work with Min, Joven, UCR ARTS, and each other, they engage in conversations about their work regularly throughout the 10-week course.

“I think what’s happening through this online context is they’re having to talk about the work more than they normally do when we’re working in the studios,” Joven said. “This format is having them explain, not necessarily even about the experience, but about the object itself.”

As an example, Joven describes a recent conversation with a student who was showing her a sculpture made out of dough, virtually. The student said, “It actually has a smell and I wish you could smell it.”

Min and Joven both praise the students’ and faculty’s adaptability and resourcefulness.

“We’ve had to reconceive and re-conceptualize the course to mitigate the serious restrictions of online platform,” Min said. Adjusting to life during quarantine is a “common condition for all of us to deal with today.”

Since students are not attending classes in person and no longer have access to on-campus resources such as labs and printers, many are turning to DIY projects. Going the DIY-route is a “good skill to have,” Joven said, considering that when students graduate, many of them may go back to creating art from what is around them.

“We’re pushing the students to be innovative and look for unconventional art materials,” Min said. “It is an opportunity to look at things a little differently.”

“I wanted to use this opportunity to document what our day-to-day life looks like,” said senior Sydney Lam from Chino Hills. Her photography project titled, Comfort in the Mundane, is a departure from her comfort zone.

“I go out to grocery stores and I take pictures of people through a reflection of a mirror,” Lam said. “It warps this reality. It’s in color which is something I never do.” Until this point, most of Lam’s photography has been in black-and-white and her subject is usually a friend back in Riverside.

Although Lam is disappointed that her class’s work will not be shown in-person this quarter, she is excited that the online platform will not limit who can view the show. It is free and accessible to all.

“Our goal was to find ways to continue to support the students during this time, not only in terms of being able to present and promote their achievements but also in having the learning experience of participating in a museum exhibition,” said Rita Souther, UCR ARTS Exhibitions Manager.

Souther and UCR ARTS Senior Preparator Cody Norris lead presentations on museum best practices and provide technical advice for the class through the online seminar. In a final workshop, the seniors will experiment with and discuss how the exhibition would look in a 3D digital model of the Culver Center created by Norris.

“Even though it’s not the same as going through the process ‘in real life,’” Souther said, “we hope they now feel better prepared to navigate the system of exhibition-making. After all, we hope to see them grow as artists, exhibiting their work in many other museums in the future.”

The exhibition will be available online beginning Saturday, June 6, at art.ucr.edu/seniorexhibition2020.

Sydney Lam, Untitled, 2020, digital photograph

FEATURED PHOTO. Photos courtesy of Mariana Rodela
Bathroom Door, 2020, digital photograph of a projection.

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More than a hobby

kelvin — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 18:46:55 +0000

More than a hobby kelvin Tue, 09/10/2019 - 11:46 More Press Releases Hannah Croft, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications September 10, 2019

Monique Veloz has been creating art her entire life. Painting is more than a hobby for Veloz, it's a way of expressing emotion and giving back.

"There's not one form of art, there are multiple forms," Veloz said. "Everybody needs an outlet. Whether it’s poetry, art or music, whatever makes you feel better about yourself or gets you through your situation."

Veloz is an Academic Personnel Analyst within UC Riverside’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, who uses oil paint as a creative outlet. Veloz has created more than 70 original works. Some of her favorites include the "Beautifully Broken" paintings, a series of ten paintings that became her way of expressing emotions after a personal loss, and her "San Gabriel Enslavement" and "Dance For My Ancestors" paintings, created to pay homage to her Serrano and Mexican heritage.

Veloz's favorite piece is currently "Nichole," an oil painting created for a family friend experiencing personal struggles. The piece is intended to showcase the power and strength of womanhood, and alongside her other works, uniquely reflects powerful emotions, messages and history.

"Art is a way to express yourself, and is a way to steer your emotions," Veloz said. "All of my emotions come out through my art. You may have an image in your mind, and then when you start painting it turns out completely different. I like to say that the canvas talks to you, because sometimes things may not flow properly, and you think you'll go back and fix it but you take a step back to look at it and that’s what it was supposed to be."

Veloz has displayed her works in many art shows and galas. Last year, she was featured in an online magazine and four art shows. She sold an original piece at a recent "Pancakes and Booze," a premier world-traveling, pop-up art show.

Veloz strives to bring art to the community through her shows and donations, and has donated art pieces to the local Riverside Community Arts Association. She was also offered a position to teach a children's art class for the Inland Empire Latino Art Association, an organization that offers free dance classes, art classes and other children’s programs to the local community. She also donated two original paintings to the association.

"I just feel like, giving back is something I want to do," said Veloz. "My way to contribute is me donating so they can continue the work that they’re doing. It’s really big to give back where I can. I’m not able to give money, but I can donate a piece that can help them raise money and to me you need to give back to the kids."

Veloz has continued painting with her family, and has influenced her nieces to start painting by encouraging them to express themselves through art. She is continuously influencing and being influenced by them, and continues to find new inspiration for works to display at shows and on social media through her time in CHASS.

"UCR has definitely kept me inspired," Veloz said. "My departments are Art, Art History, Music and Creative Writing, and when I see what the professors are doing it keeps me motivated to keep going."

Veloz plans to continue her art, and hopes to one day exhibit her art in New York. Her ultimate goal is to hold an art show in Europe, and to be on display in France or Spain.

Follow Monique Veloz @monique.veloz on Instagram or at moniqueveloz.com.

Veloz has been featured in an online magazine and four art shows.
Photos courtesy of Monique Veloz

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Department of Creative Writing

Department of Music

Department of the History of Art

CHASS Dean's Office

Art Professor Amir Zaki leaves a creative mark in China, and on campus

kelvin — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 00:24:40 +0000

Art Professor Amir Zaki leaves a creative mark in China, and on campus kelvin Thu, 08/15/2019 - 17:24 More Press Releases Lilian Tran, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing & Communications November 06, 2018

You may have already seen Professor Amir Zaki on campus. On Tuesdays, you can find Zaki teaching his weekly free tai chi class to UCR students, faculty and staff, beneath the shaded trees between Hinderaker and INTS buildings. On Thursdays, he also teaches a free yoga class in the INTS round room.

From yoga and tai chi, to teaching and studying art, to starting his own business, Zaki has left a creative mark wherever he goes. A photographer, Zaki has been teaching art at UCR since 2000. Zaki graduated with a B.A. in art from UCR in 1992, and obtained an MFA from UCLA in 1999, specializing in photography.

This summer, Zaki was invited to host an art exhibition in China and spoke to us about his travels, his business venture, and passion for tai chi and yoga.

Please tell us about your exhibition in China.

I was invited as one of 10 international photographers to photograph in Dalian, China, in August. In September, I went back to the exhibition openings at the Dalian Modern Museum. In this museum, I had two shows. One of the photographs I made in August in Dalian and another ‘survey’ show of highlights from work I've made over the last two decades.

Photo Courtesy of Amir Zaki

Any interesting experiences or stories during your trip to China?

Many. I visited Beijing as well as Dalian. I wouldn’t know where to start because I did and saw so much in a short period of time. I visited the Great Wall, ate jellyfish soup, had incredible conversations with locals, genuinely connected with people without sharing a common language (including a seven-year-old girl who was my favorite), went to parks that had literally hundreds and thousands of senior citizens exercising, etc.

Who are your artistic influences and what area of photography do you focus on?

Historically speaking, I love photographers like Edward Weston, Minor White, Roy de Carava, Diane Arbus, Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Contemporary artists I like a lot are Hiroshi Sugimoto, Rodney Graham, and Sharon Lockhart.

My own work has focused mainly on both the built and natural landscape of California. I am among a generation of photographers who truly embraced digital technology as a way to make photographs that could not be made using only traditional means.

You offer tai chi and yoga classes on campus. How long have you been practicing and what drew you to practice both?

I have been practicing yoga for 16 years and Yang style Taijiquan (taichichuan) for six years. I received my certificate to teach yoga in 2015 with no intention to teach. However, I went through some difficult life experiences and considered that I had something to offer and share, a relatively deep understanding of these mind/body practices that could very likely benefit others.

What inspired you to host the classes here at UCR?

I really believe that the culture would be healthier both physically and mentally (no real difference) if they embraced and understood and practiced these types of moving meditation. From the feedback I get, I think that the fact that I offer these classes for free and the quality is good, that I am appreciated. That’s good enough for me. I get a great deal of gratification out of sharing my experience with others.

You are the founder of the Infinity Strap. What inspired you to create it and can you give us some background on what the product is?

Yes, in 2011, after rigging up a prototype with duct tape, an idea spontaneously appeared in my mind as I was doing yoga. That idea was to design a strap with two loops, in a figure eight or infinity shape. This would basically replace or offer an alternative to the traditional yoga strap which is long (usually much too long), cumbersome and has a bucket that is both hard on the skin and constantly needs readjustment. The Infinity Strap instead is sewn in the middle creating two stable loops that can wrap easily around your wrists, feet, across elbows or a combination of these areas to help the practitioner get extra length in their body and practice safely. I have a US utility patent for the Infinity Strap and another US design patent for a specially shaped yoga block called BRIK. It’s a perk that I can offer my students at UCR all these props to use for free during our classes if they need. (Learn more about the Infinity Strap and Zaki’s other ventures at www.infinitystrap.com)

What are some new projects you are currently working on?

I’m focusing all my energy on photography at the moment. No products. However, I did collaborate with my colleague and good friend in our Art Department, Jim Isermann. He designed a sort of infinity sign design that is printed on our brand yoga mats.

What is the best thing about working in CHASS?

I have a great job, really. I’m a professor at a research institution that I believe in. It’s like winning the lottery. The best thing about my job is that I get to reinvent my classes anytime I think it’s appropriate. I get to incorporate my research interests into teaching. I get to talk about eastern and western philosophical ideas with my classes, and my colleagues are amazing in the art department. We have an incredibly close-knit and small group of full-time faculty, and we all communicate openly with one another, share ideas, argue, and respect one another deeply. The whole faculty is made of practicing artists who have a great diversity of life experiences, sensibilities, agendas, and interests.

During fall quarter, Zaki will focus on photography while teaching Intermediate Analog Photography.

Learn more about Zaki’s free tai chi classand yoga class.Both classes are open to all UCR students, faculty and staff.

Follow Zaki on Instagram at @amir_zaki_

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UCR Graduate Students Exhibit Work in UCR Arts Center

kelvin — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 23:27:42 +0000

UCR Graduate Students Exhibit Work in UCR Arts Center kelvin Thu, 08/15/2019 - 16:27 More Press Releases Hannah Croft, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications April 24, 2019

This spring quarter, four exceptional CHASS graduate students will be presenting their MFA projects in Riverside, at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts. Pui Shuen (Tiffany) Chow, Kellie Flint, Merideth Hillbrand, and Ji Hyun Won will be displaying their thesis exhibitions on Saturday, April 27 beginning at 2pm.

Kellie Flint, 3rd-year graduate student studying visual arts

What is she presenting?
A collection of landscape paintings. Flint questions what it means to make a landscape painting in this fraught ecological moment.

What inspired the works?
Flint works in specific landscapes and traces their forms. She remains attentive to moments of discovery and is interested in the how history connects to one’s experience.

“I am attracted to making a painting that points to a place or idea outside of itself,” Flint said. “I hope to make something tangible - an object, a painting – in order to enact the intangible nature of these experiences. I believe that visual art and in particular, abstraction, offers a kind of knowledge that oftentimes does not subscribe to the normative, verbal, linear processes of thought.”

What will she be doing post-graduation?
Post-graduation, Flint will be teaching two summer courses here at UCR, and will be looking for further employment in teaching or environmental nonprofit organizations. For now, she will continue to make her work in the southern California desert.

Pui Shuen (Tiffany) Chow, 3rd-year graduate student studying visual arts

What is she presenting?
A series of large-scale paintings, including several diptychs, or foldable two-paneled canvases, and one 15-foot long triptych, a foldable three-paneled canvas, alongside smaller works and drawings. She has taken her knowledge of art history and art theory and has drawn from previous research to incorporate it into her studio practices.

What inspired the works?
Chow questions where and how to push contemporary painting in new directions, and strives to promote self-discovery through her art.

“The idea of ‘looking at looking’, and using fragments and different ways of mark making to construct an image and the painting,” Chow said.

What will she be doing post-graduation?
Post-graduation, she plans to continue creating art and maintaining her studio practice, and plans to pursue a career in teaching.

Ji Hyun Won, 3rd-year graduate student studying visual arts

What is he presenting?
Won will be presenting a large art installation that includes a multitude of drawings, sculptures, paintings and publications.

What inspired the works?
Inspired by “Forests are Forests: A Study on Societies,” which presents questions such as “If 100 trees in a forest were cut down, would the forest still be a forest?” alongside answers such as “Forest will still be a forest, even if 100 trees are cut down, however, the forest will not be the same forest, if you are in the forest.” The study then presents these questions and answers in relation to society and military.

What will he be doing post-graduation?
Post-graduation, Won will be teaching a class at UCR, and plans to continue pursuing and creating art in his local studio.

Merideth Hillbrand, 3rd-year graduate student studying visual arts

What is she presenting?
Hillbrand will be showcasing an art installation of sculptures based on different forms, such as furniture design, product packaging, and plumbing.

What inspired the works?
Hillbrand was initially inspired to mix materials and art forms on a trip through Vienna, Austria, Prague and the Czech Republic. Her art references her travels and recontextualizes everyday objects to show how they shape our life experiences.

“Most of these works are inspired by a trip I took last fall to view the work of early modern architects, designers and artists,” said Hillbrand. “This trip influenced my sculptural installation for the thesis exhibition where I reference some of the places I visited through material and forms, while mixing them and sometimes even clashing them together with everyday objects from my own life.”

What will she be doing post-graduation?
Hillbrand will be spending her summer teaching at UCR, and plans to pursue teaching and continue her studio practice in Los Angeles.

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New Arts building installation to form a gathering spot for students

kelvin — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 22:36:08 +0000

New Arts building installation to form a gathering spot for students kelvin Thu, 08/15/2019 - 15:36 More Press Releases Hannah Croft, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications July 15, 2019

UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is expected to unveil its newest art addition, an interactive sculpture created by San Diego-based artist Roy McMakin. The message of “Things Change” or “Change Things” will be featured on steel signs mounted on steel poles, and will be scattered around a seating area. The project, proposed by Art Professor James Isermann with support from Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, CHASS Dean Milagros Peña, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Peter Hayashida, Campus Architect Jacqueline Norman, and UCR’s Advisory Committee on Campus Art (ACCA), will make the space between the INTN and Arts buildings an interactive, thoughtful space for students.

The construction of the sculpture, officially titled “Arts Mall: Roy McMakin Art Installation,” covers roughly 5,000 square feet and is to be completed later this summer. McMakin’s sculpture will form a natural communal gathering spot for students promoting thought and meditation.

“The importance of the piece is, it activates the area in a sort of thoughtful way,” Peña said. “When people who are walking through campus engage the art, they will be invited to think about what the words there mean to them, and take part in engaging the mind. Whatever might be happening in the news or in our day-to-day lives, this piece is an invitation to be part of our thought process for the day. Each day is going to engage us differently, because we experience each day differently.”

The project was initially proposed by Isermann 11 years ago, shortly after the construction of the CHASS Interdisciplinary buildings. As art world colleagues of 35 years, Isermann felt McMakin Isermann felt the artist was well equipped to tackle the project, and felt the unique architecture of the Arts building would be a perfect backdrop for the incoming piece.

“The familiarity of the forms draw you in and at the same time asks questions about how public art can become part of an everyday experience,” Isermann said. “The Arts building is unlike any other architecture on campus and now we will have an artwork that, too, makes you stop and think about why these are different, how they function and in general raises one’s awareness to the built environment. It educates the public in a very friendly way.”

The sculpture is designed to encourage students and visitors to reflect on their day and the world around them, and serves as a marker or entry point for the campus.

“It’s a sort of marker for the campus about who we are in terms of the fact that we engage the public in conversation about any number of topics,” Peña said. “Art is an inspiration and an invitation for people to be more thoughtful about how they live their lives.”

Many students are hopeful that the space will become a positive, reflective area.

“I think a main thing is college moves by so fast, and sometimes you just need to sit and reflect,” said Liliana Lopez, a third-year liberal studies and education double-major. “This art will help you reflect in on yourself and think ‘wow, look at where I started coming into this school, and look at me now.’ It will be positive no matter what, and in the end you’ll change and see yourself developing.”

“The sculpture sounds like it represents something good for the school,” said third-year sociology major Rebecca Tellez. “I think, if students read it and look at it and have a moment to think about it, it will impact their day a little better.”

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