ART 190B Senior Project Virtual Open Studios Spring 2021
Instructors - Jennifer Parker, Maya Manvi
Clarissa De Jesus
Clarissa De Jesus
“Release”
Photoshop and Collage
As part of a 5 panel series depicting the afterlife, this work highlights the global concepts of being freed from the conforms of life through passing into a place of eternal bliss.
Clarissa De Jesus
“Recycle”
Photoshop and Collage
A work part of the series, this image symbolizes the concepts around the world that concern a spirit being recycled and put into another life form on Earth after death.
Clarissa De Jesus
“Reside”
Photoshop and Collage
Part of the 5 panel series, this work focuses on the ideas of a transitional afterlife that is meant to process a spirit so that it can be later placed into other forms of the afterlife.
Clarissa De Jesus
“Retribution”
Photoshop and Collage
Part of the series, this work highlights the many expressions of punishment in the afterlife throughout history and on a global scale.
Ella Apuntar
Artist Statement
ARE WE THERE YET?
As a child, I was fascinated by how a cluster of pixels on a 3 inch Game Boy screen could feel so immersive. To this day, I’m still an avid video game player, and I love the medium for its ability to transport players into interactive fantasy worlds.
In this project, I reimagined locations from three of my favorite video games into digital environment paintings. I drew inspiration from 19th and 20th century landscape paintings, plein air paintings, animated film, and the games themselves. I aimed to transform small, pixelated scenes into images that would evoke the same feelings as when I entered these places in game. The title Are We There Yet? is an homage to all the levels and bosses I defeated during long car rides.
“Outskirts of Ylisstol”
Digital art
From Fire Emblem Awakening (2012).
“Saffron City (day/night)”
Digital art
From Pokémon: Heart Gold (2009).
“Snowfield Stable”
Digital art
From The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017).
Joyce Chen
Artist Statement:
I want to create works for a future in Visual Development, aka Environment/Background painter, aka a type of animation art. It’s specifically for any internships in the arts, job applications where they ask for your art portfolio, and for getting into graduate school for animation.
These pieces need to show my proficiency in Photoshop and drawing skills. Here, I’m showing a high level of detail and clean look. I want to show my ongoing process as well. That being said, what my work doesn’t have right now, but what I’ve been researching about is making my own style of art. From that, I want to show my versatility in different art styles. That way, I’ll be more prepared for any career in entertainment. Additionally, I’m working on making my art less realistic with every single detail, and doing a better job of coloring my art.
Joyce Chen
“Flowering Kale”
Photoshop
This digital painting was trying to capture all the subtle colors and patterns of real life flowers.
Joyce Chen
“Path”
Photoshop
This painting is of a trail in nature, with the person in it being my dad.
Joyce Chen
“Bedroom”
Photoshop
I tried to include as many details as possible while still giving it that “digital” feel.
Kaitlyn Bean
Cloud
In context with some previous works around my own experiences and trauma- and my newfound enjoyment of digital art and branding- I’m going to be inventing a genderless period product brand. My goal of making this brand is to eliminate the inaccessibility to menstrual products and the harmful, incorrect language they use. Most period product brands have the female symbol somewhere on the packaging, or repeated “empowering” phrases such as “strong like a girl” and so on- not to mention the bright pink packaging it usually comes in. While women are strong, these messages uphold the belief that only women get periods. Not all people with periods are women, and not all women get periods. The conversation should ideally evolve to not center cisgender women as the standard consumer, if there should be one at all. Having ungendered menstrual products should be the norm, and my goal is to create something that will lead to gender euphoria and not dysphoria.
My brand Cloud will hopefully demystify menstruation and the products associated with them. In addition to considering trans men, non-binary individuals, and genderqueer individuals, I also sought to create a brand identity that seemed approachable to children of all identities who are using these products for the first time. Names like “Playtex”, “Kotex”, or “Tampax” meant nothing to me as a child and only made me feel more confused and anxious. Cloud is meant to be light, airy, and uncomplicated to discern, much like a cloud floating by in the sky above.
I intended to create a wide array of both menstrual pads and tampons, but was unable to complete all of these goals due to personal ongoing circumstances. I have created mockups of two tampon sizes- while recognizing people need more than the two size options I presented- that display the design of Cloud as a unique alternative to the dated corporate designs and minimal millennial designs.
Kaitlyn Bean
“Cloud - Regular”
Photoshop
Description: Digital mockup for my brand Cloud. Product features regular size cotton tampons.
Kaitlyn Bean
“Cloud - Super”
Photoshop
Description: Digital Mockup for my brand Cloud. Product features super size cotton tampons.
Kaitlyn Bean
“Abstract”
Google Slide
Description: Slide image of my project’s abstract.
Kaitlyn Bean
“Resources/References”
Google Slide
Description: Slide image of my project’s resources and references. Access to them is available in the links listed below:
This is What Playtex’s Brand Would Look Like Without the Male Gaze
Bleeding for Freedom – My First Period as a Non-binary Menstruator
Queering Menstruation: Trans and Non-Binary Identity and Body Politics
For Transgender Men, Pain of Menstruation is More Than Just Physical
Kaylin Boyle
(Click image above to play animated GIF)
Kaylin Boyle
“No Do-Overs”
Kerstin van den Oever
Lone River
Digital photo taken on a Sony A7S3, Sony G Master Macro 90mm f2.8
Calm river flowing through Lassen Volcanic National Park
Pastel Volcanics
Digital photo taken on a Sony A7S3, Sony G Master Macro 90mm f2.8
River leaving the sulfar waters, flowing down the valley at Lassen Volcanic National Park
Pretty Sulfar
Digital photo taken on a Sony A7S3, Sony G Master Macro 90mm f2.8
Sulfar waters in Lassen Volcanic National Park
Love Our Mother
Green sourced wood/salvaged wood, circular saw, sander/sandpaper, water-based stain/coat
For the Irwin Grant I worked on building sustainable furniture- the approach is different by choosing ethically sourced materials, or materials that are non toxic to the environment. This will be an ongoing practice.
Lauren Baldock-Wood
“S.A.D.”
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that occurs during cold weather conditions, such as fall and winter months. There are no known specific causes of SAD, other than potential differences in brain and body chemicals like serotonin and melatonin. SAD has affected me for as long as I can remember, influencing factors such as where I choose to live and how productive I am able to be in different weather conditions. However, it took me a long time to realize how much weather affects my mood, which is the case for many people. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, millions of adults in the U.S. most likely have SAD, but are unaware. For this reason, I created this project to spread some awareness for people who might not know that they have SAD, because becoming aware significantly helped me with learning how to cope with it.
Lauren Baldock-Wood
“Brain Fog”
Acrylic on Canvas
16” x 20”
This self-portrait captures my personal experience with SAD. When it is gray outside, I often feel down and can have a difficult time focusing on simple tasks, as if my mind is clouded. The murky texture represents how this feeling can be all-encompassing.
Lauren Baldock-Wood
“Seasons”
Acrylic on Canvas
16” x 20”
Plants require sunlight to grow, a feeling someone with SAD might relate to. Additionally, female-assigned people are approximately four times more likely than male-assigned people to have SAD. Therefore, for this piece, I decided to paint peonies to symbolize both how light produces life as well as female anatomy. Each of the four peonies depict the four seasons, with two wilted flowers to represent the fall and winter seasons, which are when SAD tends to be experienced the most. It should be noted that much of the literature on SAD that exists today focuses exclusively on how it impacts men and women differently, which is extremely binary and not representative of every person’s experience. Going forward, it is important that more research is done to reflect how it affects people of all gender identities.
Lauren Baldock-Wood
“S.A.D.”
Acrylic on Canvas
Lily Kennard
This body of work attempts to demonstrate different stages one goes through when seeking treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. These paintings posit themselves as a“before, during, and after”. The patterns used in the paintings were found on social media apps during the night to avoid anxiety related to OCD. Sifting through different patterns on apps instead of manually completing different patterns (compusions) is a coping mechanism that I have found to be useful so I wanted to include this in the paintings.
“Ode to Manuel Barbadillo and Late Night Compulsions”
oil paint on wood,
49” x 38”
“Ode to Manuel Barbadillo and late night compulsions” represents finding comfort in repetition, constraint, and manipulating surroundings to feel an unneeded amount of safety.
“Exposure”
Oil on wood
48” x 30”
This painting represents exposure therapy which is a therapy that is commonly used when treating different types of OCD. Exposure therapy is exposing oneself to the thing that is the most frightening. This surrender to the fear can feel willingly falling from a tall building.
Resolving without a resolution”
oil on wood
30”x48”
This piece exhibits the feelings that start to come when one starts to detach from compulsions even if the thoughts/obsessions are still there. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable (things being unfinished/tasks not completed)is a main goal of combating an anxiety disorder. This feeling is often accompanied with some anxiety but a greater understanding that being uncomfortable leads to growth.
Megan Elizabeth Chau
Artist Statement:
I have always struggled with understanding why romance and sex were so appealing and popular among others. I never had any romantic or sexual desires myself, and it was something that, for most of my life, I felt was always looking at from the outside. I have recently come to realize that I identify as an aroace, or being on both the aromantic and asexual spectrums. I feel little to no romantic or sexual attraction, and do not desire to be in a relationship with a partner.
One of the things I realized after learning I was an aroace was the lack of representation in the media. There are very few canonical aromantic or asexual characters onscreen, animated or otherwise. As is often the case with LGBTQ+ characters in media, what few instances of representation there are often leave much to be desired. I wanted to take the opportunity to create something that could be relatable for those who are on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums.
My senior project is a short animation film that takes place in a modern fantasy world. This world is populated by mages who use and practice their magic with the help of special rings. The process of learning magic includes trying out different rings to find the one that works best, as well as seeking out a partner to help with cooperative spellcasting. The protagonist of the story is a young mage who is struggling with their magic and has not yet found a ring or a partner that they work well with. This story is meant to be a metaphor for the struggle of figuring out one’s sexual and/or romantic orientation. It is specifically written to be an aroace story, but I hope that anyone will be able to enjoy my work no matter what they identify as.
This animation is still a work-in-progress. I am planning on working on this more and hope to complete it by the end of June 2021 as a way to celebrate Pride Month.
“The Right Ring (WIP)”
Digital art(Procreate, Adobe Animate)
This is a work-in-progress of a short animation film that I plan to complete in the future.
Megan Elizabeth Chau
“Setting Concept Art”
Digital art(Procreate)
This is concept art I made while deciding on the visual style of the backgrounds.
Megan Elizabeth Chau
“Ring and Magic Concept Art”
Digital art(Procreate)
This concept art is for the ring props and magic effects that are important to the story.
“Character Concept Art”
Digital art(Procreate)
This is the finalized concept art of the four main characters featured in my story.
Michaela Martinez
My Senior project focuses on the smaller creatures in nature that need our assistance to live in the world we are changing. Understanding that reptiles, amphibians, and fish were here before us and help keep the natural world in balance is essential to their survival. Just like Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility”. Our power to bend the world to our needs, requires a responsibility to maintain those here from the beginning.
I created a series of linoleum relief prints showcasing a few of California’s endangered species that most may have not seen in person because they have not looked. More than 16,000 species are endangered on this planet, many because of human expansion and human caused climate change. It is difficult to acknowledge our part in this, it is difficult to reform, but we must.
Michaela Martinez
“Meet Your Neighbors”, Black
Linoleum Relief print, Kitikata, Cranfield Relief Inks
Meant to draw attention to the smaller creatures in a punk style. Showcases the Arroyo toad, Alameda Whip Snake, and the Western Tiger Salamander.
Michaela Martinez
“Meet Your Neighbors”, Green
Linoleum Relief print, Kitikata, Cranfield Relief Inks
Meant to draw attention to the smaller creatures in a punk style. Showcases the Arroyo toad, Alameda Whip Snake, and the Western Tiger Salamander.
Michaela Martinez
“California Native”
Linoleum Relief print, Kitikata, Cranfield Relief Inks
Three color relief print showcasing the Steelhead Trout, an invaluable, endangered member of our natural world. They swim through our very own Santa Cruz Mountains.
Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
Seance of Duality: Remembering Those Living In-between
Séance of Duality is an art series that mixes art and ritual with community building. As a biracial Latinx artist I have found that being categorized as ‘in-between’ is a lonely place to be as those that fall between definitions tend to not feel accepted by either side, therefore lacking in community. In the series Séance of Duality I conduct private interviews with biracial Latinx people that I have known over the years. In these private interviews we recalled moments of our lives and found the threads of connection between us and slowly wove those connections into a communal story unique to us. We found that we had shared family jokes and ways of being. That because of the break in the traditions of both sides, we made our own, in some cases a blending of our family backgrounds, and others something entirely new. All of us alternative in some way, using our duality to move through life, carving out a space where we fit as there was no space provided. Some of us cried together, we definitely laughed, but no matter what by the end we felt a little less lonely. In turn I used my lifelong experience of building altars and performing ritual to build altars that would summon the very essence of each person that I interviewed, summoning a whole person, not a person divided. I used objects from the interviewee as well as my own to create an altar that was a clear representation of them.
With the funding I have received from the Eduardo Carillo Scholarship I will be continuing the series and hope to have an in person show in one of the UCSC galleries in the Fall. Each piece will be printed so that the shelf is the same size in the printed photo as the real shelf. The shelf itself will be in the gallery with assorted objects next to it so that viewers can create their own altars and take photos of their creations. I want to include a large potluck table where I will provide a large portion of homemade rice and beans, and friends and participants in the show can bring food that means home to them. I will play music and people can gather and eat in a communal way like family. In this way I hope to create a temporary community, and soften the gallery space to be inviting and accessible. I want people to be able to experience the altars as they really are; not just art, but also ritual objects with profoundly personal meanings to every aspect of the piece.
Special Thanks to:
Raymond Ernest Andre III
Sabrina Ozuna
Anastasia Elizondro-Lossow
Jennifer Gonzalez
Elisabeth Cameron
Eduardo Carillo Scholarship Fund
Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
“Summoning Myself” 2021
Mixed Media and Photography
32 x 20 in.
This first piece was made so I could test out the process that I would be subjecting others to. I asked myself the questions that I would be asking my friends and thought about how I could represent the very essence of myself through objects and photography.
In using the Victorian shelf I created the atmosphere of a seance, but in using the cultural ritual objects of burning sage, copal, and lit Santos candles I made sure to introduce my Latinx side and the rich mixture of Indigenous and Catholic imagery involved. There are medicinal herbs from my garden, a cat to represent my feline constant companion, a knife my mother gave me, a living plant to represent my love of nature, a rosary from my grandmother, and so on. Each object is purposely placed and holds a story that can be read like a book by the viewer. Here I display who I am and who I have been and who continue to be.
Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
“Summoning Raymond” 2021
Mixed Media and Photography
38 x 30 in
With a generous heart, and a zeal for art and literature, Raymond is one of the true gentlemen left in the world. An artist and musician himself, he appears to all as a Dali mustachioed Victorian dandy. Being a mixture of Spanish, French and Mexican, he grew up speaking what he refers to as a Frankenstein of Castilian and Mexican Spanish. Having grown up on his parent’s ranch in San Jose, Raymond has seen the city expand and develop over the years. An original Punk and Goth in the 70s, and a Victorian Historical Costumer today he is a wealth of knowledge on the history of everything.
Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
“Summoning Sabrina” 2021
Mixed Media and Photography
34 x 25 in.
Sabrina is a beautiful contradiction, but the duality in her interests does not stem from her being biracial. You have never met a more genuinely sweet and bubbly person. Her profession as a make-up artist is in making people stunningly beautiful with eyeshadows and powders, or into a monstrous spectacle with fake blood and prosthetics. The lesser known side of her is as a competitive fighter, something that she grew up with being the daughter of a martial arts master who has held two Guiness World Records. She once won a match by knockout using the motivation of getting a Besame lipstick as a prize from her teammate. Sabrina said cheerily, “I can knock a girl out and then cover up the bruises and make her look beautiful!” Sabrina does not feel strong ties to either side of her cultural backgrounds, instead embracing herself as an independent entity. Biracial people always dread the question of “What are you?” and when it is asked of Sabrina she answers proudly, “I’m SABRINA!”
Nicole Rudolph-Vallerga
“Close Up Shot” 2021
Mixed Media and Photography
32 x 20 in.
Paloma Cuautenango
Paloma Cuautenango
“En Mi Piel Vive [It Lives In Me]”
Paloma Cuautenango
“En Mi Piel Vive [It Lives In Me]”
Paloma Cuautenango
“En Mi Piel Vive [It Lives In Me]”
Bronze Sculpture
Raquel Rabines
Passing Faces
Throughout my time at UCSC, I have been challenged in breaking out of my comfort zone and pushing myself in exploring multiple mediums to create a variety of different types of projects and pieces. I would really like to focus my last quarter as a senior on creating a series of finished paintings or pieces further exploring the human form and facial expressions. I am really excited about creating mixed medium pieces and exploring how I can use textures, layering, and experimental techniques to create more interesting, dimensional and thoughtful works of art. Furthermore, I would really like to focus on new ways of bringing more depth to my pieces. I have enjoyed taking several semesters of sculpture and would like to see how I can incorporate my love of painting with aspects of sculpture and design. My goal for this class is to build up my portfolio before graduation and create pieces that take the skills I've learned in my classes and incorporate them into my paintings. Over the years I realized that I have started several pieces on my own time that I hadn't finished. For the first several weeks of this course I would like to spend time finishing up some of those pieces so that I may add them to my portfolio.
Rebecca Northup
What Goes Into Low-Budget Stop Motion Animation.
“Vanity,” “The Flowers that Follow”
This project is an exploration of the play, experimentation, and process that goes into the making of a stop-motion animation. Given ten weeks, I was able to accomplish much of the pre-production that goes into the making of a stop-motion short film, and create two short skit animations within the sets I built. It was a project that took on a life of its own, and came along with many (many) failures. I was able to learn a lot about armature builds, 3D modelling and design, set design, and also stop-motion animation itself.
The process itself was reflective of the themes I initially wanted to capture within my animations. The constant failures and successes were emotional highs and lows. My initial idea for the project was to create several short films that captured emotion under the umbrella of grief. I think the process I will show is still very indicative of this emotional state, perhaps just in a different way. The following images are of the process, which is what my senior project is now. My project, while still about animation, morphed into a project about process, play, and experimentation.
Still from my stop motion short “Vanity.” 3D printed and found materials.
Shot of my 3D printed doll on set of my stop motion animation “The Flowers That Follow.” 3D printed and found materials.
Still from “The Flowers That Follow.” 3D Printed and found materials.
Ryan Tran
QUEER PHANTASIA
Queer Phantasia explores the dimensions of queer identities and nostalgia, with a special focus on judgment, perception, and imagination. Each of the three oil paintings depicts variations of queer pain and liberation, showcasing the conflict between the subjects’ subconscious desires and their immediate realities. In observing the details within each piece, the viewer is meant to be left with a myriad of questions, thus providing intimacy with the characters by sharing their state of bewilderment.
As a whole, the combined composition of Queer Phantasia aims to create an ultimate sense of proximity, emulating the community that has continually enveloped me with love and tenderness. The series additionally serves as a reminder to keep queer nonwhite people out of your peripherals and that our community deserves much more than the warmth that we give to one another.
Title: “Laments of a Homophile”
Medium: Oil on canvas
Year: 2021
Description: This painting visualizes the loneliness that many queer nonwhite people experience and explores the relationship between nostalgia and regret.
Title: “Primarium”
Medium: Oil on canvas
Year: 2021
Description: The title of this piece references the primary colors of the subjects and alludes to how this safe haven holistically fosters love, warmth, and community, even at its worst.
Title: “Exposition of Monsters”
Medium: Oil on canvas
Year: 2021
Description: This piece reflects on the perception of homosexuality from a religious perspective and personifies internalized homophobia as monstrous entities, making the subjects symbolically indiscernible from the creatures approaching them.
Sarah Lynn
Title: “Untitled (Anxiety)”
Medium: Oil on particle board
Year: 2021
Description: My anxiety has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Here I tried to depict the now common clouded, scrambled feeling I have alongside the alternate hope and fear I have about the coming days, months, years. The eyes are left without pupils to add to the sense of imbalance expressed in the piece.
Title: “Bigger Things to Worry About”
Medium: Oil on particle board
Year: 2021
Description: This piece is part of a series I have begun on spiritualism. It is about not letting the small things bog you down in the bigger scheme of things. This work reflects both my attempt to connect more deeply with the universe as a whole as well as myself.
Title: “Planes & Travel”
Medium: Oil on particle board
Year: 2021
Description: This piece is part of a series I have begun on spiritualism. I sometimes think about the way spirits, particularly my ancestors, appear in the world- in whatever form they take. I think that in whatever capacity, they exist in another space and are sometimes able to make contact with or exist in our world for a time. This piece visualizes those points of contact with our plane of existence from the others surrounding it.
Sydney Geisinger
The pandemic has exacerbated the issues that underpin our society and provided a constant barrage of examples of how our structures are failing to adequately protect, represent, and care for most of our country. My recent works have focused on ways we can come together as a community to build a more equitable society as I believe these failures can only be addressed through constant thought, action, and communication.
My Irwin project aims to remind us of the positive aspects of human nature to give hope for our efforts to change. We are all abundant landscapes that cultivate unique fruits. When we come together, our table provides an opportunity to teach, learn, and nurture our understanding of each other. Our need for connection and willingness to give so much of ourselves to our communities is ubiquitous across the world. This empathic energy is the core of ourselves, it is our bare bones. As we look ahead to making better organizational systems we can root ourselves to this similarity and use the common ground to praise our differences.
Our Bare Bones from Sydney Geisinger on Vimeo.
Sydney Geisinger
“Our Bare Bones”
This Stop Motion Animation focuses on the most unifying feature of humanity: our need for community and our willingness to give so much of ourselves to foster connection.
Sydney Geisinger
‘Still from the animation Our Bare Bones’
Stop motion animation
Sydney Geisinger
‘Still from the animation Our Bare Bones’
Stop motion animation
Sydney Geisinger
‘Still from the animation Our Bare Bones’
Stop motion animation
Theron Joyet
For my senior project, I chose to focus on character design as an art form. Over the course of 10 weeks, I experimented with different techniques for developing and designing multiple characters through exploration, pose sheets, expression sheets, and turnarounds. I chose to design characters that were based on an existing source. The source I decided to focus on is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The first book in the Harry Potter series is full of well-written characters that I believe can be perfectly adapted for an animated feature. The characters I chose to design were Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Hagrid, and Professor Quirrell. I did a majority of the work digitally on an iPad using the illustration app Procreate but I used a sketchbook for most of the early design process.
-Theron Joyet
-“Harry”
-Digital
-Expression sheet
-Theron Joyet
-“Hermoine”
-Digital
-Expression & Pose sheet
-Theron Joyet
-“Ron”
-Digital
-Expression & Pose sheet
-Theron Joyet
-“Quirrel”
-Digital
-Expression & Pose sheet
Willow Gelphman
Willow Gelphman
“Runit Dome Circa 2040”
Oil on canvas
Background:
In the 1940s and 50s, the US military conducted a series of atomic bomb tests on the colonized Marshall Islands. The Marshallese were forced to leave their land, and then were returned while the islands were still contaminated. As a result, the islanders suffered from high rates of cancer, birth defects, and other health problems.
After the tests concluded, the US military built Runit Dome on one of the islands, called The Tomb by the Marshallese, and contained much (but not all) of the nuclear waste under it. The waste has been gradually leaking out of the dome ever since, and sea level rise threatens to displace The Tomb completely in the near future.
Willow Gelphman
“Phylogenetic Reminiscence”
Oil on canvas
Willow Gelphman
“Between Life and Heat Death”
Oil on canvas
Imagines a state of the universe that takes place after a habitable period but before thermodynamic equilibrium takes place. During this time, all matter has become an infinite organic structure that is not quite alive but not quite inanimate.