Opening Celebration: [NEW DATE] Wednesday, June 5, 6:30-8:30 PM
Material Matters presents selected artwork from the recipients of the 38th annual Irwin Scholarship. The twelve Irwin Scholars delve into the versatility and complexity of the materials and the process needed to transform them, new and found, to tell stories about themselves and the world around them.
With the global pandemic in the rearview mirror and a myriad of new global challenges ahead of them, the Irwin Scholars return to the time immemorial artistic tradition of playing and experimenting with materials old and new as a way to explore what matters to them. Material Matters illustrates the wide range of materials and techniques used by contemporary artists. The concept of materiality is unique to each artwork and each artist. Materiality in art refers to the manipulation and alteration of materials to express ideas and concepts that may not be expressed by traditional media. The artists in this exhibition explore and repurpose materials to address issues that range from the development of identity and the ways society perceives them, ancestors, to climate impact and politics.
The William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship Fund was established in 1986, with a modest donation by Sue Irwin, and now generates 12 annual merit scholarships to further the education of selected UC Santa Cruz students for proven excellence in the arts. The Irwin Scholarship is the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the Art Department. This annual, professionally organized exhibition has become a tradition for the Sesnon Gallery for over 38 years. The gift of the Irwin family has since supported hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students since its establishment and shows the far-reaching effects of donor support for the arts.
Annalie Taylor is an environmental artist with works in textile and performance art. She grew up in the California Bay Area, with the majority of her upbringing in the small coastal town of Montara. Taylor attended San Francisco Waldorf High School where she engaged in practice-based learning, connecting various disciplines to the arts. She attends UC Santa Cruz and will receive a B.A. in Art and a B.A. in psychology in 2025. During her time at UCSC, she has been recognized for her art, receiving the Irwin Grant and Irwin Scholarship. Her textile practice was spurred by a piece done with natural plant-dyed fabric as part of an internship with the Greenhouse Project at the UCSC farm.
Ariel Dizon Barish was born in Riverside, California in 2002. She graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy, an international arts boarding school, in 2020 as a Visual Arts major, and has continued her art education at UC Santa Cruz. She is expected to complete her BA in Art in 2024. Her work has been shown at Idyllwild Arts Parks Exhibition Center, the Riverside Community Arts Association Gallery, the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, Kookmin University in Korea, and the Eduardo Carrillo Gallery. In addition, she was cast as the lead in Arts Division Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu’s film, where her artwork is heavily featured. She strives to explore femininity in the context of her mixed-race heritage through her work, which mainly consists of oil paintings and woodcut reduction prints. She currently resides in Santa Cruz, California and has been accepted into several MFA programs in Glasgow, London, and New York City.
Kylan Erving is a printmaker, photographer, and ceramicist. As a printmaker, he focuses primarily on silkscreen printing and photo-based intaglio printmaking. He enjoys working with processed-based mediums such as printmaking and analog photography. Whether it is the prep work involved in intaglio or the chemistry required for developing and printing in the darkroom, he appreciates the processes involved in these mediums and finds these steps to be meditative and inspiring. Learning from the past and building upon a proven foundation of technicality-based art is important in his personal artistic development. Improving and innovating on these techniques inspires much of his experimentation and research. He explores themes of environmentalism, personal/historical narratives, place, and exploration throughout his work. His work has been shown in multiple open studios at the Elena Baskin Visual Art Center, the Edwardo Carrillo Gallery, and the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery. He is expected to graduate from the University of California Santa Cruz in the spring of 2024. He currently lives, works, and studies in Sydney, Australia.
Carter Garcia-Kimura was born in Santa Cruz, California in the late 20th century. He transferred from Cabrillo College to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 2024. He works primarily within the medium of photography, but has been known to experiment with printmaking on occasion. For many years, he has cultivated a deep obsession with the physical and chemical processes of analog photography, going as far as constructing a darkroom in his garage which serves as his primary studio space. His work has been featured in the Cabrillo Gallery student exhibition and in numerous Open Studios hosted at the UC Santa Cruz Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center. He currently lives in his hometown of Watsonville, California, with his girlfriend Josephine and their beloved cat Mazzy.
Fox Wong was born in Oakland California in 2002. He is expected to graduate from University of California Santa Cruz in 2024. He works with many mediums, but currently works with a large focus on printmaking and photography. His artwork has been shown in the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, the Eduardo Carrillo Gallery, and various Open Studios hosted at the Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center. He recently completed a Porter Fellowship with Professor Jimin Lee, one of only a few that the professor has had over her decades of teaching. He currently resides in Santa Cruz, California.
Carolee Hagey was born and raised in San Diego. She began her higher education in electrical engineering at Cooper Union but switched trajectories to align with her passion and heart. Currently, she is pursuing a BA in Studio Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has had work displayed at the Sesnon Gallery and the Norris Center.
Lily Loomis was born in Arcata, California, in 2002 and resided within Humboldt County until the age of eighteen. Since beginning her expected Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Loomis has found her artistic and philosophical niche within oil painting and the subject of dreams & the phantasmagorical. Her work has been featured in several off-campus exhibitions in addition to UCSC facilitated events. Loomis’ junior exhibition, CATHEDRAL, was completed under the 2023 Irwin Grant. Her senior show is as a 2024 Irwin Scholarship recipient. She plans to graduate in June of 2024.
As a senior at the University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in Studio Art, Izzy Lyons has exhibited art in the US and abroad including shows in Santa Cruz and the Czech Republic. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2002 and grew up in New Port Richey, Florida. She has received the Dean's Award for four consecutive years. She has also received the 2023 William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Grant for an ongoing solo project. Izzy’s artistic expression reflects her journey, where each creation is a tangible embodiment of her interests and experiences.
Jorge L. Garcia is an Interdisciplinary artist. Originally from Temixco, Mexico, he grew up in southern California and is currently based out of Riverside, CA. He is an environmental artist exploring performance, sculpture and printmaking. He prefers to engage and include the community as part of his practice. He reimagines environmentally conscious efforts of poor communities as Fine Art. His influences include David Hammons and Francis Alys.
Lily Nash is a textile artist, born in Kissimmee, Florida in 2002. Moving shortly after her birth, she spent her formative years in Vancouver, Washington, eventually moving to Long Beach, California in 2012. She will receive her B.A. in Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2024. Throughout her studies she was recognized for her excellence in the arts, receiving numerous undergraduate awards including the William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Grant and Scholarship, Eduardo Carrillo Scholarship, the Ken Norris Student Natural History Award, and the Dean's Undergraduate Award. She has exhibited work at ArtMill in the Czech Republic, as well as UCSC’s Sesnon Gallery and Eduardo Carrillo Gallery. Lily Nash currently resides and works in Santa Cruz, California.
Mars Buell was born and resides in San Jose, California. He has 9+ years of experience in digital art, and proficiency in most Adobe products. He has worked as an animator for the documentary Run With It, and with game designers as a concept artist and environment artist. His artwork has been shown in UC Santa Cruz open studios in Spring 2022, Winter 2023, and Fall 2023. He has been awarded the UCSC Arts Fellowship Run With It Award 2023, and the William Hyde Irwin and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship Award. He strives to tell stories with art, primarily through character design, as well as storyboarding, animation, narrative design, and environment design.
Bailey Rios is an oil painter, born in Walnut Creek, California in 2002. He received his B.A. in studio art from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2024. Throughout his undergraduate experience he has exhibited works in the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, the Eduardo Carrillo Gallery, and the Kennith S. Norris Center for Natural History. Bailey has also been awarded the William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship, and the Eduardo Carrillo Scholarship for excellence in his studio art practice. Most recently he has been named as the 2024 San Lorenzo Valley Museum’s Artist-In-Residency. Bailey Rios currently resides and works in Santa Cruz, California.