2023 SAU Student Art Show

Alexis Helton

I wanted to draw a parallel between nature and fire and the aggressive feelings of untamed emotions in this piece. I wanted to explore this concept in terms of both landscape and the use of color, texture, and brushstrokes to produce shape. I chose this natural tragedy as my topic because I thought wildfires in nature were a beautiful reflection of passion and hatred in human emotion. I utilized several brushes and strokes to portray the flow and form of fire devouring, consuming, and developing the forest using a variety of warm colors against cool forms and a background. Red, orange, and yellow are hues that we associate with passion and anger, establishing an emotional link between human emotions and the natural world. The overpowering force of the flames is comparable to how, when we become angry, we lose control and may do harm to others or the environment.
Since I try to evoke thoughts of aggressiveness in my artwork in some way or another, this piece is relevant to what I do as an artist. Although the image of fire does evoke this aggressive idea since it is unyielding and frequently uncontrollable, it also alludes to the fact that people who are furious typically lack self-control and rational thought. The "fire" inside of someone who is angry ultimately goes out, just as a wildfire does when there is nothing else to burn. Anger is a powerful feeling that can cause someone to act without thinking about the repercussions. Humans' emotions are what draw us to art, and I want my work to evoke in viewers their own feelings of anger or worry at nature's destructive forces as well as their understanding of how, like people, nature can heal.

"Passion"
"Anger”

Antonia Kovacevic

Artist statement:
I keep hearing people say, “I wish I could slow down a bit”, or “I wish I had more time.” Everything seems to be very fast-paced and rushed nowadays, people eating out, getting coffee to go, and not seeing their friends as much as they would like. Some lives are even lost because of how stressful life gets sometimes. It is so easy to get caught up in the chase for money, status, or success, that everything else becomes secondary and we fall out of tune with ourselves and the things that make us happy.
I would say I was lucky as I grew up in a town where the mentality is unique, and people are very laid back. Most people back home were able to find a balance, and they were able to work towards their ideas of success, while also maintaining those relationships and habits that keep them in check to stay on that course.
I have been noticing this difference in the lifestyles more and more since my move here, so I wanted to shine some light onto this “different” lifestyle that I think some people sometimes consider out of reach. I want my audience to feel connected to these pieces and think of the times that they have felt at peace, whatever that may be for them. If they have never felt this, I want them to find comfort in these pieces and hopefully provide them with the motivation to look for their own happy place.

Coffee Time
Living History
Soaking in the Sun
Sightseeing

Brandy Crawford

I have always been interested in weather. From the formation of clouds, to the science of storms. Clouds themselves are a work of art. Trying to mimic their beauty with paint is a hard task. When I was originally deciding what I wanted to paint, I didn’t consider a nature scene originally. I thought maybe a dragon, since those too interest me. With more pondering however, and watching a few storm chasing videos, I realized how beautiful the destructive forces of tornadoes can be. Watching them can be such an awe-inspiring thing. I had done a watercolor painting about a year beforehand of a tornado sweeping across a valley of grass. A broken fence leading you towards the beautiful destruction of nature’s swirling design. So I decided to recreate this scene with the bold coloration of acrylics on canvas. I studied several images taken of various tornadoes for reference. This was my inspiration for “Death Serene”.
Tornadoes aren’t the only weather event I find strikingly beautiful. Lightning, the electrical and random sparks that like to light up a thunderstorm with flashes of purple or white. After painting my tornado scene, I wanted to make weather the theme. I decided to do lightning. Again with the vibrancy of acrylic paint. Blue and yellow have always looked so appealing together, so those were my color inspirations. Paths and roads are very symbolic. You see a path ahead of you, usually you will choose to follow it. Roads are embracing, but can also be intimidating. They symbolize moving on. Growing out of your comfort zone and seeking something new. That is why I chose to call my lightning painting “Follow it”.

Death Serene
Follow It

Carlos Armendariz

My art is three photographs that I took during the fall of 2022. The overall vision of these pieces is to represent or show what hides underneath. The first picture, "Under The Skin" is a reflection of what we think we are,” Keen Eye" is to show that sights can be different for each viewer, and the last piece, "Cold Fire" is to represent that our building blocks can help us stand out.

UnderTheSkin
KeenEye
ColdFire

Fiona Trussell

Kwangya Monthly magazine is a fictional music magazine cover that I made with the intent of creating an eye catching image that you would want to pick up off of the shelf and read. Using a pink and black color palette to create an exciting yet serious image that portrays the contents of the magazine, a pop singer's passion.

The magazine cover
Mockup

Forest Lyle

Little Red's Day At School
As a kid, I was always told, "If someone you don't know comes to pick you up from school, even if they say they're mom's friend, don't go with them." This warning stuck with me, and for this piece, I wanted to take the classic story of Little red riding hood, and put a twist on it. As a result, we have little red experiencing the thing I was warned so much about as a child.

In the Deep
I have always been fascinated by the sea creatures deep in the ocean, and I wanted to create my own version of what I thought a humanoid creature based on an anglerfish would look like. Here, I was playing with the colors in both the character itself and the lighting. While I was keeping it human-esque, I wanted it to appear almost alien and like more of a 'mean girl'.

Duck Fever
Here, I wanted to capture a sense of fun. I wanted to create an interesting piece with a simple subject: the rubber duck. In this piece, I wanted to create some interest by piling. Ducks on top of one another to lead viewers' eyes from duck to duck to find each different "character"

Fredrika D Frazier

For the body of work, I’ve chosen different subject matters ranging from self-discovery to the simplicity of my Flowers illustrations. For my first selections, I’ve chosen two paintings from my Loving Yourself series. The Loving Yourself series follows different characters at different stages of their emotional journey to self-love. The series is based on my experiences and I created this series to encourage self in others. The two paintings I chose are the Queen and Enjoying Life. Each painting represents an emotional growth. The Queen represents the final step in loving yourself, while Enjoying life is about getting back out in the world and beginning living your best life. These two paintings showcase my abilities in painting and invoking emotions.

Next in the selection is my illustration. The illustration I chose to enter is called Flowers. It is one of my pen and ink illustrations. In the Flower illustration, I created it because I have a love of flowers. And I wanted to push my abilities in illustration.

Finally, I entered a charcoal drawing of a friend called Naked and Unafraid. Naked and Unafraid is a drawing based on a friend who has been through a lot of traumas due to his military career. I wanted to show the toll the military life takes on one’s physical being. Out of all my pieces this one maybe my favorite one.

Enjoying Life
Naked and Unaffraid
The Queen
Flowers

Hunter McGilberry

Artist Statement: My work involves encapsulating different emotions through still images of environments. The idea around these two artworks revolves around peace and turmoil, these are the two feelings that I want to have my viewers feel when they see the two artworks. These emotions are very common in people's lives, and I would like to give inspiration to everyone that no matter what you may feel like, each side of peace and turmoil has their own beauty to it.

Insightful Well
Dragon Blight, Refuge

Kaitlyn Trussell

Artist Statement:
These are explorations of pen & ink as a medium. Experimentation with different styles in the same medium allows for a deeper understanding of that medium and all it can accomplish.

Carried Away
Self Portrait

Maggie Mason

artist statement

My artwork views late-night thoughts and ideas that pass through the head of a tired college student, in the early hours of the morning, painted between the hours of 12:00 and 4:00 am. reflecting worlds made in my head as the hour's pass and questions I ask the universe and wait for the response on, my work explores the stars and the things that hide in the darkness that surround them. The night sky is my main inspiration, as well as a general liking of the color yellow. The set is not so much a story but a series of thoughts that shine bright enough to draw attention in that tired state to be worth noticing and remembering by the time the sun comes up.
My mediums are mainly acrylic paint and flat canvases/paint chips.

4 am thoughts
Wisp of Smoke
Spirit in the Sky

Maria Guzman

As an artist, I've tried over the years to identify my style and the motivation behind my desire to produce art. Instead of just making pretty pictures, I wanted my work to reflect who I am and demonstrate my love for the things that define me as an artist and person. I wanted to incorporate more of what comforts and motivates me into my body of work through various mediums. From printmaking to photography, my concept and love for this work remain the same.

My photographic works are a part of an ongoing series that I was able to do while visiting family in Mexico. My work has always been rooted in Mexico, and I wanted to use photography to document things that I knew I couldn't do on canvas or paper. Each photo displayed represents a significant aspect of my hometown. From small children being sent to the store to get a coke for family lunches to older adults sitting around the streets, greeting people as they walk by. I wanted each image to have a person present as it gave my series personality. My two additional prints are a part of a different series in which I replicated events from my upbringing as a Mexican immigrant adjusting to life in the United States. In order to make it simple to identify the location of the scene, I wanted my compositions to be embellished with a variety of objects.

I've been able to understand myself as an artist better as a result of working on these pieces. I've been able to produce something that I'm both proud of and connected to. I want what I love to be evident in every piece of work, whether it be on canvas or in photography.

1.    Infancia en Mexico
2.    Jaquelin
3.    Lalito
4.    Two Families, One Home

Monet Coppersmith

Artist Statement:

In the past, the central theme of my art was how mental health conditions can make you feel separated from society and reality. Some of my other work, mainly 3D, were inspired by Victorian Steampunk with an unconventional, modern twist. Some of my recent work still includes undertones of mental health, including surrealistic portrayals of the female form, my favorite style and subject matter. Most currently, I've been straying off into a new direction, trying my hand at landscapes and digital rendering, something relativity foreign to me.

Scarlet: Watercolor and marker on paper
Reflective Consumption: Mixed media on canvas
Winter Rain on Dogwood: Acrylic on canvas

Teresa Benites

These two works demonstrate the beauty of life and everything around it. Are used softer textures and backgrounds to give a hazy affect in order to make the images more dreamlike. Doing this is to invoke nostalgic or dreamy feelings to the viewer. Hot Springs shows the beauty in nature while mother and child show the beauty in everyday life.

Hot springs
Mother and child

Valerie Peterman

Monster Girl
Based off a prompt and tried some new art techniques with shading and colors! She was just for fun, which is how I think my best art is done.

Popstar and Popcalam
I wanted to make my bff and I into popstars!! She’s based off of a star, because she is one! And her favorite color is blue. As for me, I sport clams! With my favorite colors or teal and magenta! I them to work together well to make some action and motion.

Zyon McGhee

Hello, my name is Zyon McGhee, and I am a 3D modeler. I chose to do this recreation of the artwork “The Thankful Poor” because I felt like I could relate. I can relate to not being in the best of situations but being thankful for the things that you do have. Those things being family, food, your clothes, and shelter. It reminded me of what my dad says which is that things can always be worse. In fact, there are places where things are worse. So instead of being dragged down by what you do not have. Be thankful for what you do have. I used Maya to make this recreation in a 3D space. I used Photoshop for the textures and hand painted some of the textures to give it a drawn feeling. I focused a lot on the lighting of the scene because it is such a big part of the piece. It reinforces the feeling that you get from looking at the picture and helps you understand it more easily.

The Thankful Poor in 3D – First Render
The Thankful Poor in 3D – Second Render

Meet our 2023 Juror

Siana Smith
is a California-based painter. In her paintings, she depicts fashion products at a large scale, using vivid colors and intricate details to showcase their aesthetic appeal while also incorporating symbolic elements that encourage viewers to consider the more profound, often darker social and psychological contexts surrounding these objects of beauty.
Siana Smith has a passion for public art and community service, having painted murals in the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently serves on the City of Saratoga, CA Public Art Commission. She is currently working in a 6-month Artist-in-Residence program in Navasota, Texas.

4th Annual Juried SAU Student Art Show Winners

Juror’s statement
I am honored to have been invited as the juror for the SAU Student’s Art Exhibition 2023. The 37 artworks I have seen are high quality and exhibit creativity, individuality, and dedication. I appreciate the hard work put into each piece and am moved by the courage shown in being vulnerable and authentic. It has been challenging for me to choose only three winners, as I believe each artwork deserves recognition for the passion, practice, and participation that has been put into them. I want to emphasize that the unselected artworks are not of low quality but that the selection process is subjective. As a visual artist, I highly value originality, the message behind the artwork, and the technical skill and dedication to bring the piece to completion. I also believe that well-executed design elements, such as composition, color scheme, tonal contrast, and balance, can make the artwork stand out. Additionally, a well-articulated artist statement accompanying the artwork can help the viewers understand and appreciate it more fully. I have thoroughly enjoyed examining your artwork, pondering its meaning, and reading the artist statements that accompanied them. I encourage each of you to continue creating and seeking opportunities to showcase your work. Keep pushing yourself, and don’t be discouraged by rejection, as it is part of the artistic journey.

1st Place

Kaitlyn Trussell, Self Portrait, 10” X 12”, mixed media

2nd Place

Forest Lyle, Duck Fever, 8” X 8”

3rd Place

Zyon McGhee, The Thankful Poor in 3D – First Render – 20” X 21”

Honorable Mention

Carlos Armendariz, Under the Skin, 15.62” X 10.42”, photograph