Tomas Bernal

Photography

16x2

2020

Majority-black counties have three times the rate of infections and nearly six times the rate of deaths as majority-white counties. “Health disparities have always existed for the African American community, but here again with the crisis now — it’s shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is,” Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Florence Blackwell

23 Pairs

Silver Gelatin Print

2019

A karyotype is an image of an organism’s chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, the 23rd pair being the sex chromosomes, which determine the reproductive anatomy of a newborn. By appropriating the image of a human male karyotype, I create a new dimension to the work by incorporating my own DNA (my hair) to perform as chromosomes.

Jennifer Boucneau

An Asian Fetish

Mixed media on canvas

48”x60”

April 15, 2020

My painting explores the dangers of fetishization is for Asian American women. Through color symbolism and media transfers, my work conveys underlying stereotypes that are unspoken in society and how my identity has been affected by this.

ISABELLA BRIGANTI

Thayer, Raw

Digital Photo

2020

Dealing with mental health issues is something that I have struggled with for years, and this photograph was part of a series describing what it feels like. It's very intense, emotional, and difficult to handle, and yet, it is part of who I have become.

My high school art teacher began the very first day with his own definition of what art is: A celebration of life. This is what I try to capture in my works, no matter how one may interpret it. When I create art, I see it as another language. It is beautiful, weird, universal, and sometimes incomprehensible. I attempt to integrate new and challenging techniques and medias as I convey a message through each piece as well as creating something of aesthetic value. Much like learning any other foreign language, I will spend the rest of my life practicing and getting better, but I will never reach perfection. This is huge for me-- the realization and acceptance that I, or my work, is not perfect. Perfection is not my goal-- perfection is the idea that one can look at something and see no flaws. Excellence is the idea that one can be proud of what they have created. I aim to be proud of my works. I aim to continue my own personal celebration of life, and I invite you to join me!

Mary Jane Burgess

Aspen Blue

Acrylic on canvas

November 2019

The beauty of nature never ceases to amaze me.I feel a sense of awe and gratitude when I see the splendor of God’s creations. My art is an attempt to capture that beauty which inspires me, and share it with others.

Victoria L. Davis

Tears

Digital Painting

3”x3”

February 10, 2020

Illustrations tell us stories. Illustrators are the story tellers that weave each sentence with their brushstrokes. Be it an intimate portrait of a person crying or an unsettling embrace of two brothers facing cancer my works tell stories.

Jessica Diaz

Chingona

Digitally collaged poster (photography combined with custom made vector typography and open source typeface)

11” x 17”

Sandra Cisneros is an award winning Mexican-American novelist, poet, and heroine among Latinx women. Her essence is captured in a single poster with a quote containing multiple layers of meaning. “Chingona” is Spanish for “badass, independent woman,” and is relevant to all who identify as female or feminine regardless of race, class, or gender. As I was brainstorming words and symbols associated with the quote, culture-shifting women in art history such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Judy Chicago, and Frida Kahlo came to mind.

To differentiate Cisneros from the artists mentioned, a palette of colors, textures, and typography were developed specifically to describe her spirit. The sculpture in the center is from Fábrica la Aurora in San Miguel de Allende, a town in Mexico where Cisneros currently lives. I was fortunate to have visited her town during a family trip to Mexico in 2019. The sculpture embodies femininity, strength, grace, and pride. It could also start a conversation around feminism, gender normative standards, and body positivity. The words “women,” and “chingona,” are from a custom-made typeface and color palette I created specifically for Cisneros. Typography combined with photography is a powerful way to visually communicate concepts to people.

“It takes woman a long time to feel chingona” is still relevant to today. As an intersectional Mexican-American woman I say we must not continue to perceive womxn as less than or as others. We must embrace our power and freedom, lift each other up, and fight the oppressive forces that work to keep us down.

Jessica Diaz

5 Senses

EXTERIOR audiovisual digital projection, fabric, thread, wood, screws.

INTERIOR carpet, blanket, dried lavender & mint, a chair, a table, a book, scarf signage, and various healing crystals.

8’ x 3.75’ x 9’ x 8’

Five Senses is a constructed environment with an architectural scope executed through the use of wood studios and digital media. My architectural vision for the space was inspired by grand arched hallways in history like the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. A nine-foot tall hallway made from cotton fabric is stretched across two wooden arcs that support the overall structure. Two-by-fours, plywood, fabric, screws, a digital projector, and a speaker are the only materials used in the construction of the exterior of the hallway. The interior design is meant to provoke relaxation and stimulation inspired by contemporary Scandinavian design. My conceptual vision is centered around Hygge. This concept is interpreted as the art of cozy intimacy. Hygge is practiced throughout Scandinavia and has been credited as the reason why Denmark and other Nordic countries consistently rate among the happiest places in the world. In Mike Weiking’s, Little Book of Hygge, some characteristics of happy people include the ability to balance work and life, taking pleasure in the small things, employing organic elements in their environments, and frequent quality time one-self and their community.

Five Senses is intended to stimulate human sensations with an experimental and accessible space. Before entering, individuals are greeted with signage encouraging them to take a cookie and hot cocoa. They are then drawn into the open hallway with the smell of fresh dried lavender and mint. A single chair facing the transparent fabric wall with a relaxing audiovisual projection playing on a loop awaits you in the middle of the hallway. Even more signage is placed next to the chair indicating that The Little Book of Hygge, crystals, and dried mint can be interacted with. There is just enough sensory stimulation that the combination of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste does not overwhelm the visitor.

Inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s installation, Gleaming Lights of the Souls, one person at a time is meant to experience the hallway. Each person will have one minute, but there will no timer. Instead of a noisy disruption that might break any sense of Zen or bliss, I ask you to consciously keep track of the time. After everyone has had a chance to be alone with their senses, a conversation may begin around the subject matter and individual perceptions. I urge you not to rush through 5 senses, but instead to slow down, take a deep breath, and really pay attention to what you are feeling.

Jonathan Enssle

Tulip on Black

Photography

2020 

Images captured around the home can launch creativity. Experimenting with light and looking for small details are what I love, and that is what these are. I find solace in nature and that peace is what helps me create images.

ALEXANDRA FOSTER

Untitled, from Motels series

Photography

2020

After recently moving out of my childhood home and into a new space, I am trying to explore and embrace my surroundings, while also becoming more aware of where I lived and where I am now. These images showcase the variety of motels that are on Colfax Avenue, a street I have become more familiar with recently.

Alexander Gomez

Carbon Creatures (Jack, Lightheaded, and Oil)

Digitally painted gifs

2020

Carbon Creatures is an ongoing series of animations that explore industrial processes and their effect on the environment. Each animation is a reflection of one or more of these processes, bringing their effects to a gruesome extreme by replacing the environment with the human body. In doing so, the human body becomes a condensed, visceral representation of what’s happening on a broader scale. The insertion of a human element on the receiving end blurs the line between victim and assailant. The placid figures are bystanders to their own predicament.

Megan Hassler

Millennial Complex

Digital photography

March 5th 2020

The intimacy of one’s personal space allows for a deeper understanding of the individual. The simplicity of black and white imaging focuses our attention on the details, light, and provokes an emotional response.

Katie Huttenmeyer

Societal Media Thesis Pieces

Dancing Stars and Stripes (Foremothers)

Window pane with tissue paper, vinyl and magazine collage

54” x 20”

2020

Sun Detail and Backyard Surveillance Detail from The Sun Never Sets in the West

Window pane with tissue paper, vinyl and magazine collage

28” x 56”

2020

I am a mixed media artist interested in the social power of hand-me-down, objects, imagery, and archetypes. My art aims at exploring the underlying messages imbued in contemporary visual culture with a focus in the symbology of Americana. These works are part of my thesis entitled Societal Media, dealing with expectations of domesticity and the home.

Summer Jean King

Untitled

Art is a thing of contemplation and beauty, impulsive and intuitive, spontaneous and painstaking, a complete mix of contradictions through and through. My studio practice is long hours spent working on many different pieces at once. I work impulsively, flinging paint wherever my hand deems it necessary, and intuitively, finding stories and concepts along the way. My work is about the home and the body, and the inherent sameness of those ideas; that is, our bodies are our homes. Nostalgia, childhood, domesticity, emotions, womanhood are the conceptual influence that accompany the home and the body as ideas in my work. I desperately want to relive the nostalgia of a wonderful, domestic childhood, though I understand the immaturity and impermanence of this idea; instead I translate it into my artwork. As I grew from a girl into a woman, my emotions became the epicenter of my world, and I found it disorienting and overwhelming. This power that my emotions and nostalgia have over me have become my center for inspiration.

The body is our most permanent home; no matter our house, apartment, or shelter we dwell in, we always have the soft flesh that surrounds our bones, the bone that shelters our thoughts. I am drawn to imagery of homes torn apart in hurricanes, fires, and demolition; and yet I flinch at the idea of seeing human (and animal) bodies inflicted in the same ways.

Seeing the piece “Eviscerated Corpse” by Mike Kelley when I was eighteen changed my perception of art entirely. My creative practice has expanded from paint to sculpture and beyond. I utilize soft sculpture to suggest the interior of the body as well as the exterior domesticity of the home. The use of sewing and cloth is women’s history, largely ignored in the grand context of art history. I embrace it now, for it is homey and childish and reminds me of the soft flesh of the body.

I want my art to show the world what I see, to allow my audience to crawl into my brain and see what it’s like for me. For me, the world is filled with an unlimited amount of beauty, in every single thing, and I want to share that gut-wrenching feeling of love for all things.

Samantha Kokesh

Native Series: Pasque

Cut white paper and holographic paper

12"x 12"

2018

Artist statement for the two Native Series pieces: Flowers are fragile and delicate, much like finely-cut paper. In addition, we don't often stop to observe the complexities and intricacies of nature, which I aim to highlight here.

Trevor Leach

Persephone diptych

Acrylic paint on birch panel

24in x 48in (each)

 2019

Persephone holds a dual identity as a goddess, passing half the year in the underworld and half the year among the living. Inspired by that ancient myth, this diptych explores the relationship between life and death from a contemporary American perspective. Each of the panels also make reference to the paintings Christina’s World and Christina Olson by Andrew Wyeth in the poses of the figure.

Chelsea Minter-Brindley

Alloy Typical; Innate forms of Discontinuity

Bronze

2019

Alluding to Umberto Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, and his call to disrupt classical ideologies within art.

I notice the invisible nature of textile labor within Western culture: the ability of fiber materials to exist fluidly between aesthetics and practicality, as well as the inherent sculptural qualities within garment making. When I was a child, my mother, who worked at a sewing factory, would hand-sew clothing from scrap pieces for my dolls. When she brought these outfits to me during a visit in late 2019, I became interested in the invisible and allegedly "natural" (women's) labor associated with this craft, as well as the memories surrounding their creation. Alloy Typical was produced as a collaboration between mother and daughter, a link between artists of different generations. I solidify the invisible and equate and the lost-wax casting process with "lost" textiles and lost childhood, the intangible past, my past, also my current self. Considering issues surrounding women and gender in art, I wanted to use bronze casting as a transformational method/medium, understanding that the original garments would be destroyed in the process as an attempt make visible painstaking labor, while also disrupting the "continuity" of their original associations with a supposedly-essential "women's work."

Jordan Oss

Slow-Motion

Digital photograph

March 10, 2020

To an onlooker, falling is a quick and violent process… but for the victim, a fall is slow and methodical much like a ballet performed in their thoughts. A rapid and unexpected beginning, a realization that they are at the mercy of gravity, a slowing of time, an instinct to act, finally coming to rest on the ground. That one instant it took for the onlooker to witness the fall likely felt like slow- motion for the victim.

Jordan Oss

Don’t Touch Your Face

Charcoal portrait

March 25th, 2020

In 1918, the H1N1 Flu Virus killed fifty million people worldwide. 101 years later, the world is introduced to a new pandemic threat that locks down Earth. Life as we know it has halted, leaving us cemented in our homes, day after day trying our hardest not to touch our faces.

Neftalí Pazo

KISS....

Mylar balloon landscape installation

50" x 16" x 2"

This inflatable installation is part of a series called Lethal where I am using letter banners floating around Denver. We used to KISS to show appreciation and caring and now a KISS can be a deadly weapon against the ones we love the most. In the pictures we can also see the Denver skyline and how the gradient colors of the banner interact with it. This installation was made in April 2020 while social distancing and wearing an N-95 mask. Pictures taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T6

PAW X

13 artists 13 performances

Splash

Performance Art Week (PAW) is an annual celebration of performance art at the Emmanuel Art Gallery. Due to Covid-19 it took place virtually this year, exploring how we perform together at home alone. 

PAW X definitely had its ups and downs, twists and turns. There were many obstacles and issues that took problem-solving and patience. That is what made this project so significant. Similar to any artwork that you may be working on, things may not, and at times will not, go the way you originally wanted or intended. The true lesson is how to overcome obstacles, and work with the objects that you have. Using and creating with the environment and the items at your disposal is part of what makes art special and magical. It’s part of the process, and what unites art and artists. This pandemic should serve as a reminder that many artists don’t have the luxury of having an option to go to art supply stores. Many artists don’t have a community to share their passions or problems with.

We still do. The fact that through all this—our hardships, our struggle—we still have a place where we can share, grow, and overcome obstacles together is truly a miracle.

Fares Al-Jadaani          to spray

Noelle Axalan              to cover

Emily Boyet                 to bind

Emily Creasey             to light

Kat Dent                      to spill

Payton Dierks              to compliment

Lydia Donato               to tie

Megan Hassler            to drop

Raven Henriquez        to impress

Mattie Liehr                to hook

Laura McKnight           to cut 

Micah Scott                 to smear

Caoilinn Smyth            to tear

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“To Bind”: Emily Boyet

My portion of the video was not filmed alone but filmed within the comfort of my own family. My cousin was planning on getting married to her fiancé this summer but had to reschedule due to COVID-19. Our performance literally bound the couple together, not only tying the two together for marriage purposes but also bringing them closer in a very uncertain time.

Ariadne Salvetti

Amazon Fires

Spray painted wood model with use of fire - pattern underneath made by pressing paint between glass and transferring with a sponge to the wood

4’x2’

April 22, 2019

This project represents a landscape abstraction of the deforestation patterns of the Amazon. Though I chose to represent Brazil as it's a more personal place to me, this project symbolizes fires across the globe.

Jacqueline Schwaderer

Cloudy Plain

Digital/CG Render

April 23 2020

I've always enjoyed the atmosphere and color design of the "Destiny" videogame series, and this scene was an attempt to capture a similar feeling; it's also inspired by the art style of Simon Stalenhag, especially his illustrations from the book "The Electric State". This render is kind of the culmination of everything I've learned in the past 3 years of 3D modelling and rendering, and was by far the most complex scene I've ever put together, taking 7 hours to render.

Tuesday Sweeney

Gone But Not Forgotten

Iphone Photography

6”x4”

2019-2020

This series is evaluating the things we leave behind, and why. A crumpled magazine in the woods, a broken Puff bar in the student parking lot, and a half eaten Clif bar in a Whole Foods bathroom all paint a picture of their previous owners. It's finding these little indications of human life and personality in unexpected ways and places that makes everyday life so interesting and fun.

Shana Thompson

Detritus,  Palmyra, Missouri

Digital Images

2020

Image 1: Light mourns the letter to her sister about what happened the day her son died. 

Image 2: Light slices through a room and cuts my soul in half. 

Detritus is a series that explores legacy, identity, and abandonment through documenting left-behind artifacts in cast-aside dwellings. While spending several hours in this abandoned home, I observed the way light shifted with every passing cloud through the broken windows, ceilings, floors.  These patterns of ethereal light interrupted an otherwise dystopian scene and seemed to honor the history of the space in both celebratory reverence and protective mourning. My hope is that the light is a focal point as much as the darkness in these haunting images; a theme that is evident in my everyday life as well as in my art practice. 

Shana Thompson

Non-Contact Sheets

Digital iPhone images of silver gelatin negatives

April 2020

Non-Contact Prints was created while in quarantine out of inability to make a contact sheet to preview negatives I shot and developed just before we lost access to the campus darkroom. Determined to turn the negatives into positives but lacking a functioning scanner at home, I laid the negatives on top of my illuminated laptop screen and snapped photos of them with my iPhone. Using Photoshop, I converted the images to black-and-white then inverted the negative images into positives. The process, while effective, also distorted the images and lent a dystopian feel to the already bleak imagery of a dilapidated house. These non-contact sheets became something else altogether, standing on their own as symbols of their epithet and the state of our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sabrina Xu

You Probably Wont Get This: So Much Work For Such A Simple Joke (You Can't Sue Me I Double-Checked)

Acrylic on canvas

10' x 4'

You Probably Won't Get This: So Much Work For Such A Simple Joke (You Can't Sue Me, I Double-Checked) (abbreviated as YPWGT:SMWFSASJYCSMIDC) gets its name from three different title ideas smashed together to parody Richard Hamilton's artwork with a ridiculously long title. YPWGT:SMWFSASJYCSMIDC takes a famous painting, The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, and "contemporizes" it with memes. The painting is littered with 2 different forms of code put together, one found in renaissance paintings and one in meme culture.