Chaffey College and the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art proudly present Student Invitational 2013, the 36th annual juried exhibition featuring Chaffey College student artists. In this rigorous program, the selected artists work closely with faculty, the museum curators, and other art professionals to create a new body of work, culminating in a professional quality group exhibition at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art.

Emily Burns

Cindy Dillingham

Karissa Ford

Timothy Haerens

Brittany Hennon

Bob Hurton

Dulce Soledad Ibarra

Russell Kuch

Robert Tidwell

Ryan Timblin

Luis Valencia

Laura Wilde

EmILy BuRnSPainting family snapshots, excavated from the garage, I enter the early 1980’s. For better or worse I create details, moments I was never a part of. I am a time traveler. And things about my history become more apparent: My grandma tanned a lot, my blonde mom was always so blonde, and there are so many pictures of my sister, the bridge and first of many things. She’s so conceited.

Snapshots are the evidence that something happened, and in that image the moment never stops happening. The moment is a vignette; you can’t see the past or much of the future. It covers up things, like bad things, and happily packages the truth surrounding a moment (you know, we smile for the camera). They also highlight things we didn’t notice at the moment the snapshot was taken, especially if you weren’t born yet. The pictures make us really happy and really sad and remind us that we, along with everything, will die. Moments die, people die. We live and die in the middle. You never see a complete beginning to end. We live in constant aftermath. Snapshots bridge the gaps; hint at what began, and give small answers to the present.

Emily Burns, Mexican Gramma: Aye Chihuahua!...I was born in Chihuahua, you know., 2013, oil on panel,

18 x 14 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

You could say I was raised in museums. Growing up in France, then Germany, and finally ending up in the Philippines, my parents always took my sisters and me to museums. Renaissance paintings and sculptures are still vivid in my mind including the biblical references that dominate the artistic themes of that period. The drama and emotion of the difficulties, struggles, and failures that I saw in that artwork as a child are still relevant to me today.

Image making for me, is a way of exploring my curiosity and fascination with people and their relation to objects or their surroundings. My inspiration comes from everyday life with all the unique and real situations people experience. Photographers and painters whose work uses light to sculpt their subjects inspire me. I am interested in creating imagery that isolates and simplifies the details of the content. I am fascinated with photographing the movement of light and shadow. Photographer Syl Arena said “To create interesting light, you also need to create interesting shadows.”

Through my work, I have a story to share. In my piece, “Letting Go of The Past,” I use a biblical story to illuminate contemporary experiences. I always wonder why Lot’s wife looked back. Was it the screams and agonizing cries that caused her to turn or was it the thought of leaving behind her whole way of life? How can we not look back? In another piece titled “Crumbling Prosperity,” I can’t help but wonder what is up ahead for me and everyone else as the economic situation in the country deteriorates. I use the visual representation of a historical drought in relation to the deterioration of society. Can this problem be fixed? These types of questions and narratives play a central role in my process of making this work.

I do not use actors to create these photographic narratives; instead I use everyday people in situations that reflect their life experiences. I work with specific references not only in the content and symbolism in each image, but also with historical references of lighting and pose. I carefully plan every aspect of an image, knowing that there is always an element of surprise as the image takes on a life of its own. I hope to create an unexpected moment for the viewer and myself.

CInDy DILLIngHam

Cindy Dillingham, Crumbling Prosperity, 2013, archival pigment print, 40 x 27 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Karissa Ford, When She Was Good, 2012, archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

KaRISSa FoRDMy body of work is a visual anthology of my shifting understanding of life’s lessons. My photographs are informed by the way children’s stories and movies infer such serious topics. The life lessons they present that once seemed sweet and innocent when I was a child reveal themselves to me as creepy and slightly unnerving as I revisit them in adulthood. Topics such as mortality and aging, the burdensome weight of decisions, and fallacies of safety and trust are all presented with overt playfulness and whimsy in order to appeal to young minds. Looking back, I did not come to these realizations in a clear or fantastic manner as stories might suggest. These epiphanies, as well as the often-discouraging opinion many of these stories imply toward daydreaming are explored within my work.

TImoTHy HaEREnS

I’m intrigued with pop culture and how it affects our lives. Through vehicles such as television programs, commercials and other forms of media, every day we are bombarded with phrases that invite, slogans that entice, statements that propose, and directions that command. In this work I use the structure of the American television game show to create satire as a means of examining our fascination with the culture of celebrities and assimilation of catch phrases.

Timothy Haerens, Missing U, 2012, mixed media collage, 20 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

BRITTany HEnnonI strive to create a phantasmal vision through the camera with the hope of transforming my domestic space into a wizard’s landscape. My camera becomes a magic wand and I am able to create an image that our eyes are not trained to see. I photograph familiar objects in order to isolate them from their original location and function. The imagery represents the familiar in an unfamiliar way.

Working in the photographic tradition of minimalism, my process subverts the symbolism held within the meaning of these simple objects. The light and focal point become the main attraction. The viewer may be drawn to a subtle hint of the origin of the object, but the photographic characteristics become a barrier that may confuse the reality. The mystery of the imagery will either draw viewers in or keep them at a distance.

Brittany Hennon, The Burrow, 2013, archival pigment print, 24 x 16 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

BoB HuRTon

As a print maker I am often working alone for hours printing two hundred or more cards for an upcoming show. Seeking more interaction and less alone time, I built a portable printing press, which allows me to bring the printmaking process into the public space.

This body of work revolves around connections: to place, to time, to others. Art making becomes a shared endeavor and a way of building relationships. Using a communal mapping system, our links to each other have been plotted.

Bob Hurton, Printing Press, 2011, 4x4s, bungee cord, and Simpson Strong-Ties. Courtesy of the artist.

DuLCE SoLEDaD IBaRRa

My work’s strength comes from my biggest weaknesses: fear and obsession. I began this series as a means of catharsis but have found the work is more of a mantra. Todavía Viva reminds me that while I am fragile, I am still alive.

As a Mexican-American woman, I grew up with juxtaposing images. The American culture and its fear-based news programs constantly bombarded me with grotesque visuals of disease, while the Mexican aspect of my cultural identity was rooted firmly in images of death, such as Día de los Muertos, which ultimately celebrate life.

Papel picado (cut paper) is festive decor created out of brightly colored tissue paper. This craft is the foundation for an appropriated technique of papel pintado (painted paper). Delicate paper serves as the skin of the severed sculptures and paintings that reflect a macabre sense of playfulness. Todavía Viva is a series of work where I explore an ill mind stressing over the probability of an ill body.

Dulce Soledad Ibarra, from the series Todavía Viva, 2013, tissue paper on canvas, yarn, papier-mâché, 20 x 20 x 32 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

RuSSELL KuCH

These photographs are an escape from the world in which we live to a surreal and an expanded landscape. Using the photographic process, constructed environments allow me to interact with nature using my body as a focal point. These romanticized self-portraits depict beauty, loneliness, and obstacle.

Russell Kuch, Radioactive, 2012, archival pigment print, 40 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

RoBERT TIDWELLBy using items that are easily accessible, I create a multimedia experience which investigates the connection between mysticism and art making. My art analyzes our existence as spiritual beings by critiquing and celebrating various aspects of human spirituality and the role it plays in our evolutionary development. Spirituality is an odd area for an atheist to work but I have grappled with trying to understand my spiritual self since a young age, and no religious institution or sacred text has resonated with me as deeply as the process of creation has.

Whether working in music, writing, or visual art, I get lost in the noise and chaos of my inner self. I try to hone in on an emotional thread that leads to the “eye of the storm” where I’m able to fixate and focus on turning the inner noise into serenity. This is where the art happens. I find the chord that strikes within me and let intuition take control. My art becomes something even I was not expecting because problem solving and improvisation become driving factors in the moment. I can’t predict what will resonate with me until I am in the moment. I explore different mediums so that I am constantly learning something new and surprising myself. The moment when something unexpected happens and I have to adjust is when I really begin to understand what a piece will be.

Although my work tends to have a quiet somberness, the loud clamoring of music fuels its creation. Music is always at the center of my art even when I’m working in a medium that does not incorporate sound. The energy and rhythm of drums, the tension of a throbbing bass and the often shouted vocals of punk and hip hop groups cultivate my desire to be heard.

Robert Tidwell, still from Untitled, 2013, stop motion video. Courtesy of the artist.

Ryan TImBLIn

I had grown attached to a piece of landscape in the foothills of the Inland Empire. The space itself has been a local attraction and abused by recreation and development. Welcome Home is an installation that depicts a new kind of wilderness that harbors the secrets and scars of man’s mistreatment of this natural resource. While spending time there, I was curious how other visitors sought to use the land. Through portraits of strangers I became aware that I wasn’t the only one using this space as an escape. Photographs and found objects serve as artifacts of the natural history.

Ryan Timblin, image from Welcome Home, 2013, c-print, 4 x 6 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

LuIS VaLEnCIaMy work explores the idea of a false structure of stability in man and the imminence of life and death. Using Greek inspired statues made out of unfired clay I wanted to show both the strength and frailty of man. Like marble Greek statues these busts appear strong and powerful, yet they are delicate to the touch and can crumble with ease. Flowers and fungi capture the impermanence of life revealing that even the most beautiful things can be stricken in their prime. What we perceive as permanent is equally as fragile as a flower.

Luis Valencia, Untitled, 2013, unfired clay, 26.5 x 10.5 x 12 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

LauRa WILDESeveral years ago I spent my last bit of money to buy my chair. It is orbital and supports itself on two thin legs. The contrast between the round shape and the blue and white stripes was very striking. I think that it reminded me of childhood and the many times I tried on dresses that my mother would sew for me, pinning and unpinning; circuses, the wind, and even of my first drawing class where I learned about Christo and his umbrellas along the coast. I used my chair a lot but didn’t necessarily take care of it. In the summer I left it out in the blazing sun and in the winter it pooled with water. It faded and the fabric became thin.

I take photos and paint portraits. Exploring through color and communication I have a deep desire to understand the sights unseen. I seek to discover that part of us that is fragile and needs to be noticed, included, and taken care of; that part of us that often times goes

unnoticed and neglected. A series of portraits in ceramic sculpture suggest permanence and tangibility. The chess set embodies that part of us that seems to get lost and harbors a certain degenerative quality. The chess set is the reason I make portraits. The empathic soft spirit created in paint and clay counterbalances the logic and isolation of chess mimicking life’s struggles.

I enjoy observing people, getting to know them and becoming friends. I keep my chair in the trunk of my car and when I go places I take it out and set it in a corner. Sometimes I wait for someone to take a seat, other times I find a volunteer. I will do this for as long as my chair holds up. When we sit in the chair we become the chair for that moment. My paintings and sculptures are emotionally and colorfully connected and we all sit together in the same chair.

Laura Wilde, Circular Chair Series: Relationships, 2013, clay, photograph, paint on illustration board, 23 1/2 x 34 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

aCKnoWLEDgEmEnTSCHaFFEy CoLLEgE goVERnIng BoaRDKathleen Brugger, PresidentLee C. McDougal, Vice PresidentGary L. George, ClerkPaul J. Gomez, Immediate Past PresidentKatie Roberts, Member

SuPERTInTEnDEnT/PRESIDEnTHenry Shannon, Ph.D.

aSSoCIaTE SuPERInTEnDEnT, InSTRuCTIon & STuDEnT SERVICESSherrie Guerrero, Ed.D.

DEan, VISuaL & PERFoRmIng aRTSMichael M. Dinielli, M.A.

DIRECToR/CuRaToR, WIgnaLL muSEum oF ConTEmPoRaRy aRTRebecca Trawick

aSSISTanT CuRaToRRoman Stollenwerk

DESIgnLittle Bear Productions, Diana Giordano

PRInTIngChaffey College Print Shop

This was printed on the occasion of the exhibition, Student Invitational 2013, April 15 – May 16, 2013Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Chaffey College 5885 Haven Avenue Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 www.chaffey.edu/wignall

mISSIon STaTEmEnTThe Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art presents exhibitions, education, and community programming to our diverse audiences in order to foster critical thinking and to encourage innovation and investigation through contemporary art. The Museum advances the mission of Chaffey College by contributing to the intellectual and cultural life of the college community and offering equal access to quality programming for the diverse communities of the Inland Empire.

aBouT uSThe Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art serves as a learning lab for investigating and contemplating contemporary visual culture, featuring temporary exhibitions of innovative contemporary art throughout the year. Exhibitions and programming are organized with our students in mind in order to augment their academic experience by complementing the college’s curricula and broadening the understanding of contemporary art. Our exhibitions allow visitors to see and experience a variety of contemporary artistic practices that examine timely and relevant topics.

The Wignall is an important resource for students, faculty, and staff that can act as a catalyst for a student’s own creative investigations or enhance classroom experience with direct engagement with art. For many visitors, exhibitions at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art may provide an exciting first encounter with the visual arts. The Museum strives to transform the art museum experience into something unexpected, extraordinary and engaging. We invite you to visit us and to explore!

a noTE aBouT ouR ExHIBITIonS & PRogRammIngThe Wignall Museum is an important part of the educational programs and mission of Chaffey College. Some of the artwork in our exhibitions and publications may contain mature content. The views and opinions expressed in this publication and exhibition are those of the authors and artists and do not reflect the opinions or policy of Chaffey College.

WIgnaLL muSEumaCKnoWLEDgEmEnTS

mISSIon anD CommITmEnT Chaffey College improves lives within the diverse communities it serves through equal access to quality occupational, transfer, general education, and foundation programs in a learning-centered environment where student success is highly valued, supported, and assessed.

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