Metal national jury exhibition is coming to Saddleback College’s Art Gallery
A piece titled “Sea Slug” done by Stephanie Brohman from Glencoe, Illinois will be displayed in the upcoming gallery show at Saddleback College. (Photo courtesy of Bob Rickerson )
The upcoming Saddleback College gallery show is themed upon the extinction of animals using art wrought from metal. The show Metal Extinction is now open to the public and will host a reception on Sept. 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Along with the show, three prize winning Saddleback College Students will showcase their work. Janine Sun, a student of the art department, spent long hours in the jewelry class designing one of her pieces for the show.
“The medium is enamel on copper and on the back has a pin element to make the piece versatile because it takes so much time,” Sun said. “I want my pieces to be worn often. I will not be selling my pieces during the show, however I am planning to create a whole new collection of works that will be for sale in the near future.”
Her art is inspired by the time she spent at a time share in Hawaii. While she was snorkeling in an area known as Garden Isle, she decided that she wanted to make a piece that represents the colors.
At the event there is a people’s choice award determined by the popular vote of those in attendance, with a thousand dollar cash prize for the winner.
“This is the first year to do a hands on evaluation to determine the quality of the work,” said Metal Arts Society Executive Chair, Thrish Mc Aleer.
Mc Aleer has been spending time making sure the publicist sends out massive amounts of emails and standard mail to the extended San Diego and Los Angeles areas.
“The postcard was well done as it was created by the Saddleback Graphics design class over the summer,” Mc Aleer said.
The Metal Arts Society of Southern California (MASSC) chose 50 original works from individual artists around the nation claiming to have challenged the artists to honor and commemorate extinct and endangered species while showing beauty and grace of the vanishing natural world.
“This is a non-profit organization gallery and the money earned goes back into future shows throughout the year,” said Curator Gallery Specialist, Bob Rickerson.
Rickerson was painting the walls for the largest piece in the exhibition while making adjustments to the color gray by adding a complimentary sage green.
“I consider the bigger pieces first as I paint the walls during a show and in this case the biggest piece is a 10 foot wide metal instillation with birds and boats,” Rickerson said.
The piece Rickerson described was created by Corinna Sepohora, a female artist from Atlanta, Georgia who developed her own metalworking studio. According to her biography her piece symbolizes evolving leadership and movement while being in touch with the peace and clarity of nature.
“This is the first time my work has been in California, and I was inspired by a River in Vermont. The peace and tranquility of the water paralleling with the birds,” Sepohora said.
