Week Fifteen: Artist Interview- Humberto Cayetano

Humberto Cayetano is a senior at Cal State Long Beach and he will soon graduate with his BFA in photography! Humberto said the best part of photography is that it is a gateway to conversation. He finds that you can talk about it as it tells different stories without even moving. Humberto takes his theory of photography starting conversation to go in depth with his project. For this he made questions that are to be answered by the people viewing his work. The survey takers are then suppose to answer them in a room by their selves.  And from the questions we learn about the people and see how different or similar they are by learning how they answered to the questions. Humberto’s main purpose is just to show how different we can view a piece, or in this situation- a person. We can read anything and everything ten different ways but how it is portrayed can really say one thing when the truth behind the piece says something completely different.

I take Humberto’s work into great appreciation. I feel as though his work really opens not only artists’ eyes but the people looking at something whether it be art or something else that you really cannot define something just by looking at it. You can’t say something certain about a piece because the piece that is portrayed is portrayed to tell you something in particular and it is what the author wants you to see. His work really goes well with the say “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” He really taught me to always keep an open mind whether it be with art or people. Not everything is as it seems, just how people want you to see it!

Thanks Humberto, great work!

Week Fifteen: Student Interview- Henatay Journey

For this last interview, I had the chance to meet Henatay. He was such a pleasure meeting. He was so down to earth and genuinely a warm person meeting. Awesome enough his name means pictures made by the clouds. It is Navajo name!! Henatay also comes from a Cuban background! Henatay also graduated from Wilson class of 2013! What is also interesting is that we both attended the same high school at the same time and yet we never ran into each other! What a coincidence! He also thought it was a great school. As for him right now he is currently undeclared attending CSULB as a first year student. Henatay said he is unable to choose because there are to many choices to make.

Aside from his school life, he has one younger sister who is 5 years old. And as for work he does small jobs with various little things. But he is taking classes such as art, public speaking, American government and Asian American studies. He takes lots of interest in Video games and books, but does not watch tv. Interestingly enough he is also a board game enthusiast.
Something funny I learned was that when Henatay was younger it
took him a long time to learn multiplication and the most interesting fact about him is that big game enthusiast, spoke French preschool Spanish k-7 German high school but not fluently.

Henatay gas also been to Spain, France, and Germany. He can’t recall going to Spain and France that great but his favorite is when he went to. Germany. His favorite food from Germany was, simple enough, hot dog and ketchup!

Henatay Journey.com

Week Fourteen: Artist Interview- Khara Cloutier

Khara was born in Austin Texas where she received her Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from Texas State! She is now in her last semester at CSULB and will receive her masters in fine arts! Through out Khara’s project it seemed so simple but when she began to explain herself, I learned that it took a lot of hard work to proceed with it. Her gallery is called “Fabricating Identity: The Anatomy of the City Reapplied to the Body.” With the title alone I was deeply drawn to her art. My first impression was that it was how we either hide who we are with the clothes we wear or we do the exact opposite and where exactly who we are and what we are right on the surface of our skin.  Whether that be wrong or right, I found that to be one of the perks of her presentation. It was so simple and white it was almost as if she allowed the white on the walls to allow you to interpret her art yourself.

On the other hand though, when interviewed, I found out that the materials for this project were mostly just ink and paper where she got her inspiration for the LA County. She also uses the human identity incorporated with nature or landscape, blocks, and structures. Khara also mentioned that once she graduates she wants to actually turn her art into real clothing!

Thanks Khara!

Week Fourteen: Student Interview- Mario Ayala

Mario Ayala is a twenty year old, third year student at Cal State Long Beach who is currently a math major. He lives in La Palma but moving here to Long Beach this summer! He was born in Quito, Ecuador  and moved here when he was five. He also went to Lakewood and Mayfair high school andnow is currently in the Delta Chi Fraternity! Something really interesting is that he is also currently the Philanthropy chairman! He enjoys watching sports but he only plays soccer. Mario says that he also really likes listening to music but he does not play any instruments, nor does he sing. Aside from this he also likes to draw and he thinks he is pretty good at it.

As of right now he works as a graphic designer for the magazine his dad founded and he is even starting his own business right now training younger kids to improve their soccer skills! As for this class, he is currently taking it as an elective because he needed more units. He says overall he really enjoys this class but what he likes best is the interacting part!

Nice meeting you, Mario!

(no pictures available, sorry )

curlygoon.com

Week Thirteen: Artist Interview- Ronald Pagenkopp

Ronald is a graduate student at Cal State Long Beach who graduated with his bachelors in Illustration at Fullerton and has constructed some of the most amazing artwork to me. His work honestly appeared so simply yet it was so articulate without even saying anything. When first glancing at it, it look so dark but when I stared at it longer everything just started to become so clean and particular- as if everything was exactly in place. I feel as though the piece his pieces reflect chaos but organized chaos. I also feel as though each piece reflects an important story relevant to his life or maybe things most important to him. And when I got to interview him it was just that.

He stated the at he drew people and numbers representing experiences and memories relevant to who he is now. He has so that the grids and sharp lines represents time. This line of work was called “Retrospection.”  He says that his artwork really portrays the people who has made remarkable impacts on his life along with people he just finds simply influential. Some challenges that he faces is time. He works at an art studio as well therefore he does not have the time to finish his artwork. For instance, he said that he spends about 15 hours on a piece. For someone who doesn’t have much time his pieces are AMAZING. Ronald’s pieces resembles many of the greats from the past and is truly great pieces. Each is done with so much passion and care. And to know how much he really spend on one piece just really reflects his dedication and passion.  Amazing work!!

Week 13: Student Interview- Sabrina Macias

Sabrina Macias is a third year student at Cal State Long Beach who is currently majoring in pre nursing. She has always known this to be her passion since she was a kid and it was thanks to her grandparents and nephew. It was nice meeting Sabrina because she was so inspirational because the confidence she carried in really knowing that this is what she wanted to do with her life. But aside from school Sabrina is actually turning 21soon and her big plan is to go to Vegas! She is initially from Pico Riviera and commutes all the way from there to here for school. She said she chose CSULB mainly for it’s great atmosphere. Sabrina is currently taking statistics, women gender, history and this art class.

Some cool things I found out about Sabrina was that she has 9 nephews, a pet iguana, and she had actually been with her boyfriend for five years! Something else that is cool is that Sanrina takes interest in make up! She been trying new and different techniques and that she’s never been on an airplane! But one of her goals besides becoming a nurse practitioner is to go to Greece! Her favorite food include Texas BBQ and her favorite kind of movie is horror!

sabrinablog.net

Week Twelve: Activity-P12

For this weeks activity we were suppose to choose one activity that we have previously done and do more of it. What I chose to do was the drawing activity where we are suppose to draw our name in bubble letters. This was a challenge for me because I’m not good at bubble letters at all. So I chose to draw my name in another set of block letters and shade them in. I used just a regular black pen, nothing fancy, to keep it simple. I also chose to do this activity cause it was simple and fun for me as a way to practice and get better artistically.

To add to this project I would like to go back to Venice Beach and try the spray painting all over again. As easy as this activity may seem I feel as though it’s one that has really challenged me. When it comes to my drawings and painting I am very hard on myself because I feel like everything needs to be done to a T and because the bubble letters are so difficult for me I keep having to do drafts over drafts to get it right so as opposed to strictly doing bubble letters, I incorporated a little more of block letters because it made it a little easier for me.

Week Twelve: Artist Interview- Brenda Moron

The artist I interviewed was Brenda Moron. She is a fourth year student here at Cal State Long Beach and she is currently 23 years old. Her major is 3D median and is focusing specifically on wood. With this she aspires to make her own furniture after she graduates!

It was thanks to her dad, really for why she is able to come this far. He has taught her how to use most of the tools she is able to use when she builds her art work. And surprisingly enough Brenda was not really into art her whole life. She really started seeking interest when she began high school.

Brenda’s work was impeccably done. I felt as though she really sat the bar pretty high when it came down to this kind of art. By “this kind of art” I mean wood art! Her work attracted my attention immediately seeing that her work was not just any draw and painting work but it also required tools outside of a canvas and a paintbrush. I think what she showed in that gallery really extended the meaning of art. When going to LACMA you can see that it is usual to participate in wood art but to see a fellow 49er be so good at it, is truly awesome.

GREAT WORK, BRENDA!

Week Twelve: Student Interview- Maneth Khieng

Maneth is a first year student at Cal State Long Beach whose major is currently undeclared. Math would like to pursue a career in health science such as being a nurse. She is currently taking classes such as math and Asian studies but thinks they are boring classes. Maneth graduated from Lakewood High School and used to be a jazz and ballet dancer in school. She said she stopped dancing because she did not like her coach. She chose to attend Cal State Long Beach because she did not want to leave home.

Some personal things about Maneth is that she has one brother and three sisters. She is currently working at Ganghis Khan  and she has been doing that for about six months now, but she plans to quit and find a new job soon. Coincidentally Maneth is all Chinese and Cambodian. I asked if she knew how to speak Chinese and she said she used to but no longer is able to. On her free time she like to hang out with her boyfriend as much as she can because she is not able to seem him on a day to day basis.

It was nice meeting you , Maneth

http://manethkhieng.com/

Week Eleven: Artist Interview- Dane Klingaman

Dane Klingaman’s work really stood out to me initially because of this specific piece. I work with kids of different ages everyday so for me the big colorful parachute and the images of the children really caught my eye. I’m not sure why but I thought this piece really reflected a positive message and evoked a joyous feeling. I think this was because of the bright colors. It brings thoughts of childhood and makes you think of your own personal memories and the youth in general.

But what is cool about Dane’s work is that the Dane’s whole purpose is about perspective. Dane says that “Private Signals” is the “manipulation of public images” and the it “consists  of a body of work that tranfsform iconic images through an interpretive process of collage (Klingaman).”  I feel as though this means that Dane takes an image and, in a sense, pixelates in so that it forms a collage to show a different image. In a way its puzzling but it really makes you think about the image rather just looking at what is blatantly in front of you.

This image is a perfect example…

Thanks Dane!