With the Station Fire consuming over 150,000 acres of the San Gabriel Wilderness, it’s hard to see the beauty in such a destructive force, but the latest exhibit from the Ventura College Art Gallery shows the regenerative force behind fire.
Through drawings and paintings, retired Ventura College Studio Art Professor Hiroko Yoshimoto’s “Rising From the Ashes” explores the cycle of life that wildfires create.
The inspiration for the art came to Yoshimoto after seeing the destruction from the Santa Barbara Tea Fire last December. While she was stricken by the devastation, Yoshimoto found beauty in the wood and proceeded to take photos and sketch.
“I knew the burned materials would come back,” said Yoshimoto. “They would come back and regenerate into a new tree.”
The art gallery is set up in the round and conveys the rhythm of rebirth, featuring artwork of the burning of the forest in the beginning. Through the death and destruction the fire created, the gallery ends with the genesis of a new day, displaying new plants springing up.
“Rising From the Ashes” opened Sept. 3 to a warm audience of budding artists and art enthusiasts.
Pablo Reyes, 18, had Yoshimoto as an art professor and has known her for two of her 35 years at Ventura College. He appreciated the creativity of the gallery.
“I love it. I love abstract art, not realism,” said Reyes, a Commercial Art major. “I think it’s amazing her being creative and turning ashes from wildfires into art.”
Sheila Farr, a Fine Arts major, was also at the reception admiring Yoshimoto’s work.
“I think they have a lot of energy,” said Farr, 19. “Everything really jumps at you. It has a lot of life in it even though it’s supposed to be death.”
While she wanted to share the beauty a fire can bring, Yoshimoto also wanted to give insight into wildfires themselves and how to thwart them.
“I thought raising awareness of wildfires and how to prevent them is important,” said Yoshimoto.
A public presentation on wildfire prevention will be held at Guthrie Hall on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. followed by a visit to “Rising From the Ashes” and a reception at 8 p.m.
“Rising From the Ashes” is open now until Sept. 30, Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. in Gallery Two. For more information, you can call the Ventura College Art Gallery at (805) 648-8974.
