“The Unmaking of a Chain Stitch” is a video media piece and part of artist Jennifer Brandon’s gallery at Moorpark college which has no sound, forcing the viewer to focus on the hands’ deliberate movements.
Erica Lizee, an art professor at Moorpark College feels that students will be able to relate to the art that will be shown.
“This show is interesting because we are highlighting two contemporary, figurative artists that work in a variety of mediums.” said Lizee.
“Duet works in oil paint, making large panel pieces from a photographic source. Brandon’s work consists of acrylic paintings, mixed media pieces and video, with imagery drawn from photographic sources as well as memory.”
Brandon finds quality in the ruined and expresses deep emotion. Brandon said her work is inspired by memory, experience and loss.
“It is still rooted in those themes, in references to the body and disease,” she said. “Vulnerability and the beauty and ugliness that occurs when things fall apart, be it emotionally or physically.”
The two solo collections are on display in the President’s conference area, located in the Business Office where students pick up their parking stickers.
The gallery began on Sept. 22 and will culminate Oct. 17. Students and staff can hear Duet speak about her work at the reception on Oct. 8 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and it will be followed by a Q & A session.
Duet’s trio of oil paintings, entitled Liminal, are so large they each required more than one canvas placed side by side resembling those t.v’s lining the walls in electronic stores.
The smallest of the trio is entitled “Steve and the Chicken” and features a woman sitting in a cafe gazing up and at man wearing a rubber chicken in his breast pocket.
In Duet’s gallery statement she describes the motivation behind her art. “At these liminal moments it is possible for us to become lost, transformed or transported. Painting is a way of communicating the indefiniteness of experience.”
Jennifer Brandon grew up in Ventura County received her CFA from Mills College and currently teaches undergraduate photography at several colleges in the Bay area, according to her resume posted at www.jenniferbrandon.com.
Duet holds a MFA degree from CSLUB, has been recognized nationally and both Artweek and The Los Angeles Times have reviewed her work, according to the press release on the Moorpark College Website at www.moorparkcollege.edu.
Lizee believes that not only will the artists’ work be interesting to see, but it can also be a learning experience for students.
“They are both creating work that is visually interesting, technically strong and conceptually capivating,” said Lizee. “Their work exemplifies the qualities that we hope to teach our students here at Moorpark.”
For more information on the exhibit visit the Moorpark College website under the heading News and Events, and check back for information on future galleries and events.
