Budding Artists
By Sommer Mathis
Nov. 18, 2002 9:00 p.m.
UCLA art students are getting a glimpse of what life could be
like once they exit the comfortable womb of their college
years.
The art department’s annual Undergraduate Juried
Exhibition opens today in the New Wight Gallery, which gives
students the opportunity to have their work evaluated by a
respected member of the local art community.
Participants faced fierce competition just to make it into the
show, with only 46 works selected out of 168 entries. Many artists
who submitted a series of pieces had to settle for only one or a
few of those being displayed in the New Wight.
This year’s guest juror, local sculptor and Art Center
instructor Liz Larner, said she tried to include as many pieces in
the show as possible without turning the art department’s
small gallery into the Louvre.
“A lot of people submitted a series of works … but
there’s only so much space. I tried to make it so things
aren’t just a big mish-mash,” Larner said.
Larner’s choices have resulted in a variety of artwork
ranging from a three-dimensional triangle made of chicken wire to a
sketch of a bunny rabbit cage to a simple painting of a yellow
chair on a brown floor.
Though an art show like this one lends itself to a diverse
sampling of styles and media, the exhibition manages to avoid
overwhelming viewers by keeping clutter to a minimum.
Maintaining a balance of art and empty wall space was more
difficult than usual this year, as the New Wight has been split
into two rooms and is significantly smaller than the old location
in the Dickson Art Center. The gallery moved this summer along with
the rest of the art department to its temporary home in the Kinross
Building while Dickson is under construction.
The move to Kinross Avenue in Westwood Village has left many
students feeling out of touch with the main campus.
“I don’t like being so far away from campus. I miss
the Sculpture Garden, and getting lunch with my friends at Northern
Lights,” said Jessica Seymour, a fifth-year art student who
will participate in the Undergraduate Exhibition for the first time
this year.
Seymour will have one painting in the show, a large reclining
nude made with fluorescent spray-paint.
Though some may feel they’re being pushed out of the nest
a little too soon, students still jumped at the chance to submit
work to an outside curator. Second-year art student Avigail Moss
feels this kind of process closely mirrors the real art world in
which she one day hopes to work.
“It’s important to show work. Some people rely on
the faculty to help them get recognition, but you have to have a
level of self-promotion,” Moss said. “If you want to
make yourself known, you have to do that yourself.”
Moss’ work in the show includes sketches and drawings done
on lined notebook paper, one of the only submitted series chosen in
its entirety. Many of the images she depicts draw on elements of
her early childhood, including one sketch of a Pez dispenser with
Liza Minelli’s misshapen head on top. The idea was loosely
based on Minelli’s portrayal in the “Princess and the
Pea” from the children’s video collection Faerie Tale
Theatre, Moss said.
Fourth-year art student Kimberly Sinclair will have three small
drawings in the exhibition which are part of a much larger series.
She takes the selection of her work in stride, ascribing it to the
often unpredictable nature of juried art shows.
“It always works out that the thing you did in five
minutes is the one they like,” Sinclair said.
An exhibition of work completed in the undergraduate B.A.
Studio Art program opens today and runs through Dec. 13 in the New
Wight Gallery/Kinross Building. An opening reception will be held
Nov. 21, 5-8 pm.
