STEPHEN CALLIS
Class Pictures
November 6, 2026 - January 20, 2027
Artist Reception
Thursday, November 12th, 4:00 - 6:00PM
Artist Talk
Wednesday, November 18th, 6:00 - 7:00PM
Moorpark College presents Class Pictures, an exhibition by photographer and Professor Emerita of Photography Stephen Callis, featuring formal portraits of students made over seven years in his Beginning Photography classes. Begun in 2018, the series explores the familiar yet elusive nature of portraiture: Can a photograph truly reveal who someone is, and what draws us to the faces of people we have never met? Using a traditional 5-by-7-inch view camera, Callis creates intimate, direct portraits that invite viewers to consider the relationship between photographer, subject, and audience. Although the students originally sat for these portraits within a classroom community built on familiarity and trust, the resulting images extend beyond that context, raising questions about identity, memory, and the limits of what we can know about another person through an image. Influenced by the portraiture of Nadar, August Sander, and Richard Avedon, Callis embraces a restrained visual approach that encourages sustained looking and leaves room for interpretation.
Callis brings decades of experience as an exhibiting artist, educator, and documentary photographer to this compelling body of work. He holds an MFA in Photography from the California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His broader photographic practice has examined the relationship between people, place, and social change, including the Los Angeles River, the aftermath of a wildfire in Griffith Park, and the struggles of janitors and housekeepers organizing for labor rights. His work has been exhibited at institutions including the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and is represented in collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the California Museum of Photography. With Class Pictures, Callis turns his lens toward the individuals who have passed through his classroom, transforming a personal photographic archive into an open-ended invitation for public reflection. Viewers are encouraged to look closely, consider what connects us to unfamiliar faces, and discover what meanings these portraits might hold beyond the lives and stories of the people depicted.
KALLI ARTE COLLECTIVE
September 14 - October 16, 2026
Join us Thursday, September 24:
Gallery Reception, 12:00 - 1:00PM
Printmaking Workshop, 1:00 - 4:00PM
Applied Arts Building, Room 143
In conjunction with LatinX Heritage Month, The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by Kalli Arte Collective. Founded in 2005 by artists Alfonso Aceves and Adriana Carranza and their four children, Sara, Ione, Diego, and Emilio, Kalli Arte Collective grew from a desire to share creative space and engage in ongoing conversations about art, identity, and representation. Working primarily through printmaking and installation, the collective believes that art should be accessible and that sharing stories can spark dialogue, build connections, and strengthen community. Their work addresses social justice, cultural heritage, resilience, and identity while exploring the importance of knowing who we are and where we come from. Over two decades, Kalli Arte Collective has developed a significant presence throughout Southern California and beyond, with exhibitions and installations at institutions including the Oakland Museum, the Fullerton Museum, Self Help Graphics, Cal State Northridge, and Centro de Arte in Texas, as well as numerous public art and mural projects throughout Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
In these extraordinary and challenging times, art has become increasingly vital as a means of bearing witness, preserving identity, and sharing the stories that connect us. For Kalli Arte Collective, making art is both an act of resilience and a lifelong commitment to family, culture, and community. “As artists, it seems like we are in a constant fight to exist just as we are,” they explain. “This is why we continue doing the work that we do.” As a companion to the exhibition, the gallery will host a printmaking workshop centered on the creation of papel picado, inviting participants to contribute to a collaborative work that will ultimately be displayed in the gallery. The workshop extends the collective’s belief that art is not simply something to observe, but something to live, make, and share with others. Together, the exhibition and workshop invite the Moorpark College community to celebrate cultural heritage while considering the power of art to tell our stories, honor where we come from, and inspire future generations.
Student Exhibition
May 14 - September 1, 2026
Join us for a reception:
Thursday, May 14th, 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Come to the gallery to see our annual summer Student Exhibition, featuring over 90 works created by our Art, Design and Photography students this academic year.
Art & Design Faculty Exhibition
March 9 - April 10, 2026
Join us for a reception:
Tuesday, March 17th, noon - 2:00 pm
Previous Exhibits
Katie Middleton
Tessera
February 24, 2024 - April 18, 2025
Artist talk and reception:
Tuesday, March 18th, 10:30 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 115
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Tessera, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Katie Middleton. In these paintings, the figure is surrounded by vibrant colors, geometric patterns and lush florals. Middleton states, “I like to explore the relationships between organic forms of nature and geometric shapes found in objects such as tiles and architecture, finding harmony in their contrast.” Tessera includes ten oil on wood panel paintings by Middleton.
Katie Middleton uses contrasting colors and intricate patterns to create an environment for the figure that influences the subject’s mood and personality. The artist begins her compositions digitally as a chaotic collage which she then brings to life with paint. The application of thin layers of oil paint and the smooth wood surface add to the crispness of the pattern and the glow of the saturated colors. The precise patterns are juxtaposed with the rendered softness of the portrait, figure and florals.
Katie Middleton is a Los Angeles based artist with a BFA in painting from Pratt Institute (2007). She received the Early Career Achievement award from Pratt in 2016. She studied painting, printmaking, and art history at L’Universita Internazionale Dell’arte (U.I.A.) in Venice, Italy. Paintings from the “Tessera” series have been exhibited in several group exhibitions including the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s “23rd Japan International Art Exchange Exhibition,” and juried group shows at TAG Gallery, Brea Gallery, Launch LA, Shoebox Arts, Shockboxx Gallery, Dorado 806, and The Hive Gallery. Katie Middleton also works as a union make-up and special effects artist in television and film. She received a nomination for a Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award and authored the book “Color Theory for the Make-up Artist: Understanding Color and Light for Beauty and Special Effects.”
Chiho Harazaki
Ingrained - Beyond Patterns
December 4, 2024 - January 24, 2025
Artist talk and reception:
Thursday, January 23rd, 10:30 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 132
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Ingrained - Beyond Patterns, a solo exhibition of mixed-media works on paper and canvas by Chiho Harazaki. In her figurative series Ingrained, Harazaki uses pattern to explore the dichotomies between her upbringing in Japan and her experiences as a first-generation immigrant in the United States. "My works contain traditional patterns from my home country, patterns which evoke within me a melancholy feeling like an unbreakable cage, or like tattoos on my body that cannot be removed," Harazaki reflects. "I seek to discover my own identity through my art, synthesizing elements of Eastern and Western, traditional and modern culture."
Chiho Harazaki is known for her unique art-making technique using adhesive tape, a medium that lends itself to bold, graphic patterns and textures while evoking traditional Japanese art forms such as woodcut prints and paper cutting. For the Ingrained series, Harazaki combines this untraditional medium with more traditional media, such as charcoal, graphite and watercolor. For the piece Sashiko (Seigaiha), Harazaki uses washi tape to mimic Sashiko, a traditional Japanese embroidery technique that uses running stitches to create geometric patterns. The arched pattern in this piece is called Seigaiha (blue ocean waves), which symbolizes surges of good luck in Japan. The floral pattern in Wagara #3 was based on kimono fabric. Wagara (Japanese patterns) are more than mere decorative elements. Each pattern carries its unique narrative, representing aspects of Japanese culture, spirituality, and aesthetics.
Chiho Harazaki holds an Associate of Arts degree from Los Angeles Valley College (2014) and continued her studies at ArtCenter College of Design Extension. Harazaki has exhibited her work at Launch LA Gallery, Saddleback College, Canyon Country Community Center, The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego and Blue Whale in Los Angeles. She has also completed a number of commissions including those for Robinson S.P.A.C.E, City of Santa Clarita, Angel City Jazz Festival, and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC). To learn more about Chiho Harazaki please visit www.chihoharazaki.com.
Camilla Taylor
All at Once and Never
October 14 - November 21, 2024
Artist talk and reception:
Thursday, October 29th, 10:30 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 132
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of All at Once and Never, an exhibition of works by multi-disciplinary artist Camilla Taylor. The exhibition includes intaglio prints, ceramic and mixed-media sculptures, and a quilt sewn by the artist using intaglio-printed fabric, all in Taylor’s unique achromatic style.
Printmaking, ceramics and quilting are methods of making that involve technical knowledge, multi-step processes and foresight. All of these fit Camilla Taylor’s artistic approach, which is characterized by careful planning and a deep understanding of her materials. Printmaking, in particular, is central to Taylor’s process. Printmaking is inherently about the creation of multiples, which lends itself to the artist’s interest in exploring themes through repetition.
Camilla Taylor grew up in a small community in Utah, which sparked her interest in scientific exploration in the world around her, particularly the delicate balance between nature and human intervention. These works are rooted in Taylor’s biological, psychological, and historical research. Taylor states, “I view artmaking as a method of investigation—an iterative process of taking in information, interpreting it through different media, and sharing it to foster dialogue. My work seeks to unravel the physical, symbolic, and cultural layers of our relationship with the natural world and ourselves.” The exhibition invites viewers to participate in a dialogue about our understanding of, and interaction with, the natural world.
Camilla Taylor earned their BFA from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and their MFA from California State University, Long Beach. With numerous exhibitions across the globe—including locations in California, Montana, New York, and Japan—they are currently represented by Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles. Taylor recently had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in Lancaster, CA. Camilla Taylor teaches at Occidental College and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). To learn more about Camilla Taylor, please visit: www.camillataylor.com
Holly Boruck & Fabia Panjarian
Visual Pleasures
August 26 - September 20, 2024
Conversation with the artists and reception:
Thursday, September 5th, 10:30 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 143
Feast your eyes on the lush paintings that adorn the walls of the Moorpark College Art Gallery in its current exhibition, Visual Pleasures. Los Angeles artists Holly Boruck and Fabia Panjarian play with the line between representational and abstract imagery as they explore the natural environment. Together, the works create a dialogue exploring formal compositional elements as well as themes of nature and pleasure. The paintings delight the viewer with vivid color, striking patterns, rhythm, harmony and the interplay of simple and complex shape. The works evoke the euphoria and awe of nature abloom. About her “Floral Abstracts” series, Boruck writes, “My goal is to create bold yet elegant work that evoke beauty, visual poetry and a sense of joy.” In her “Floral Series,” Panjarian “is interested in the dynamic interplay between what controls attention, the pleasures of the seductive, and the perception of acceleration or slowing down of time.” The Moorpark College Art Gallery invites you to visit the exhibition to experience these Visual Pleasures for yourself.
Holly Boruck lives and works in the Los Angeles area. She has an MFA in Painting from Cal State University Northridge and BFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. A common thread in her art making practice is a deep interest in the human psyche and earthly experiences. She is interested in asking questions about the nature of reality and feels a tender sensitivity toward the outcast, shunned and darker corners of who-we-are. She works in painting, drawing and sculpture, feeling most comfortable making work with her hands. Holly has won multiple awards and grants for her work and exhibits at local and international venues. She is an Adjunct Professor at Cal State University Northridge and is a faculty member at the Ryman Arts program. To learn more about Holly Boruck, please visit her website: www.HollyBoruck.com
Fabia Panjarian is a Los Angeles based artist. She has an MFA from Art Center College of Design and an MA in studio art from California State University, Northridge. Panjarian has had a solo exhibition at River Gallery, Los Angeles, as well as numerous group exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, and Portland. Panjarian is also a part-time Faculty member at the California State University, Northridge and Otis College of Art and Design. To learn more about Fabia Panjarian, please visit her website: www.fabiapanjarian.com
Annual Student Exhibition
May 9 - August 23, 2024
Reception:
Thursday, May 9th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Ana Medina-Whirledge
Leisure
March 4 - April 9, 2024
Artist talk and reception:
Tuesday, March 19th, 11 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
In her solo exhibition of paintings, Ana Medina-Whirledge focuses our attention on the small moments of everyday life. Working from photographs, she depicts subjects that are either unaware of or deliberately posing for the camera. We witness people dancing, children riding bikes, playing with toys, and sitting awkwardly near the Christmas tree. These paintings are not representations of idealized photographs taken with the intent of being posted online. Medina-Whirledge pushes back against social media’s promotion of the false narrative that every moment of life is perfect and perfectly exciting. She champions the recognition of the small, quiet and often mundane moments that are special in their own way.
Ana Medina-Whirledge was born in Florida and earned a BFA from Florida State University in Tallahassee. She then moved to Albuquerque and received her MFA with Distinction from the University of New Mexico. Since then, Medina-Whirledge has been the Artist in Residence at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and won the third-place grant for the William and Dorothy Yeck Painters Award juried by Franklin Sirmans of LACMA. Her work has been featured in central Los Angeles as part of the Billboard Creatives’ 2016 show and she most recently had a solo exhibition with Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles. Ana Medina-Whirledge is adjunct faculty at Moorpark College. To learn more about her, please visit her website https://www.anamedina.net/.
Rosalyn Myles
The Right Hand Knows What the Left Hand is Doing
January 29 - February 29, 2024
Join us for an artist talk and reception in the gallery:
Tuesday, February 6th, please arrive by 11:15 am, talk begins at 11:30 am
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Rosalyn Myles. With years of experience working in the film industry, both in front of and behind the camera, Ms. Myles is a storyteller at heart. In her artwork, she collects materials, whether paper, film, fabric, wood or discarded objects, all with a keen eye towards the combination of these elements as aspects of the narratives she creates. Within these works, Ms. Myles reflects on the past, while also commenting on current American culture. She states:
“As an African American I am aware of our past sacrifices and our contemporary struggles. These truths inform my work as well as my person. As an artist I am more interested in where we are heading now and how we, all of us, will continue to navigate the future.”
Rosalyn Myles was born in Los Angeles and earned a BA from Cal State Dominguez Hills with an emphasis in Theatre and an MFA from California College of the Arts with an emphasis in Film, Video and Performance. She has exhibited her work widely throughout Southern California including solo exhibits at the Contemporary Craft Museum in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Southwest College Art Gallery and the California African American Museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. To learn more about Rosalyn Myles, please visit her website https://www.rosalynmylesart.com/
Palmer Earl
The Goddess Reimagined
November 27, 2023 - January 16, 2024
Artist talk and reception:
Tuesday, December 5th, 11 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Los Angeles based artist Palmer Earl. In her series “The Goddess Reimagined,” Ms. Earl explores the mythology and power of the Goddess. In her large paintings, Earl masterfully uses acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, replicating the opulence and reverence that we typically associate with historical Christian altarpieces. In her smaller works on paper, Earl uses gouache and gold leaf, referencing the intricate beauty of Medieval illuminated manuscripts. In all of her works, Ms. Earl quietly subverts patriarchal history as she elevates the feminine into the realm of the divine. Decorative floral elements and ornate designs work in concert to glorify the female deity at the heart of these images.
Palmer Earl was born in New York City and earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has shown her work widely throughout New York and the greater Los Angeles area including at the Museum of Art and History: Cedar in Lancaster, the Torrance Art Museum, Gallery 825 in West Hollywood and Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert. To learn more about Palmer Earl, please visit her website www.palmerearl.com.
Elizabeth Coert Souza
Whispered Stories
October 19 - November 17, 2023
Artist talk and reception:
Thursday, November 9th, 11 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Elizabeth Coert Souza. Coert Souza is an artist whose work explores the stories of the Dutch Indonesian Diaspora of which she is a descendent. Utilizing both found and personal photographs along with a range of materials, Coert Souza addresses colonization, memory and the re-claiming of feminine power. The Whispered Stories exhibit includes oil and watercolor paintings, mixed media collages and handwoven tapestries. Coert Souza’s work reflects on a painful history while also creating new stories that seek to restore a sense of balance in her culture.
Elizabeth Coert Souza earned an AA from Ventura College, a BA from CSU ~ Channel Islands and a MFA from CSU ~ Northridge. She has exhibited her work widely throughout Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. She is currently a lecturer in the Art Departments at both CSUCI and CSUN. To learn more about Elizabeth Coert Souza, please visit her website www.elizabethcoertsouza.com.
John Galan
En Mis Sueńos (In My Dreams)
September 11 – October 13, 2023
Artist Reception:
September 21st, 2023, 6 – 7 pm
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Moorpark College alumni, John Galan. Stylistically, Galan’s work follows in the surrealist tradition of one of the most well-known and recognizable Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo. Conceptually, he pulls from his own experience as a Mexican-American, challenging bi-cultural and generational stigmas. In his figurative paintings, Galan often examines the relationship between our bodies and the food we eat. These depictions have the intent of promoting healing through natural remedies and familial rituals.
John Galan first studied at Moorpark College before transferring to California Lutheran University (CLU) to earn a Bachelor of Art in Fine Art in 2013. He later completed the Teacher Credential Program at CLU, and is currently on track to received his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership at CLU in 2024. Mr. Galan has been teaching fine art at Moorpark High School since Fall 2020, and in Spring 2023 became adjunct faculty at CLU. He has exhibited his work widely throughout Southern California and beyond, including public art projects at the Coachella Valley Music Festival and the Día De Muertos Festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. To learn more about John Galan, please visit his website https://www.johngalan.com/.
Annual Student Art Exhibition
May 4 - August 29, 2023
Opening Reception:
May 4th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Andrea Bersaglieri
between form and decay
March 6 - April 11, 2023
In-person artist talk and reception:
March 16th, 11:00 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Andrea Bersaglieri. In her beautifully rendered realistic drawings and paintings, Bersaglieri presents viewers with her close examinations of a range of natural elements including dirt clods, weeds, and dead birds. Her compositions often strip the subjects from their original place in the landscape and instead depicts them as formal objects to be studied. It is through these close observations that we are given the opportunity to see the world around us with fresh eyes and deeper levels of appreciation. Bersaglieri’s thoughtful look at nature questions the relationship and current thresholds between the urban and natural worlds.
Andrea Bersaglieri earned a BFA and MFA from California State University, Long Beach. She currently teaches Drawing and Painting at Cerritos College and CSU Long Beach. Her artwork has been exhibited widely throughout Southern California including solo exhibits at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, Flux Art Space in Long Beach, and Curve Line Space gallery in Los Angeles. She was the recipient of the Artist-Teacher Grant from the Davyd Whaley Foundation, and her work has been reviewed in Coagula Art Journal, Art and Cake, Artillery Magazine and Huffington Post. To learn more about Andrea Bersaglieri, please visit her website www.andreabersaglieri.com.
Kevin McCants
Reflected
January 30 - February 28, 2023
Artist talk and reception:
February 14th, 11:00 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Kevin McCants. “Reflected” will show works from five different series, all centered around the human form. Throughout his figurative work, McCants investigates the relationship between spaces; between interior and exterior, between what is seen and what is reflected. Viewers of his work will often see how two realms become superimposed on each other through a single pane of glass. Light and reflection are of upmost importance in this work, as transparent layers speak to the depth and complexity of the visual phenomenon of reflections and the metaphors they represent. Transparent cityscapes capture both the fashion displayed within storefronts in Los Angeles and New York, as well as the city life reflected in those windows. At times we see the artist himself as he photographs his subjects. Layers of texture, pattern, ornate fashions and accessories contrast against geometric architecture, text and signs of the city.
Kevin McCants earned an Associate’s Degree in Fashion Illustration from the Art Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. He is currently a member of the Oil Painters of America, the Los Angeles Art Association, the Burbank Art Association, the Pasadena Society of Artists and the Thousand Oaks Art Association. Mr. McCants has exhibited his work widely throughout Southern California including at the California African American Museum and the Santa Monica History Museum. He teaches drawing and painting for the city of Burbank as well as private lessons in Palos Verdes and Manhattan Beach. To learn more about Kevin McCants, please visit his website www.kevinmccantspaintings.com.
Joanne Julian
Selections 1978 - 2020
December 7, 2022 - January 25, 2023
Artist talk and reception:
January 19th, 11:00 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
In her mixed media drawings, Los Angeles native Joanne Julian deftly combines realistic natural elements with flowing abstractions of line, shape and color, giving viewers a glimpse of the energy and motion that surround her subjects. Julian’s travels and studies throughout Asia have clearly inspired a Zen like quality in her artwork, which is both dynamic and meditative. Julian taps into an otherworldly quality beyond what our eyes can see. This exhibition at Moorpark College will highlight key works from the past 42 years of Ms. Julian’s artistic practice.
Joanne Julian holds a BA and MA in sculpture and printmaking from CSU Northridge and an MFA from Otis Art Institute. For over three decades, she served in many roles at College of the Canyons in Valencia, including faculty, Chair of the Fine Arts Department, Dean of Fine Arts and Humanities, and Gallery Director. Ms. Julian has exhibited her work widely including exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Art Museum. To learn more about Joanne Julian, please visit her website www.joannejulian.com.
Jasmine Delgado
No Vacancy
October 20 - November 29, 2022
Artist talk and reception:
November 10th, 10:00 am
Applied Arts Building, Room 136
Ms. Delgado is an artist known for working in multiple media including ink, paper, fabric and collage to showcase the beauty and complexity of the evolving Los Angeles landscape. Ms. Delgado states:
“No Vacancy is a love letter to the people, landscape, architecture and visual signage that make up the San Fernando Valley. The work celebrates what is still there and memorializes what has since gone while illustrating the complexity of this ever-changing sub/urban landscape. It is an autobiographical celebration of the places that hold significance to my experiences as I navigate the region currently and at different points in my life.”
Jasmine Delgado is an Associate Professor of Art and Design at CSU Channel Islands. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from CSU Long Beach and an MFA in Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara. To learn more about Jasmine Delgado, please visit her website www.jasminedelgado.com.
Huelga! Photographs from the Frontlines By Jorge Corralejo
September 15 - October 15, 2022
Jorge Corralejo is a civil rights activist, photographer, philanthropist, and author. He fought tirelessly alongside labor leaders and political activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to establish suitable working conditions and fair treatment for farmworkers. Corralejo assisted with the recruitment and construction of Agbayani Village, a retirement community for elderly Filipino farmworkers in Delano, CA. For over 50 years, he has advocated for laborers everywhere by serving on community and business boards, to working with state and federal legislators.
“Huelga! Photographs from the Frontlines By Jorge Corralejo” was originally organized by the Museum of Ventura County and curated by Anna Bermudez with promotional support generously provided by Lazer Broadcasting.
Annual Student Art Exhibition
May 17 - August 29, 2022
MICHELE BENZAMIN-MIKI
Elevation
March 25 - April 27, 2022
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
In her mesmerizing works, Michele Benzamin-Miki combines her North American and Japanese heritage through the blending of realistic figure drawings in graphite with abstract Sumi ink brush painting. Benzamin-Miki describes her process:
“I use large calligraphic brushes with Sumi inks on paper. Each stroke involves meditation, a ‘point zero’ inner stillness before or as I am creating each piece. I want to make visible this inner world. The intention is to invite the viewer to access ‘a whole body state of being present, in the presence of the art.’ To see the art with the experience I had while I was painting. A transmission.
In traditional Japanese calligraphy, the negative space around the brush-stroke holds equal importance, to create space in the viewer’s mind. The brushwork is instantaneous, using One energetic stroke or One continuous brush stroke lifting on and off the paper. My brush movement inspired by decades of training and teaching Japanese sword forms, specifically Iaido. I either leave the work as is, or I add detailed figurative forms in pencil or other media to the brushwork.”
Michele Benzamin-Miki was born in San Diego to a family of artists. As a self-taught artist, she has built a career around healing and the arts. Benzamin-Miki has three decades of experience as a Zen teacher, working with artists, activists, businesses and prison inmates. She has also worked creatively in the commercial, graphic, performance and fine art fields. Highlights of her fine art exhibitions include solo exhibitions at the Los Angeles Art Association and Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art, as well as exhibiting her work at the Hammer Museum, the Brand Library Art Gallery and Studio Channel Islands Black Box Gallery. To learn more about Michele Benzamin-Miki and her work, please visit her website www.michelebenzaminmiki.com.
HASEF
Rise FAAMA
February 22 - March 21, 2022
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
In his exhibit, “Rise FAAMA” Los Angeles based artist, HASEF explores ideas, images, and representation surrounding blackness. Using video and photography in his research and travels, he creates drawings, paintings, and sculptures inspired by these images. “Faama” is the Mandinka word meaning father, leader, or king. In “Rise FAAMA,” HASEF entices viewers with a bright color palette as he depicts black males in everyday moments, pushing back against negative stereotypes.
HASEF earned a BA in Sociology and Art with a Minor in Physics and Black Studies from CSU Bakersfield, an Arts & Market Certificate from Sotheby’s Art Institute in London, and an MFA in Studio Art from Claremont Graduate University. He has exhibited his work extensively throughout Southern California, including a 2019 solo exhibition at Chimento Contemporary in Los Angeles. To learn more about HASEF and his work, please visit his website www.hasefart.com.
MARY NEVILLE
Evolution of Consciousness
November 8, 2021 - January 14, 2022
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
https://vcccd-edu.zoom.us/rec/share/gs78G0GaqEvEFIRA0cGCtm7M3OilkucJZCVqb1i4v4iy-PqzmkYSocXMIelXHssV.UQI2SSWKYUjki4tV?startTime=1637290963000
As a Southern California native, Mary Neville is inspired by the vivid colors and openness that the west coast is known for. While influenced by the beauty that surrounds her studio in Ojai, Neville approaches the canvas with the intent of expressing her physical and emotional response to personal and global events. Neville reflects, “Making art, and especially abstract art, gives me a voice and the freedom to be intuitive, gain self-awareness, have insights, and observe external perceptions without being literal but rather lyrical. My work continually evolves and every piece is a personal time stamp of emotional evolution.”
Neville holds a degree in merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and worked in the fashion, interior design and architecture industries for years before transitioning to working as a fine artist. Join us for her virtual artist talk where she will share her experiences, motivations, and process in making her beautiful mixed media abstractions.
CHUNG-PING CHENG
The Resonance of Lotus
September 30 - November 2, 2021
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
https://vcccd-edu.zoom.us/rec/share/UfO4mQ2zKx0QTdR_PiCE6-qTyFSOaSqzI3IoPgKme2twKqw0SdZ05r-YF48INyxL.5RkxPWTDvMbNsWrW?startTime=1634263317000
Chung-Ping Cheng is an artist that synthesizes aspects of her Chinese heritage with contemporary photography. Inspired by artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Diane Arbus, Cheng’s photographic practice includes color film, a medium format camera, and a focus on process, repetition and experimentation in the darkroom. The Resonance of Lotus exhibit at the Moorpark College Art Gallery includes works from three difference series; Love Lotus Essay, Refining Fire/Undescribed Variations and The Last Episode. Join us for Cheng’s virtual artist talk to learn more about how these projects depict different stages of her life and reflect experiences in Los Angeles, Taipei, Taiwan and Hangzhou, China.
https://www.chungpingchengphotography.com/
Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition
August 26 - September 28, 2021
The Moorpark College Art Gallery is pleased to present our first virtual Student Exhibition!
Click on the link below to view the 2021 Student Art Exhibition in ArtSteps:
https://www.artsteps.com/view/608af26b1d0275db94f21128
Artist Lecture Series Focusing on Diversity and Inclusion
During the first week of each month of the 2020-2021 academic year, we hosted virtual artist talks as part of our Artist Lecture Series Focusing on Diversity and Inclusion. Recordings of each talk are available below.
LINDA VALLEJO
Thursday, May 6th, 2021, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
https://cccconfer.zoom.us/rec/play/jGFD6mw_NcPO1hrngP2fHfpfUHo0AtQgnxdhQrq0BdmCYkp_W-gqeeu8ZT_aITzY-pb7CvAUyqRqpW7x.mu8SiaRd3G6PUIo0?continueMode=true
Super Hombre I
Acrylic, metal flake, repurposed plastic, 26 x 26 x 16 in., 2014
from the collection of Henry Muňoz
Linda Vallejo consolidates multiple, international influences gained from a life of study and travel throughout Europe, the United States and Mexico to create works that investigate contemporary cultural and political issues. Vallejo states:
“My formative years were spent in far flung locations throughout the United States and Europe. During my artistic grounding, I became increasingly immersed in the Chicano/Latino arts and indigenous communities – experiences that informed my cultural perspectives and my art practice. It has taken my entire artistic career to fuse an image that defines my multicultural experience of the world and my place in it.”
Vallejo’s Brown Belongings, (including her series Make ‘Em All Mexican, The Brown Dot Project, Datos Sagrados and Cultural Enigma) have been celebrated in solo exhibitions across the United States for the past decade.
LYDIA EMILY
Thursday, April 8, 2021, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
Lydia Emily is a Los Angeles based artist and multiple sclerosis advocate. After battling cancer in 2010, Lydia Emily was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012. Since then, multiple sclerosis has taken the sight from her left eye and muscle fatigue requires her to tie her paintbrush to her hand, yet Lydia Emily continues to make art. She is a spokesperson for the MS Society, sharing her struggles and message of hope while exhibiting her paintings and murals around the world.
PHUNG HUYNH
Thursday, March 4, 2021, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
Phung Huynh is a Los Angeles-based artist that explores ideas of cultural perception and representation in contemporary American society. Huynh speaks from her personal experience of immigrating to the United States:
“Becoming American cannot be painted in broad strokes. It is a personal experience that is complicated, messy, and certainly not easy. Understanding my family’s living history as refugees from both Vietnam and Cambodia and inspired by research and interviews with people with a shared history, I try to uncover the complex layers of cultural assimilation and forging new identities.”
Huynh’s drawings, painting and public art projects explore the range of the complexities within the refugee experience in Southeast Asian communities.
PATRICK EARL HAMMIE
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021, 6:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
https://cccconfer.zoom.us/rec/share/SANodUoebh9hAOHuQ4PKgAbbb13ZPy1cf5HugR93_cN3T9s4LiwZCfkVI7OkFf7g.x8UuZac_6U0ZT-s1
EVOLUTION (AND FLASHBACK) and E.H.Jr.
2016, oil on linen, 70 x 60 inches (177.8 x 152.4 cm) each
Patrick Earl Hammie is an artist who uses portraits and allegories to examine personal and shared Black experiences and present stories that expand our understanding of others. Hammie works primarily with themes related to cultural identity, storytelling, and the body in visual culture. His projects draw inspiration from Romanticism and Expressionism, mythology, pop culture, and modern media. The synthesis of these diverse expressions invites viewers to consider the tales we tell and how we express notions of self, community, and others today. Hammie is an Associate Professor and Chair of Studio Art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
RAIN LUCIEN MATHEKE
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, 7:00 pm
A note from Rain following the virtual lecture (link to recording below):
*trigger warning – aggressive, transphobic language.
There were two instances of individuals interrupting the lecture with hateful, transphobic language. I’ve requested that these be left in the archive because this helps to perfectly illustrate the aggression, intolerance, and violence that trans bodies live with on a daily basis, by simply existing. I think that it’s important to show that.
*I apologize for the poor sound quality on the videos. You may view most of the videos shared during the lecture, in full, here:
· Proper Hand Washing Techniques with Farrah Faucet (01:53), 2020.
· Dissociative Reach (02:38), 2019.
· Mirage – Angela Izzo and Rain Lucien Matheke (walk through/promo by Angela Izzo) (03:08), 2019
· Entropy in Neon (Cleanse) (01:00), 2020.
· Untiled Thoughts on Decay in Silence (Mirage) (13:13), 2019.
View the recorded Zoom lecture here:
Rain Lucien Matheke (she/they) is a self-described “queer, interdisciplinary, visual, and experimental sound artist living with a rare chronic illness, many plants, and a cat in Los Angeles.” Utilizing a wide range of materials, Rain explores ideas of identity in relation to gender and the body. Her artwork focuses particularly on the evolution of identity through illness, transition and magical practice. As she reflects on the dualities of permanence and decay and acceptance and control, we are given glimpses of Rain and her life through this deeply personal work.
MARK STEVEN GREENFIELD
Thursday, November 5th, 2020, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture:
"Consequences"
24" x 18," Gold Leaf and Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2018
Over the past twenty years, Mark Steven Greenfield has been focusing his artwork on representations of the African American experience. This exploration spans multiple series of works and utilizes a wide array of materials and approaches from traditional oil painting, to ink drawing on wood, to inkjet prints. Greenfield incorporates historical images like the Black Madonna, blackface minstrel actors, black cartoon characters, African American stereotypes and spiritual practices to create new images that speak to the contemporary African American experience. These investigations consider how images are formed within an individual and a society. Whether created as a personal, meditative practice of mark-making or an outward call for social justice, Mark Steven Greenfield’s work exemplifies the power of images.
NARSISO MARTINEZ
Wednesday, October 7th, 2020, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture:
"Philosophy in the Fields"
2016, Ink and Charcoal on Unfolded Produce Cardboard Boxes, 6' x 9'
Image courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery
Narsiso Martinez's artwork is inspired by his own life experience. Born in Mexico in 1977, Martinez moved to the US when he was 20. He later earned an AA from LA City College, and then BFA and MFA degrees from CSU – Long Beach. In his drawings, prints and installations, Martinez combines ink, charcoal, and paint on recycled produce boxes, depicting the day-to-day labor of American farmworkers. Pulling from his time working in the fields, Martinez describes his artwork as a place for him to “pay homage to the people who toil in the fields” and also “reflect upon the disparities of socioeconomic lifestyles, that of the farmworkers and agribusiness owners.” Narsiso Martinez is represented by Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles and lives in Long Beach, California.
"Premium Harvest" (side 2)
2017, Ink, Gouache, Charcoal, and Collage on Produce Cardboard Boxes, 70" x 65" x 19.5"
Image courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery
WENG SAN SIT
Tuesday, September 8th, 2020, 7:00 pm
View the recorded Zoom lecture at:
Weng San Sit is an artist that uses still and moving images to explore the rich complexity of human identity. In her figurative studies, San gives voice to the nuance of her subjects and their life experience, thus undermining the oversimplification of individuals down to a societal designation (whether it be race, size, gender, ability, age, economic status, etc.) Through several different projects, San makes images that create a space for the marginalized to be seen, heard and understood. Weng San Sit lives in Singapore and Los Angeles and is a professor in the Photography program at Moorpark College.