I am an illustrator and printmaker from Ventura County that explores the depth and richness of human experience through visual storytelling. Whimsical imagery, an expressive use of line, and mysterious narrative scenes give rise to the unspeakable inner world of humans. Influenced by music and flow, I capture personal experiences and feelings that otherwise cannot be said in words. The strange worlds, creatures, and people that I illustrate visually express my fascination with psychology and serve as an invitation to ponder inwardly.

I have always loved drawing, to bring my imagination to life, to give my thoughts tangibility. I find myself usually creating animals and characters, pushing me to research into biology, mythology, and even history. Eventually leading me to look into my own culture for my own art motifs. It is difficult for me to communicate my ideas through words and instead found it easier to share my ideas through imagery. Art is what allows me to express the things I enjoy and to better connect the culture my parents grew up in.

I believe that being connected to your soul is one of the most important and beautiful things you can experience as a human being. Creating content and creating art is one of the biggest ways that I can get connected to my soul, and myself as an individual. Without it, I’m not sure who or where I would be today. When I begin to create, I become a compassionate witness to myself, and relinquish all the rules that disrupt my creative process, and suddenly art becomes my sweet escape.

I often describe myself as a graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer, however I feel as if I am still on the path on discovering my true artistic label. My style as an artist varies depending on how I’m feeling and what I’m experiencing in life and as an individual. I interchange between dark and light themes. As an artist, I’d like to take comfort in the fact that my style is fluid, and not fixed. Unique, self-reflective, and experimental. When it comes to graphic design, my work tends to be more playful and lighter in nature. However, my work is darker and more personal in my illustration and photography work. Important inspirations include my personal experiences, existential thoughts, and people that I encounter in life. Other notable inspirations come from graphic design, photography, sociology, music, film, other illustrators, and from contemporary art.

Jessika Colón is from South Gate California and is a senior student attending California Studies University Channel Islands (CSUCI). She currently majors in studio art and is minoring in both art history and sociology. She is an aspiring graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer and is currently working with CSUCl’s Broome Library as Multimedia Development Student Assistant. She hopes to someday change the world with her artwork.

Art has always been the one thing in my life that is always there for me, and I think that’s why I love to create. I make art, and no matter how hard I am on myself, I know what I do is art. I do it by using endless resourcefulness with hopes it will inspire and reach the right people and that it will influence them to do the same. I am still trying to discover myself, and to understand the many characteristics of what it takes to be an artist, and in doing so, I find myself facing several roadblocks. At times where there are no ideas flowing in and out, or even times when there are absolutely no ideas anywhere near my vicinity for that matter, I often look for inspiration from the Expressionist period as well as ‘60s Pop Art. I started taking interest in these artistic time periods when I first learned about them my junior year of high school. Since then, these styles have always been where I turn to in times of artistic need.

These two art periods consistently present me with ideas when it comes to the art I both create and would like to create in the future. Pulling elements I admire the most in the Expressionist and Pop Art time period and making them a part of my artistic processes have taken my work to another level.

My work has never fit into a box. I tend to express myself through multiple creative outlets, from drawing to painting, digital illustration to collage work. Vibrant colors have always excited me, but I also adore the simple techniques of Minimalism. Due to the pressures of the expectation that artists must showcase technique or impress an audience with technical prowess, I find that I am always inspired by minimalism but motivated to do so much.

How I view the world that is constantly changing has driven me to create art. To me the world is always going through the cycles of hurting and healing, and this really pushes me to make work so that maybe, one day, I can inspire others to have the courage to create art. I lay the groundwork now so that in the future I can inspire, create a community, and lift each other up as artists.

Imagine being able to show other people what you see and what’s going on in your head–-it’s not as easy as it sounds but that’s the interesting thing about it. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I am creating my art. I use film, photography, and graphic design to express these ideas–to show others how I perceive the world.

I enjoy photography because I can put together a vast amount of ideas in one single image. What I see and what I feel can be recorded through a lens and the press of a button (of course it’s more complicated than that). I rely on film to show people the different stories and ideas that come to my mind. These stories aren’t reality but that’s what’s intriguing about it–you can shape and create these characters as well as the life they take. Through them and the environment around them, I’m able to show what I am thinking about as well as the message behind them.

There’s something that interests me about dark, dramatic tones. I enjoy adding symbolism and detail to my work. Art styles that I get inspiration from include Surrealism, Expressionism, and Romanticism. I try to put aspects of those three art styles together in the work that I do. Although depending on the work, I also tend to prefer to show life as is, just like street photography.

Though the art process is something I enjoy doing, for the most part, the results will always be what I enjoy the most. My goal is to create art that people can relate to and I think all the time and effort into making art will be worth it if I can get a reaction out of some people. I have many interests in life but one thing I can say for sure is that my biggest interest is being able to share my world and my art the way I see it through my eyes.

I create multi-figurative narrative paintings, often derived from my personal experiences to celebrate and critique certain behaviors, beliefs, and obsessions associated with middle-class society, witnessed in my own life or portrayed on film, television, and social media. Typically set in familiar domestic environments, I seek to elevate my subjects’ mundane status by constructing fantastical scenes, creating humorous and clichéd situations; rendered with a copious amount of detail. I’m interested in conveying the disparities between the main subjects’ dull reality and their escapist interests by juxtaposing the literal world with a dream-like representation of their obsessions.

Depicting idiosyncratic items and occurrences is an exciting part of my process, as they create micro narratives that give viewers the opportunity to discover subtleties and reinterpret the ostensible story. I take moments from my personal life that are common, iconic experiences and integrate broad social commentary in hopes that my viewers will see how people are connected by shared obsessions while living as distinct individuals. My goal is to shift one’s perception of the ordinary, to look more critically at it and notice what is amusing and absurd in the banality of life.

Chiemi Powell originates from a small rural town named Hāna on the island of Maui. Growing around a tight-knit community, isolated from the hustle and bustle of urbanization, Chiemi cultivated the appreciation of each individual. Compared to the cities that encourage metropolitan mentality and cutthroat competition, the Hana community teaches its people to care for one another beyond the scope of surface level interactions. Creating art that utilizes various techniques and exploring different styles allows Chiemi to interact and cherish the relationships that she nurtured over the years. Her art focuses on the most important aspects of her life.

Creating art isn’t about what medium is being used-it’s about the thought and creativity behind it. I have always fallen back on art in times of joy as well as during times of distress. I gather a lot of my inspiration from my own experiences and memories. Within those moments I feel is such a richness that one can tap into creatively.
At the brining of my undergrad I think my “artist process” was working from a point of view outside of myself. During these past 4 years and working with different mediums from Clay to graphics I think my creative process has changed to be more internally centered.

My work in Untitled, explores more darker themes and working through them to get a place of hope. I believe as long as you have hope you can work through anything.

 
Tyler Ratzlaff is a senior art student at California State University, Channel Islands.

Besides being a art major, he also is finishing a minor degree in business. He is a aspiring graphic designer and illustrator. Currently Tyler is working as a graphic designer at California State University, Channel Islands.

My name is Elisa Torres. I’m a chicana mural artist graduating with my BA in studio art from CSUCI. I make stylized visual art as a form of communication in public places. My works are about my environment, and mostly focus on process and reality. They can range from local places in Ventura County to Southern California. I create Large paintings that bring the community to a sense of benevolence, and connectivity. My work reflects the reality and struggle of the diverse migrant, and indigenous first generation communities of the US.

I start digitally by using programs like: Adobe Illustrator, Indesign and Photoshop, then continue working on large or small surfaces in a more traditional style. I am fond of using mixed media in order to construct my work from idea to implementation. I have worked on murals individually as well as in large groups. One of my goals, once graduated, is to work within different communities to create public art that holds strong cultural representation while visually collaborating to create, as well as developing a body of work to showcase throughout the world.

Elisa Torres was born in Ventura County, California. After studying videography in High School she decided to pursue her passion in traditional painting. Inspired by her surroundings of So-Cal paradise and impacts of agriculture, she depicts daily life through public murals. Elisa is inspired by traditional art and digital programs to create benevolent work. As an upcoming CSUCI graduate, she strongly believes in the power of images in public settings. In the future she hopes to create a radical safe place that emphasizes storytelling through images and art.