Realization, CSUN Arts Alumni

August 27 to September 15, 2022

Juried by: Leonardo Bravo

Realization

It was a treat to see the range of works submitted for the annual CSUN Alumni exhibition. I was
immediately drawn to the variety of works and media that the artists used and identified a few
aesthetic and conceptual patterns that began to emerge.

First it’s apparent that there’s a great level of work that expresses the joy of color, a profound luminosity that comes through that helps to create images and scenes of high vibrancy and energy. Many of the artists using a heightened palette of colors attempt to create scenes and moments that transcend the everyday, perhaps suggesting through color states of experience that can uplift and transform.

The other aesthetic approach that I was drawn to is the use of materiality with primarily sculptural and three dimensional works, and the ability for these artists to suggest a physical and visceral sensibility to the way in which the materials are shaped, bent, cast, polished, collaged, and stacked. There is certainly a high level of awareness of the tensions that are being created in all the works selected, either two dimensional or three dimensional works, that suggest an attempt to convey the many tensions apparent in the last few years within our social, personal, and collective realms.

- Leonardo Bravo