Fonda Yoshimoto

On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, the CSULB Potter's Guild presented artist and guest speaker Fonda Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto presented a slide show and a few videos of her work and spoke on how she was inspired to create her art.


She said, " I am interested in finding the moments where private and public life intersect, where the lines between what is individual and what is universal become blurred. I focus on tragic events, quiet moments, illness, beauty and attachment. Cultural history is transferred and recreated through language recorded in words, material, and our bodies. I aim to investigate and share my experience through creating artifacts and focusing on material as life cycle."

One of my favorite pieces was based on a series of installations she did based on a near death incident. The piece was completed in 2009 and titled, "Collision". In this piece, a mother and young child reside in a small home at the bottom of a large hill. One day, a very large boulder threatens their lives as it rolls down the hill and smashes into the small home, where the mother and daughter survive.

As shown in "One More to Chase Away the Night", (photo shown below), the home of the mother and daughter has been recreated by Yoshimoto with missing window panes and scars built into the home. She illuminates the haggard home with lights to keep away the impending doom of darkness. I admire the single night stand left near the home, that one extra light to keep away the dark. In positioning the night light in such a way near the instillation, that it creates the large brooding hill in the corner from whence the boulder rolled down.

"One More to Chase Away the Night"
Photo taken by Fonda Yoshimoto

"Her pieces are so strong, meaningful and thought provoking" said student Nancy Rodriguez. "One can really connect with her work and the message she displays through it."


Yoshimoto went on to say, "When people view my work, I want to use the pain and beauty in my heart to swell up in people. I want them to connect to these experiences and not only see them, but to feel them."

Artist Fonda Yoshimoto
Photo by Valerie Graham

Yoshimoto's work definitely leaves the viewer with a great resonance after experiencing all of the emotion she puts into her artwork.


Fonda can be contacted by email: fmyoshimoto@gmail.com

The Forgotten Faces

Photos by Valerie Graham

Kevin O' Grady's exhibit, The Forgotten Faces, was one of my favorite art shows on campus so far. He had paintings and sketches as well as a self portrait covering every surface except for the ceiling and floor.


He stated that, "My Master of Fine Art's thesis exhibition is a collection of mixed media watercolor painting that stem from my interest in the human expression."





Counter to the traditional notions of portraiture, the body of work in Kevin's pictures exemplifies anonymity and ambiguous states of feeling. The faces are painted rather large, which portrays a commanding presence over the viewer. The sources for the Forgotten Faces were inspired by a variety of print media, and Kevin's preliminary creative processes to just be creative and make up his own characters and personas.


"I used a very powerful calligraphic line in each piece as it was essential to the character in each one of my paintings" said O'Grady.








Kevin said, "I just wanted each face to have the potential to express an array of feelings. Their Expressions range froem self-assured, restrained, disbelieving, numb, aware, stunned, amused, quiet and disturbed. I hope that viewers take the time to notice subtle facial expressions and realize that this is essential to an engaging understandance of the exhibit."

Self-Portrait by Kevin O'Grady
Photo by Valerie Graham

Lock it Up

Locker art work (shown above) by Matt Gazmen, Photos by Valerie Graham

The lockers in the Art Department of building FA4 are not ordinary lockers. The heavy smell of spray paint and creativity meet you at the door of the building before you even enter the locker room.

The art department locker room is covered in every spray painted picture and scrawled out witty saying or quote imaginable.

You cannot find one clean surface in the locker room because the windows, doors, ceilings, lights, lockers and windows have all been covered in spray painted art.

“It’s not too hard to find your locker” says senior Art major Alexandra Iskander. “I sort of find mine by counting or remembering what’s painted on or near it.”

Art Major Matt Gazmen said, “It’s more just for fun to paint the locker room. This space and every surface in here is an open canvas. And the teachers and administrators don’t care….well, they do care, but I’m sure they just look the other way.”

(All photos by Valerie Graham)