by Aaron Kiel
Staff Writer
Furnished with cracked cement floors, weathered beams and empty walls, the Baum Building basement will be brought to life with creativity for the senior thesis art exhibit, “Elements of a Passing Vision,” beginning tonight with a reception from 5-10 p.m.
Seniors Yasu Nagasawa, Michael Arbogast, Jeff Nicoll, Ian Scali and Lisa Scott will present their senior projects with a reception and exhibit in the old warehouse, which previously was a fruit packing plant, on the corner of First and E streets.
Scott is excited about having the show in the Baum Building.
“I think it’s great. We came as a group and decided not to have it in the ‘circus tents.’ We wanted to have a professional show,” she said.
Nagasawa will display six or more works of art, including sculptures, drawings and an installation piece which will highlight water and bubbles. The rest will be kept a secret until he unveils it this evening.
“It’s kind of another reality,” said Nagasawa of his work.
Upon graduation Nagasawa plans to stay in the United States instead of returning to his homeland Japan.
Scali, on the other hand, is thinking of graduate school and different areas of design.
“It’s been an interesting experience,” Scali said.
But he feels that the experience is worth the hard work.
“I guess it’s only work if you don’t like what you’re doing and I like what I’m doing,” he said.
Like Nagasawa, Scali will feature sculptures and an installation piece.
“All my pieces have an underlying theme of technology and how it relates to the world,” said Scali.
Also relating art to the world, Scott will present photographs of migrant field workers with text superimposed.
“People don’t realize that things like that are going on and that they are still working in the fields picking strawberries in the hot sun,” Scott said.
Hopeful that students will understand the meaning of her art, Scott will have a printed interpretation to accompany the photos.
“I hope that people get it. That’s one of the problems at La Verne, that they [students] don’t get it,” said Scott.
Although currently debating between graduate school and working, Scott says she will probably pursue a career in public art administration.
Arbogast, who is also unsure of his future, says, “I think I’ll continue doing the same thing – just making photographs – and I’m sure I’ll paint.”
His paintings deal with deaths in his family and his place in the world.
“A lot of it was just going through the emotions and pushing the paint while enjoying going through the process of creating something,” he said.
Arbogast admits that painting is “a whole new world” to him and that photography is his emphasis.
“The main reason I wanted a painting exhibit is that I’m content with the paintings of the death of my family,” he said.
“I’ve learned a lot in just sorting out my feelings and translating those into a canvas,” he said. “I really have a good way of expressing myself. I have a good connection to get to those emotions.”
The five students decided to call. the show “Elements of a Passing Vision” because their work will only be available to the campus community for a short time.
“All of our work is shown for a brief period of time so we wanted to come up with a title that expressed that,” said Scali.
The exhibit will be open for viewing through May 28.
Aaron Kiel
