By Juan Saucedo
Published: October 14, 2009

By Juan Saucedo
Daily Titan Staff Writer

Eight pieces of art encompassing a wide range of eclectic styles hang in the Center Gallery at the Titan Student Union for all to see, analyze and experience as a part of the Graphic Services’ annual Student Art Show.

“It’s just an art show that’s open to students and that we do every fall,” said Greg Hansen, manager of Graphic Services at the TSU. “We’ve been doing this since 1992.”

Hansen, who has worked at the TSU for 10 years, said the art show is a competition that any graduate or undergraduate student can enter regardless of their major.

It also provides them with a chance to display their art in the TSU gallery for a month.

He said the art has been on display for about one week and that he has noticed about 600 students stopping at the gallery for a glance at the pieces.

The artwork being exhibited include newer styles such as digital paintings and alternative process photography as well as traditional forms like acrylic and oil on panel paintings.

“There’s not really a theme to this show. There’s only a size limitation,” Hansen said, adding that each 2-D art piece needed to be 24 by 36 inches in size and 3-D artwork needed to be 12 by 12 by 24 inches.

Although Hansen noticed a drop in participation this fall, six students participated in this year’s competition, which allows a maximum of two entries per participant.

The competition also included cash prizes. The first place winner received $200, second place $125 and third place $75.

Participants can also choose to submit their art in the TSU’s art acquisition competition.

The art acquisition committee selects pieces to be purchased for the TSU’s private art collection, according to a flyer.

Hansen said his personal favorite is Charlie Nguyen’s surreal piece “Untitled,” which portrays a feathered octopus catching terrified birds attempting to fly away.

“Untitled” placed third in the competition and was made of gouache, pen and ink.

Gayle Warfield, who placed first for her alternative process photograph titled “The Room,” said she was delighted with finishing first in the competition.

“The art show is kind of like a breath of fresh air because it allows me to display a piece that would’ve gone unseen,” she said.

Warfield’s photograph is on color paper, and it depicts a woman who’s cramped in a compartment that resembles a kitchen cabinet.

She said that it had an “Alice in Wonderland” concept to it.

The subject is supposed to represent Alice when she’s growing and everything else is shrinking around her, so the subject ultimately becomes cramped in a small space.

“Alternative process requires a liquid light,” she said, adding that the process takes place in the darkest part of a darkroom. “It’s similar to traditional photography, but it takes more time and it’s more contrasted.”

Warfield, a senior majoring in graphic design, also entered an acrylic piece, “Luke,” that depicts one of her male friends wearing a sweater and holding a cigarette in his mouth.

She said she had taken a picture of her friend four years ago and always wanted to make it into a painting.

Mikaela Espino, who finished second for her digital painting entitled “Mama,” said she was humbled by the fact that she placed so high in the competition.

Espino’s piece depicts the face of her grandmother, an elderly Filipino woman, in front of a white background.

“I really love my grandma, so I really wanted to do a portrait of her,” she said, adding that the portrait took her eight hours to make. “I used a program called Corel Painter, which simulates your painting on canvas without actually painting.”

Espino, a senior majoring in graphic design and illustration, said the painting is part of a collection of 10 pieces that were on display at the Exit Gallery on the CSUF campus.

Other pieces that were part of the art show included Ingrid Marrero’s oil on panel paintings, “Beach” and “Brickell Boy,” Rabiya Chaudry’s micro pen piece titled “Thirty Squared” and Andrea H. Ruygt’s graphite, acrylic painting, “Father’s Time.”

These pieces will be on display at the TSU Center Gallery and Plaza Center through Oct. 30.

Warfield said that one of the best things about the art show is that she got the chance to share her art with her peers and friends such as Espino, who she has known for three years.

She added that she hopes everyone enjoyed the exhibit and if they are artists themselves, that they will join the show next year.