By Laura Barron-Lopez
For the Daily Titan

Cal State Fullerton ceramics students were given the opportunity to have one of their works of art displayed at this year’s Clay 2009 Student Exhibition.

Vanessa Collins' Mermaid was one of the pieces at the Ceramic Showcase in the Visual Arts Art gallery. Photo by Shruti Patel/Daily Titan Photo Editor

“The curriculum in the class and the pieces students do is based on how we respond to social, political, environmental and human nature issues,” said professor Nobuhito Nishigawara. The exhibit of sculpted ceramics will be on display this week in the CSUF West Art Gallery, Room VA 198, and will end Friday afternoon.

Twenty-five of Nishigawara’s students’ pieces were displayed, and each piece differs significantly. Each piece portrays an issue chosen by the artist.

“Tension,” the title of a piece by Kimberley Jensen a fourth year ceramics major, depicts a jagged tight chain link sculpted with rough, raw edges and was displayed effectively by having each end of the chain attached to adjacent walls.

“I wanted to find a way to change not only my perception of ceramics but other peoples as well. When you hear the term ceramics many think pottery but that isn’t always what ceramics is,” Jensen said, describing the motivation behind her art.

Jensen added that she titled her work “Tension” due to the tension she gets from college, work and other life challenges. The message of tension is clearly communicated through her art. The idea of being spread thin just as the way the chain is connected tightly to each wall with no relaxation in its suspension.

Furthermore, the idea of sex and violence in modern day culture was expressed in the exhibit through the work of Eric Clausen, a fourth year ceramics and sculpture major.

“You could say it’s a juxtaposition. Being nude in a sculpture was originally seen as heroic but today it isn’t seen that way at all,” said Clausen.

The issue of plastic surgery and self-image was addressed by Annie Nguyen’s piece titled “Synthetic Beauty.” Nguyen’s goal is to show that the idea that natural beauty is taken for granted and that in today’s culture, many people see things as distorted and seek ways to change themselves as a result.

Sharon Jeon, a sixth year ceramics major, described her artwork as an “identity piece.”

“I’m Korean American and I can’t concern myself completely with being American or completely with being Korean so this piece represents that struggle of finding a bridge between those two gaps,” Jeon said.

Jeon’s sculpture depicts a curvaceous woman with half her face torn away and pieces missing throughout her body. The missing pieces from the body represent the pieces Jeon is missing in her heritage and the balance she is trying to find in her heritage and identity.

On Wednesday from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., the students will be serving hot chocolate to provide some relief from the cold, as well as selling hand-made ceramic coffee cups as a fundraiser.

“Ceramics is a 3-D art form,” said Nishigawara. “If you stop by Wednesday you can purchase your own 3-D art and ceramic cup.”