Participating Artists: Valerie Abe - Monica Alfaro - Josh Alley - Trevor Amery - Jenny Armer - Juana Baca - Fernanda Baltodano - Mike Bradbury - David Brooks - Leonardo Cerutti - Doudou Chen - Mary (Lee) Connolly - Renee Corwin - Anna Covici - Eva D'Amico - Sue Dawe - Anna Delgado - Paul Detwiler - Zubeda Dhada - Yvette Dibos - Masha Evpak - Caity Fares - Christopher Ferreria - Ramón Fonseca - Sarah Garcia - Siobhan Gazur - Johanna Gleason - Sofia Gonzalez - Will Hare - Wesleigh Harrison - Misty Hawkins - Jill Hollingsworth - Terri Hughes-Oelrich - Wayne Hulgin - Lisa Hutton - Justin Janger - Jeff Kahn - Wendell Kling - Pamela Kozminska - Kristin Krogh - Aleya Lanteigne - Shane Ledbetter - Sam Lee - Laura Mathis - Jessica McCambly - Mesa Architecture Department - Nicole Michals - Alessandra Moctezuma - Omar E. Montano - Debbie Moore - Fariba Moradgholi - Laura Pecenco - Sfona Pelah - Amertah Perman - David Pirl - Jacqueline Ramirez - Mariette Rattner - Jason Reimer - Lily Robinson -robyko - Nina Rosenstand – Saki - Tessie Salcido Whitmore - Linda Seamans - Leslie Seiger - Sage Serrano - Barbara Sexton - Mindy Sloan - Jennifer Vargas - Beth Weeks - Alfred Williams

San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery invites you to Connecting the Dots, the last exhibit of our Spring 2022 semester. This district-wide faculty and staff exhibition seeks to reconnect our creative community through the power of art. 72 established and emerging artists from the San Diego Community College District (Mesa, City, Miramar, Continuing Education and the District Office) present artworks in a variety of media and themes. A call for artists was sent out, inviting creatives from all of our campuses to participate. Wendy Wilson-Gibson, curator and director of the Bonita Museum, helped jury the submissions. It was exciting to see the response from the many practicing and aspiring artists working in different departments throughout our district. Faculty from all of the colleges’ fine art departments are also represented. 

The varied artworks in the exhibition run the gamut, from formal portraits to topical explorations. The vivid surrealism of Wesleigh Harrison’s (Mesa) Stardust and Saki’s (Mesa) Cuckoobird and the Sands of Time reveal themes of displacement and internal turmoil. Orchids bloom around a faceless astronaut. The positive associations of flowers belie more than an aesthetic choice for Harrison, they offer symbolic healing: as time ticks on, hope breaks through the barrier of isolation. In Saki’s dreamlike installation, vintage clocks bespeckle giant black wings that span the center of the gallery. The artist addresses parental absence by referencing the cuckoo bird. Despite being raised in foster nests, the offspring retain species-specific behavior. A young man adorned in finery traverses the desert, seeking to “peel back the layers—the masks imposed onto him by other flock members,” Saki writes. He is “defined by his desire to understand himself.”
 

In other pieces, shape, weight and materials suggest depth and complexity. Aleya Lanteigne (Continuing Education) utilizes the structural frame of Victorian underskirts in her sculpture Hang Me By My Crinolette, to simulate the restrictiveness of society’s ideals and its control over women. Curved shadows projected onto the wall resemble a cage, alluding to the pandemic’s social confinement and constrictive weight that we all feel eager to unhook and disrobe from. Linking ancient pictographs with modern-day emojis, Anna Delgado’s (City) Manos y Manos uses stylized shapes and terracotta clay to illustrate the timelessness of our desire for expression and communication with one another. In Amertah Perman’s (District Office) Flowers, the fragility and overt romantic connotations of flower vases are subverted through the use of repurposed floral bed sheets. Hand-stitched and stuffed into soft huggable objects, the installation evokes the tenderness of childhood nostalgia that delights the weary self.

Through the lens of photography and portraiture, artists capture an intimate reflection of our humanity. Inspired by the artistry of Gustav Klimt, Josh Alley’s (Miramar) Portrait of Jamie uses intricate designs derived from nature and bold geometric shapes to embellish a hyper-realistic painting of his wife. Prompted by the loss of a loved one, Jason Reimer’s (City) 197_ shares a deeply personal narrative through the collection of photographs and transparencies. In an aged and wire-bound album, he turns the momentary memorable.

Highlighted here are just a few of the artworks in this exciting display. As we reflect on the difficult moments of the past two years, we acknowledge how important it is to come together to share our perspectives on life in this new normal and the possibilities of hope that persist within us all. We are thrilled to welcome everyone to our beautiful gallery space in celebration of these SDCCD artists. Join us for the reception of Connecting the Dots on Thursday, May 5, from 4 - 7 p.m.