**ATTENTION**
SOME PIECES IN THIS EXHIBIT DISPLAY NUDITY
The order of the page is arranged in the way the art is arranged in the E.B White Art Gallery in the 700 building on El Dorado campus. The questions being asked were about inspiration for the piece. Photos by Cat Gonzales
Amanda Smith
Lantern Staff
Red, White and Blue Bot
Christopher Irvin
“My art is a direct reflection of the environment I exist in,” Christopher Irvin. “As a person of color who lives in America, I am continually confronted with the destructive and hypocritical nature of the cultural, political, and ideological environment that exists within it. In the piece titled Red White and Bluebot, I chose blue bottle flies, which are associated with death and decay, to symbolize the constant state of decomposition America is in due to its lack of true equality, inclusion, diversity, and truth. My use of the symbol of the American flag was to frame the context that the flies are being placed within. In addition, you cannot reference America culture, politics, and ideology without looking at it through a historical lens. To create the historical linkage, I encased the piece in an acrylic box and displayed it horizontally similar to how a historical object might be archived or put on displayed in a museum.
Even though I can explain what the piece represents for me, I am always hesitant to give any of my art a specific meaning or direct source of inspiration. Art is more about the context it is placed within as well as how the viewer interprets it. We all have a different set of relationships to the materials, imagery, and its context and that cannot be overlooked when discussing what the art is actually about.”
Alfredo Garcia
Lantern Staff
Impeachmints
Karen Wippich
“Trump and the never ending scandals surrounding him and his administration.”
Alfredo Garcia
Lantern Staff
Grenade Picnic and Unmanned
Ward Hilgers
“Unmanned” I had piece of watercolor printmaking I had made and I printed the fence/mesh on it. I felt while looking at the art like the fence part was keeping me out of something. I started to imagine what I would be lock out of and thought of McConnell AFB. That got me thinking of military aircraft and unmanned aircraft.”