What encouraged you or pushed you to have an exhibit at the Third Floor Gallery?
I had a body of older work that had been sitting in storage and I wanted an opportunity to show and hopefully sell some. I wanted to have a really fun, vibrant show to start off my final semester at Chico.
What has this exhibit’s exposure done for you?
I have been able to sell a handful of pieces, but the show also opened up conversations about awkwardness, discomfort, and “otherness” that I’ve been able to have with people viewing the show. It has also been great for me to just reflect on this 2 year old body of work and see how I’ve grown but also where I have remained the same.
What is the theme of this gallery/ why was the name you chose decided on?
These paintings were based on my own feelings of awkwardness and weirdness, and I was trying to cope with and celebrate these inherent qualities within myself through painting. I embraced calling these awkward figures in my paintings “freaks. ” Freaks are cool, I love weird people, and I also wanted to sell work. So that’s how I settled on “Freaks, For Sale.”
Which pieces are your favorite/ or what you're most proud of?
Sweetie Pie is my favorite painting of this group, and she has lingered with me for quite a while after painting it. She’s a self portrait, and is probably the most accurate depiction of creepiness and sincerity I have been able to capture in a painting.
Would you recommend/ have another exhibit in the gallery?
Working with the BMU gallery has been a super easy and accessible process for me, and I would totally recommend it for other students looking to display their work somehow.
I am a Chico state senior and BFA painter from Yuba City, California. In my work, I explore themes of discomfort and the grotesque. I have exhibited in various group and solo shows through the Sutter Theater for the Arts, Four Fourteen Gallery, Yuba Sutter Arts and Culter, and Chico State. Along with painting, I have enjoyed learning skills within printmaking and drawing.
