Art Gallery Celebrates Former Students With Multidisciplinary Exhibition

The LAVC Art Gallery puts on multiple shows each semester, spotlighting different aspects of art at Valley.

By: Kaia Mann, Editor-in-chief

Valley graduate Brian Ramirez's ceramic piece "Impregnation of Coatlicue" stands tall in the Art Gallery. (Melvin Garcia and Zuhri Taylor for The Valley Star)

Six former Valley art students returned to their roots and showcased their artistic evolution in the LAVC Art Gallery’s Art Department Alumni Exhibition, highlighting their work and journey as artists.

Dozens of alumni, students and faculty filled the gallery housed within the Art building, viewing pieces by Brianna Aguilera, Wanda Bryant, Jillian Frederick, Laura Molano (Filosa Bariolé), Brian Ramirez and Jessica Till. The exhibition, which runs through April 18, features an array of sculptural works, collages, ceramics and immersive projector installations.

”Being here is really nostalgic,” said Jillian Frederick, who graduated from Valley as an art major over 10 years ago. “It's so wonderful to see all of the other alumni’s work and see that they are still creating as well. I spent a lot of time here in this department and this gallery itself.”  

Jenene Nagy, drawing and painting professor and gallery director, curates multiple exhibitions each semester. She described the selection process for this current show as an “open call,” allowing Valley alumni to submit work for consideration. In addition to open submissions, Nagy sought specific recommendations from her colleagues to identify notable past students.

“What I was looking for was people who had a compelling trajectory or an interesting story about how Valley fit into their career path,” said Nagy. “So, people who have come back to school after a different career or who came to Valley for personal interest and then became invested in art in a different way.”

The gallery was adorned with the ceramic and installation work of Brian Ramirez, a Valley alum who has since returned as an adjunct ceramics professor. His pieces draw inspiration from his Mexican and Salvadoran heritage, interwoven with the rich imagery and symbolism of Aztec and Mayan cultures.

Near the front of the gallery, Ramirez’s altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe and Coatlicue, the Aztec mother goddess, stood polished and tall. “The Two Virgins,” along with all of Ramirez’s ceramic works, explores the lasting effects of colonialism while blending both traditional and contemporary techniques.

“I always, even early on when I would make ceramic pieces in Katie (Queen)’s class here, I always embody them with some sort of meaning whether it would be subtle, subliminal or completely up in front and really showing it,” Ramirez said. 

Across the gallery, Wanda Bryant’s sculptural series “Rattlin’ Bog” bursts with vibrant and organic energy. Inspired by the Irish folk song of the same name, her work juxtaposes the synthetic brightness of commercial fabrics with the raw textures of wood and bark. Bryant attended Valley after retiring as an ethnomusicology professor. She credits Valley's faculty for giving her a start in the art world and allowing her to explore a side of herself she had never ventured into before.

“Valley didn't just shape my career, it started my career,” said Bryant. 

Jillian Frederick, whose collage work blends watercolor, acrylic and paper cutouts, took a different path. A Valley student from 2011 to 2014, she later became an applied behavioral analyst but never abandoned her artistic practice. The series she displayed was created during the pandemic and focuses on constructing a distinct frame that then breaks beyond its boundaries. 

“I'm not sure why I cut out what I cut out sometimes,” she said. “It's just creating these shapes and cutting out what interests me the most. I usually make the piece and then find out what it means afterward.” 

On March 20, a panel discussion will bring together all the artists from the alumni show to reflect on their work and artistic journeys. Later in the semester, the gallery will host its final exhibition, the Annual Art Student Invitational, running from May 19-30. This showcase will highlight works by current students that are handpicked by their professors. All exhibitions at the Art Gallery are free and open to the public.