DEPORTING GUADALUPE – The Virgin Mary is chained and transported in “Idols have no power” in Ernesto Bogarin’s exhibit “Al Dois No Conocido” in the SWC Student Art Gallery. PHOTO BY Kenslow Smith
Trash was not always trash. Today’s discards were yesterday’s treasures. A brilliant art show gave garbage a second chance to shine.
Student artist Ernesto Bogarin sacrificed his time to bring SWC students the gift of beauty, humor and faith in the form of sculptures, paintings and poems with “Al Dois No Conocido” (Offerings to an Unknown God) in the SWC Student Art Gallery. Discarded pieces of trash were transformed into pieces of artwork, displayed like treasure to be caressed. Interfusions of clay, metal and twine, produced by the hands of Bogarin, brought life to the lifeless, form to the formless and meaning to the dismissed. Each sculpture was bathed in bright acrylic paints and soaked in allure, cleansed of imperfections.
Bogarin’s sculpture “Despues de la selfie” (After Selfie) depicted a Mayan woman made of clay and acrylic paints, standing in a garment of bold greens, yellows and reds. Headphones upon her head, and smartphone in hand, she instantly captured attention, with an Instagram-esque selfie. A traditional woman that was a real piece of work, “After Selfie,” rivals any popular #WomanCrushWednesday posts on social media.
“After Selfie” bridged old and new, and the Star of David upon the woman’s headphones finished a trendy and faith influenced piece.
Aztec warriors engage in a game of soccer. PHOTO BY Kenslow Smith
Bogarin employed DiGiorno pizza boxes, a Dole juice bottle, broken toys, M&M candy wrappers and other discarded trash to encompass his artistic endeavors. This approach lead Bogarin to recycle all materials with creativity, in hopes to enthrall the eyes of those who saw his piece “No Robaras” (Thou Shalt Not Steal).
“No Robaras” was a barrage of garbage restored into a mobile vehicle of exuberant expression. Within the truck bed lay a lesson, in the form of a story. A small plastic boy had allowed his temptation to steal to trap him in the ill-fated trunk. With an appetite incapable of satisfaction, the plastic boy lay with his desired sweets in an imprisonment of greed and gluttony.
“Enamorado,” (In love) exposed viewers to one man’s bare affection. A tall male doll figure became possessed by the image of a beautiful woman within a window frame, soon to frame the man within a seal of his own obsession. Roses in hand hidden from her sight, his sight on his beauty, he hopes in vain. Unaware that his vanity has lead him to fall for an image of a woman, and not an actual woman, the tall man awaits his unfortunate rejection from a fortunate gaze of a graceful beauty.
Viewers received a glimpse into the man’s future: an impending broken heart. “In Love” was a piece for those whose hearts longed for peace.
Demolished and fractured at the feet of the breaker, “Quebrador De Idols” (Breaker of Idols), were broken idols at the mercy of the breaker man’s force. Tall, strong, masked and mighty, the breaker stood steadfast with fierce eyes. Among the broken idols were Diana of Ephesus, the Golden Calf from the Old Testament and Mayan gods. Crafted into an action pose, “the breaker” is forever bound to battle, swinging a blunt object to project a blunt statement. Before his tool of weaponry strikes, his eyes strike first, exemplifying Bogarin’s passion for God. Bogarin’s faith was attributed to this piece, as it emphasized monotheism.
Artistry flourished into a luscious bloom of panoramic art utopia, nestled in room 710. Bogarin led attendees into a grove of enchantment.
