Photo by Sergio Esparza
DB Foster has been in seclusion almost as long as DB Cooper, but after 30 years out of the spotlight the reclusive artist is back with a dazzling exhibit in the campus gallery.
“Outside In” evolved from a February pop-up street gallery in Solana Beach. Online images caught the attention of Southwestern College Gallery Technician Vallo Riberto.
“It is really important to see these kind of individual expressions,” Riberto said. “In our age of information, where everything is becoming so homogeneous and homogenized into this digital array, it is important for students to experience this and to have that opportunity to express themselves.”
Born in Southern California, Foster said he was raised in an era of specialization which complicated his young philosophical self. He did not understand the idea of picking a career and being forced to be good at that one thing for the rest of his life.
It was not until he attended an art show at the Spectrum Theater in San Diego that Foster was inspired to create art.
“There was a voice inside me coming out through those materials,” he said.
Foster said he believes isolation and nature are the true sources of knowledge and wisdom.
“I was always intentional on finding a place that had a studio or room that actually had nature outside of my window,” he said. “Most of my art has been made around nature.”
Foster took journals with him into his self-inflicted exiles. This forced him to be submerged in the essence, peace, power and beauty of nature, he said, which allowed him to work in his creative consciousness.
Pieces of those journals become pieces of art and are now on display in the gallery.
“What really impressed me about DB was his notebooks,” Riberto said. “He has a pile of notebooks that are in my estimation publishable.”
Fae Esquig, a film major, attended the opening show’s presentation and said she understands what Foster is trying to say with this exhibition.
“The art is very structured, but at the same time it is overlapping with organic elements and I think it greatly represents his background,” she said.
Adam Lopez, a film major, said he was also impressed.
“I think it defines his desire to not be confined to the traditional types of art,” he said.
Foster’s pieces are made with unconventional material, including reflective traffic sign tape that to requires a flashlight appreciate in the dark. He also used cardboard boxes he found outside of Costco to make his three anchor pieces, which are recreations of smaller pieces done years ago.
“They are a continuation of my journey through the decades,” he said.
With only two shows under his belt, Foster said this is the time to produce art differently. Gathering his works and showcasing them to the public in a creative fashion should enable him to continue to produce art.
“I want to make art on a daily basis,” he said. “Art is best when it seeps into your minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour consciousness.”
