Students to present ‘Perspectiva Femenina’

UTRGV seniors Brenda Perez, Clarissa Martinez and Rosa M. Garza will present an art exhibit, “Perspectiva Femenina,” from 6 to 8 tonight in the Art Gallery at Rusteberg Hall in Brownsville.

The exhibit focuses on the artists’ perspectives about feminism and social issues.

“We each have our own separate theme for our artworks, but I think together it is just us displaying our own perspectives on things,” Martinez said. “One is doing photography; that is her perspective on something. I am doing a lot of paintings; that is my way of perceiving some things. And, Brenda is doing sculptures, and that is her way of showing the way she looks at things.”

Perez said her works are inspired by the works of different Japanese artists.

“I would see a lot of Japanese artists, and then I would see the techniques, mainly like how they did their stuff and that is how I incorporated my art with them,” Perez said. “I am working a lot with clay. I am making more sculptures, like hand building, doing a little bit of throwing and making sculptures out of that. I did work only in one painting.”

Martinez’s work focuses on social issues that women face throughout their lives.

“My artwork is about social issues, particularly about women and what we go through in society and the negative effects and the emotional effects after something bad has happened to us, but I am depicting these emotions and my own anxiety and fears through surrealism and metaphorical images,” she said.

Garza said her works are inspired by a photo that she took last semester for her photography class of mannequins on display at a store in downtown Brownsville.

“My project is called ‘Reflección Inesperada’ and I am using photographs to build it,” Garza said in Spanish. “These are photographs that I take of windows’ reflections while I am walking down a street.”

The seniors used clay, wood, oils and different materials to complete their works.

“A lot of what I am doing is mixed media, so I am using oil paint and acrylic paint and working with a lot more texture,” Martinez said. “Actually, for a big piece, I used a lot of sponges, house paint and newspaper articles. That was the most challenging piece and it is the biggest piece because I never really have done that before.”

Admission is free and open to the public.

On Nov. 28, more than 100 people attended the opening reception for “JAM,” the second senior art exhibit at the gallery this semester, featuring the works of UTRGV seniors Martha Ortiz, Josie Del Castillo and Arnold Escamilla.

“JAM” consisted of more than 15 framed illustrations and paintings.

“I think that our works are very different from each other,” Ortiz said. “Josie is a great painter and she does a lot of portraits. Arnold is also a great painter and he has a very spiritual and philosophical ideas. Our styles … are very different but in these differences I think we glued the show together in such a very strong way.”

The illustrations and paintings were inspired by personal experiences that each of the senior students has faced, including depression and anxiety.

“Most of the work that I made here in this semester was because I have always struggled with anxiety, depression and all those negative thoughts. So, I did not want to paint something that symbolized that. I wanted to paint something that was the contrary of it. These paintings symbolize confidence, appreciation and positive vibes,” Del Castillo said.