Jon Kuzmich

Finite System #3: Blue in Green, Acrylic Paint on Komatex (Foamed PVC), 6 panels, 16.5" x 54.75"

As we learned during the course of this class, energy has many meanings in our culture and can take on many forms. In order to avoid getting completely overwhelmed with the many options one could take, I chose to focus on energy as a force of distortion. As an artist, I create visual systems that act as a metaphor for the fact that our perception as human beings is altered and distorted by our belief in systems that we create. By virtue of this distortion, systems (religious, scientific, political, etc.) change our relationship to the world, manipulate our conception of reality and influence our relationship to the cosmos. In essence, our belief systems keep us confined within a synthetic, human-created world. Therefore, even though I utilize the tools of abstraction and Op-art, I consider my work to be representational because the systems I create alter the perception of the viewer and imply that what we see and what we know are questionable.

The final work I created for this class, entitled Finite System #3: Blue in Green, uses the “energy” of thousands of very tiny blue and yellow dots to trick the eye/brain into believing it is seeing green. Additionally, energy undergoes many transmutations of form and the pattern in this work refers to itself on many levels: the overall work is composed of a pattern that is built by many permutations of itself on a smaller scale. Lastly, the work is an homage to gradients created by gravity: the mightiest form of energy at the cosmological scale.

James Galloway

Inspired by the writings of Wilhelm Reich as they pertain to orgone energy, as well as the cultural phenomena known as the "invisible ether," I decided to focus my attention on the natural energies of San Francisco. Having lived in India and Bhutan, I was greatly affected by the natural energies of those highly spiritual lands. In a constant state of bliss in Bhutan, I had trouble finding that upon returning to the West. Finding my new home in San Francisco, I have reached that state of happiness. Attributing this happiness to a compatible configuration of ley lines, and inspired by the work of Lowry Burgess, I climbed the summit of Twin Peaks to dowse for energy. Twin Peaks for me is my Mt. Mehru, Mt. Kaliash, or even Mt. Jomolhari; though a small mountain, maybe even a hill to some, Twin Peaks provides the city with its source of life. In response to my dowsing readings, I painted Twin Peaks as a void, surrounded by the swirling energetic ether, made from graphite, a material simulating the magnetic realms of ley lines.

Emilie Puttrich: Record of Loss

The human body loses an average of 0.4 oz of skin cells each day. This drawing is a record of this loss from my own body over a period of three days, as well as the loss of other bodily material including hair, nails, earwax, saliva, vaginal fluids, urine, and feces. Within these lines is a record of the evidence of my own existence.

Carolyn Jean Martin: Alchemy=Energy

Alchemy=Energy. Alchemy is the science of deconstructing and reconstructing matter, turning one element into another, while energy in one form can be transferred to create another form. Elements interacting among one another create energy that is being exchanged and transferred.

The black powder that alchemists created in the 6th Century B.C. is similar to the black powder that I use to capture gesture and emotion on canvas. The three ingredients — Sulphur, Saltpeter and Charcoal — interact with one another, undergoing intense energy exchanges until combustion happens. Heat expands gasses at a rapid rate and produces the effects that can be seen and heard from the powder. What is left is the line I have created. My energy, which created the line, and the energy of the black powder have now become smoke, gas and ash.

I have also used gunpowder on the canvas. Gunpowder is the chemically altered and tightly confined cousin of black powder. Gunpowder burns quicker and hotter than black powder. It is heavier in volume than black powder and leaves more ashes after it has expended its energy. The line it leaves is dark and intense. Black powder and gunpowder are the perfect tool to use for my gestural, abstract expressionist painting style. The direct dialogue that I engage my viewer with is spoken with a gesture that is seared on the canvas. When I use the powder I am left energized, as if I have been part of the energy transfer between the elements.

HeoiYun Jeong: BBong

BBong, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2010

According to Isida Hidemi, in the book The body the aura flowing, a body is a fluid and the mind is inside of the fluid. In the fluid, the aura inheres to the mind and as the aura flows all over the body, the mind also flows all over the body, creating emotions according to its state. In other words, the emotions are expression of the state of the body. What I like to do is imagine that my body transforms to another figure depending on how I feel. I felt empty, for example, after I had a shock. I felt as if there was mud in every wrinkle of my brain, so it was super heavy, and my whole body turned into a bubble except for my legs. In my imagination, my transformed body parts turned into a representation of the body aura. And there is just rest of my meat. Where did the aura go?

Kimia Kline: The Tyranny of Beauty

 Delicate Creatures, oil on panel, 24"x36", 2010

 Untitled, oil on panel, 24"x36", 2010

 Veiling, oil on panel, 24"x36", 2010

After reading A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel Da Landa, I was particularly struck with his analysis of the “circulation of flesh”. This term conjured up countless images of female bodies, reduced to nothing more than flesh to be visually consumed. Da Landa explains that, “the main form of matter-energy flow in the biosphere is the circulation of flesh in food chains (De Landa 104).” This pattern seems to be repeated in advertising, as female flesh is the main form of “matter-energy” flow in media.

In addition to the paintings, I created a small sugar cast sculpture of the female body. This sculpture denies the woman her hands or head, serving to further objectify her. She is seen in a kneeling position, one that is often associated with submissiveness and servitude, revoking her a sense of empowerment or independence. Sugar was chosen as the medium for this casting, as it is a staple of indulgent physical consumption. The sugar sculpture lends itself to the idea that women are depicted as nothing more than “eye candy” and further plays into the notion of consumption and energy flow.