Section R
You may take this section if you placed into the following English class
- Thought Lab I
| 8:30–11 AM | Noon–2:30 PM
—or—
12:30–3:00 PM |
|
|---|---|---|
| Monday | ||
| Tuesday |
Contemporary Studio and Creative Action
(Schmeltz)
On campus
|
|
| Wednesday |
Design and Color
(Leon)
On campus
|
|
| Thursday |
Form and Figure
(Thais)
On campus
|
|
| Friday |
Foundation students will be enrolled in two Liberal Arts and Science classes in fall semester. These classes will be scheduled around selected studio classes.
Section Faculty
I am a multidisciplinary product designer based out of Los Angeles, CA. I am an alumna of Otis College of Art and Design and completed my Postgraduate studies in Footwear Design at CENTRO in Mexico City. I have experience designing products ranging from footwear, apparel and accessories for surf/skate, moto and outdoors lifestyle, putting forth sustainability efforts and processes in all aspects of my work. I am first-generation Mexican-American, and my personal art practice consists of textile based work, handmade biomaterials and bioplastics often exploring the theme of duality, celebrating but also breaking traditions as I pull inspiration from my upbringing in the central coast of California, and Mexico City, Mexico.
My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and has received awards such as the Pollock Krasner Grant, California Community Foundation Grant, Bemis Center Residency and Sculpture Space Residency. I make sculptures, drawings, and paintings that are visually abstract in nature, and are inspired by architecture, light, and space. Ideas and research drive the work, then materials and configurations are chosen to best serve those ideas. The boundaries of materials and dimensions seems secondary to me, the work tells you where it wants to go. I am a firm believer in the daily practice of work, of approaching the problem at hand with a sense of experimentation and constant questioning, and that the challenge of hands on manipulation of form and space is transformational, for the artwork and for the artist. I am a lover of material, of allowing the inherent qualities of the material be present and be allowed to speak. In the classroom I encourage students to push themselves and to enjoy the unexpected places the creative problem solving process can lead them, all the while developing their technical abilities to allow their ideas to reach their deserved capacities.
I am a creative edutainer who also teaches Game & Entertainment Design. Due to my background in Game art and Animation, when I teach Form & Figure, my goal for students is for them to be able to draw the human form with expression and life. My background is in television as a bilingual actor, voice actor for animation and game characters, theatre, and vocalist, but art, as in drawing and painting, has been my natural talent, and teaching has been my calling.
All my artistic endeavors are co-dependent of each other. I create works of art from large-scale painting to music videos that deliver messages in the hope that my narratives evoke an emotional urgency for change from viewing and listening audiences. My background teaching abroad at international schools with diverse student bodies has given me the sensitivity to understand the different ways students learn; as a result, I try my very best to meet students from their perspectives.
I teach ages 5 yrs to adults on a regular basis, which has enabled me to understand the way students of all ages learn. I encourage students in my classes to learn how to see what they are observing and apply what they see through practice and various forms of assignments. My primary goal is for my students to understand that the techniques they learn in class will translate to all other art disciplines that they will study in art school and beyond. The practice of drawing is fundamental to understanding the beauty of all shapes and forms that we see in life.