Dozens of students gathered at Diablo Valley College’s Art Gallery on Feb. 10 for the first art opening of the year, entitled “Lines: Found & Made,” which featured more than 20 works by DVC students, faculty and staff.
The purpose of the show, according to the gallery website, was to highlight the ways that lines serve as a tool for humans — emphasizing shape, creating texture, and showing emotions and movement.
“Lines are not real,” said professor Aurther King, DVC’s Art Gallery coordinator. “They are intangible, they appear, they disappear, they are a construct of humankind. As far as we know, we are the only creatures that work with lines.”
“That is the idea: these lines are ethereal, ephemeral,” he said.
Quoting the nationally known cartoonist Lynda Barry, King added: “We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay.”
The show, which ran through Feb. 24, traced the line’s journey, from its beginning to end, connecting viewers in the process, according to organizers.
Madison Leingang, a third-year art student, talked about her work titled “Pondering,” which was part of the show.
“Art can be so broad yet so specific at the same time,” said Leingang, “which allows me and so many others to connect either on a general or personal level.”
Leingang said she felt having her work on display in the gallery was intimidating, but worth it in order to see people’s reactions and thoughts.
“It’s a great payoff having your work in a gallery after spending hours and hours chipping away at it,” she said.
A few students at the opening found themselves lingering near a particular piece, an untitled work created by Jane Fisher.
“I was told the artist was given an hour for this. What I feel is this similar inclination of what to capture in a short amount of time,” said digital art major Mikey Carrion.
“It invokes a feeling of understanding. I can see what their process was because this is what I also do.”
Organizers intended each piece to invite viewers to see themselves in the work, whether through how the art was created, its meaning, or its style.
A wood creation titled, “One Liner, or Why the Long Face?” by DVC faculty member John Poole, had a particular impact on Bashir Khyam, who monitored the gallery.
“It reminds me of my home country,” said Khyam, “we made a lot of things out of wood.”
Reflecting on the show’s meaning, Leingang said, “Lines can quite literally mean and be anything.”
“Anyone can create lines out of anything and everything,” she said.