SOCA presents the 10th annual

AN ART AFFAIR FESTIVAL
APRIL 16-18, 2009

Schedule | Directions & Parking | Festival Map | Festival Program | Press | Artist Bios

Jen Tiskus works in printmaking and collage. She is a sophomore.

I have never taken any formal art classes, in high school or at Stanford. I decided to start painting because it seemed like the only way to describe emotion was through color. I don't consider myself a refined artist at all, I just do it for fun.

R? Phillips has been drawing and painting from a tender age. R? trained with the Art Instruction School for several years before resorting to learning on her own through art books. She has been featured in various Georgia galleries growing up, most notably the State Gallery for the Governor's Honors Program in 2005 as an exceptional young artist.?Most recently she has been featured in exhibitions sponsored by the Stanford?s Department of African and African American Studies and by the January 2009 SOCA Art Exhibit. R?'s greatest influences include Pablo Picasso and Jorge Arcos. She believes these abstractionists have mastered the color palette like no other. Her greatest inspirations include the African Diaspora, travels abroad, Cuba, historic events, American politics, and women.

Giulio Gratta began his photography hobby his freshman year in college with a Panasonic superzoom camera. After about one year of using that camera to death, he bought a Canon 40d and has since taken all kind of pictures with it: from sports with huge lenses to macro (close-ups) with old east german Zeiss lenses and from totally random candid shots at events to completely artificially set up shots with backgrounds and multiple flashes. He plans on pursuing this hobby for the rest of his life, and possibly to sell a few pictures to pay the expensive lenses!

A wise woman told me, "Having a fin for a hand is like having a spoon instead of a fork." Using this metaphor as a lens, my knowledge of art under this pretense is akin to screaming at a Serbian infant to in Canadian to his/her eat baby food with chospticks; not applicable and devoid of intent. I accidentally draw my inspiration from ornithology, the giant squid, dirigibles, insomnia, the Pharoah Akhenaten, and all matters whimsical.

Justine Marrion Massey Class of 2010 Figuring it out along the way. I made Squid last summer in LA and the squid eyes were collected personally in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico during the Holistic Biology class with Professor William Gilly and Professor Susan Shillinglaw. P?jaula (P?jaro + jaula) arose from dumpster perusing and a winter in Madrid, Spain.

I like to tell stories.

Proud Resident of Hammarskjold

Lara is a sophomore majoring in Human Biology. When she's not busy figuring out what she's going to do with her life, she likes to cook, write, and of course, do photography.

Elise Gibbs is a freshman who has been intensely involved in ceramics since the age of 13-- today, she is displaying her photograph of a favorite piece from her ceramics portfolio, along with several other photographs from the past year.

Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Janina Motter began seriously pursuing art in her junior and senior year of high school under the tutelage of her art teacher. She possesses a strong interest in chemistry and languages as well as the arts and is passionate about exploring the intersections of these areas. Much of her work has explored the relationship between beauty and darkness, the interaction of light and color, and the effects of texture and movement. She enjoys working with acrylic, watercolor, photography, and mixed media. Favorite (and most influential) artists include Mike and Doug Starn, Elmer Bischoff, Edward Hopper, Egon Schiele, van Gogh, and Gustav Klimt.

See life strangely. Appreciate objects newly.

Jonathan Ure?a is a senior majoring in Biomechanical engineering. He has been painting since he a child. Some of the artists he admires most are Wayne Thiebaud, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera.

Caroline is a freshman bringing East Coast variety to the Bay Area. She is a huge fan of concert posters and has been working on a couple of her own unofficially. Hit her up if you want one.

Angela King and Jackie Do are roommate who like to paint.

Jennifer Bernal is a senior majoring in Public Policy with a minor in Studio Art. She is one of SOCA's directors this year and has greatly enjoyed planning An Art Affair. She enjoys finding interesting shapes in clouds and playing with puddles of ink.

Justine Marrion Massey Class of 2010 Awake-attention to each shifting dimension flies my mind and so silky soul. Figuring it out as I go.

Jasmine Mann likes to make computer programs, solve math problems, and work with physics. However, this interest in the sciences doesn't stop her from being an artist. Instead she uses her knowledge of computers, 3 dimensional space, vectors, and calculus to make what many people would consider art. Throughout high school and into college, she has used this perspective to make many pieces of artwork as well as view the world. More of her art can be seen on the website www.boredinmath.com.

Bernadette Cay is a Senior studying Management Science & Engineering with a minor in Art History. She would like to bridge technology and art to help as many people as possible develop an appreciation for the arts. Prior to Stanford, Bernadette participated in the Early College Program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Bernadette likes drawing and painting with oil or acrylic and has probably sketched the back of your head during a long lecture class. She enjoys skiing, traveling, and keepin' it real.

Hi! I am sophomore majoring in Human Biology and I'm from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Painting has been a hobby of mine ever since I can remember. Over the years I have worked in watercolor, oil pastel, charcoal, pen and ink and mixed media. The joy that I find in painting is indescribable and is something that is very dear to my heart. I am excited to be part of An Art Affair and would like to thank my parents for all their love, support and most importantly, for believing in me!

Kathryn C. Gentzke is an artist and art educator living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Specializing in alternative photographic processes, she has exhibited and held residencies in the United States and abroad.

A senior Art History major from Brooklyn.

Natasha Prats is a senior who will be graduating this June. She is majoring in Product Design with a minor in Modern Languages. She currently lives in Suites and is enjoying her last year at Stanford.

Mason Flink was born and raised in Dallas, TX, a fact he blames on God, his parents, and the booming 1980s Dallas real estate market. Currently a junior, Flink obsesses over many things, like lounge chairs, maps, and comedic timing. If a degree could be pursued in sarcasm or brutal honesty, he would graduate with an honorable mention, but international relations and modern language were the closest he could find.

Jason Hreha is a Human Biology major at Stanford University. He has been drawing and painting for most of his life and enjoys exploring philosophic and scientific ideas through the visual arts.

I try to combine a love for drawing, of the face, of permanent marker, of color, of black and white, and of music together to create a final work. I do not paint, draw, and create as much as I would like to do so.

Jessica Pih is a freshman from southern California, who loves to bake and eat dessert. Her artwork showcased is based off of the cover of a Stanford publication after she found out she got in early admission! She appreciates the architecture of the campus, and finds it to be a very nice subject for a pencil sketch.

Maggie is majoring in Comparative Literature. Her goal in life is to need extra pages in her passport to hold all the stamps.

After moving schools, cites, and states more than 8 time in my life, I finally settled into high school at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts. After studying dance, clarinet, and painting for five years I decided I wanted to pursue Studio Art. I designed my first Ballet set in 10th grade and from then on did a bunch of scenic design for school productions. I love to incorporate music into my designs because it is a big part of what inspires me. Even my Google design was based on the theme "What if music came to life?" My artistic approach to things is very whimsical and colorful, not because of how I feel, but how I want to feel or what I want to inspire in others.

neda nasr kharrazi is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium. She is interested in the intersection of arts and mental illness. Specifically, she is interested in healing properties of art, especially in the treatment of identity disorders/development, trauma, and other psychiatric disorders. Please direct any questions/comments to nedapsyd@stanford.edu.

Edgardo Cervano-Soto is a sophomore. He is interested in film and drawing. He looks forward to the summer break so he can dedicate more time to create art pieces.

My name is Gabriel Rabello Benarros. I am a sophomore majoring in Economics and minoring in Psychology (hopefully). I am originally from Manaus, Amazon Brazil, where I attended Med school before coming to Stanford. I never had the opportunity to take art classes; however, I have been drawing for the better part of my life on all kinds of surfaces, from coffee tables to closet doors to clothes. I am currently working as illustrator in the student initiated magazine The Claw and have also recently signed on with the NGO I.D.E.A.S. (International Development through Environmental Accountability and Sustainability) as part of their marketing team. I am interested in combining the flexibility on free-hand drawing with the exactness of digital art to create interesting effects. My interests also include jazz music, politics, philosophy and other dissonant subjects.

Wander over worry.

Back in preschool, Sonja spent hours making circular scribbles on paper with boldly colored crayons. Each piece took the same name: "Carrot Stew." Today, Sonja continues to experiment with color but now prefers painting other people. Her sisters Anna and Laura, who are identical "mirror-image" twins, usually serve as both her muses and models.

Iberia Elster is a sophomore from the Bay Area, CA and is majoring in Earth Systems and International Relations.

Yvette Flores is a junior from Newbury Park, CA and is majoring in Architecture.

I am a sophomore and am originally from Colorado. I started with photography working for a studio specializing in high school senior portraits. I love to blow bubbles and get am in love with the sun!

Joyce Dela Pena is a junior from Pelham, New York, majoring in American Studies.

Johnna Medina is in her senior year at Stanford, double majoring in Studio Art and Psychology. This shoe project, which started out as a fun way to customize my own shoes and as a way to make some money off of commissions, has turned into something greater after being sponsored last summer by the ASSU Arts Grant program. This ongoing project has now blossomed and culminated into an actual collection or line rather, of shoes! I think that wearing painted shoes that are custom made is a form of self expression on the outside, and a way for the wearer of the shoe to interact with the inside of a piece of artwork to the most literal degree. Shoes are something that interact with their environment daily more and more each time they are worn and become literally shaped by the places they travel. The shoes themselves, displaying a piece of the owner?s spirit, communicate their own language to the world and relay back intrigued responses by even perfect strangers.

Liliane Hsu grew up in rural West Virginia and learned to appreciate art from her parents who are self-employed artists, specializing in anodized aluminum jewelry and mobiles. She is currently a Materials Science and Engineering major with hopes to continue her forays into the arts as a hobby. Along with photography she enjoys drawing, dancing, knitting, origami, and creating large-scale wearable cardboard art.

Michael Rooney is a sophomore majoring in Civil Engineering or Chemistry. He is an active lighting designer with Ram's Head Theatrical Society and the Stanford Drama Department. His artistic interests include performance, nighttime, and landscape photography, and he is a freelance photographer for the Stanford Daily and the Drama Department.

I have been doing art since I was in middle school, and since then, I have tried a variety of media, such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, etc. I love incorporating certain themes into my artworks, such as hope, multi-culturalism, and love. I have used art in my volunteer work throughout high school where I drew portraits for patients at a hospital while talking to them as emotional comfort and support. Art has really given me more opportunities to help people, and it is THE thing to cheer me up and help me relax.

Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering

My name is Maricela Cruz Trevi?o. I graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in Chicana Studies with an emphasis in Visual and Performing Arts. I continued my studies at Stanford and received a Masters in Second Mathematics Education in 2007. I taught sixth grade math for the 2007-2008 school year and am currently taking time off to tutor and work on my art.

Born abroad (Thailand), 1990. Freshman at Stanford University. Explores the tension of chaotic form and concise thought. The tangible is rooted in the intangible. Minimal elucidation, necessary function.

Jon Rodriguez is a freshman from San Antonio, TX who is studying product design. He is interested in drawing, painting, photography, and music, and worked for two summers as a faux finish artist.

Hannah Kopp-Yates is a freshman. She'd rather be in India right now, but Stanford's pretty magical too. Her favorite word is "lilting." She likes plants, because they're better than her at following the light.

Sarah Mummah is a junior majoring in Human Biology. She is the Founder and Executive Director of DreamCatchers, Inc., a nonprofit tutoring organization in Palo Alto helping underserved students. She is passionate about public health and education and about making a difference in underserved communities. Sarah took these photographs while on a Public Health Field Expedition to the highlands of Guatemala.

Faraz is interested in generally all visually appealing subjects. The artworks range in subject scale from decameters to nanometers (maybe not "photon" based). The artist considers himself to be quite global in exposure and intellectual viewpoint! Ask any question. He is probably in the area.

Rebeca Ortiz is a senior majoring in Human Biology. She studied abroad in Chile last year and took these photos during her travels there.

Matthew Campbell is a first year graduate student in mechanical engineering. He has been an avid photographer since 2002 and enjoys cityscapes and portraiture.

xoxo

Britt Kovachevich is a senior-going-on-coterm that started pretending to be a photographer at the beginning of this year, entirely on a whim. These days, he continues to pretend to be a photographer for fun and course credit.

Last year I fell in love with what some call a dying medium: color film. With most photographers embracing quicker and newer technologies, film is becoming somewhat unique, and, to me, more alive than ever. While I can agree that digital cameras are great mechanical devices, I am inspired by the metaphysical power of film to turn light into substance. My technique has evolved, however, to make use of what both technologies have to offer. I shoot film for the quality of image and color reproduction it offers, while I using a digital scanner to make use of the quicker digital process. Vision is primary in our perception of the world. As human beings we use sight to orient ourselves in space, and as citizens in a collective culture our mind is trained to interpret symbols and information with our eyes. Yet this perception is so practiced, we are rarely aware that we are perceiving at all. My camera has become my tool to remain conscious of my visual experience, and appreciate the subtleties of light. Ever since I started understanding what poetry is, I have started seeing it all around me. The ordinary has become new, and everything screams to be photographed. My photographs are snapshots. They are where I've been, what I've seen, and perhaps where I dream of going. My images are a meditation on our own ability to see, and testament to why one should appreciate the ineffable beauty that our eyes passively absorb, but rarely see. Never stop looking.

Nell Van Noppen is a sophomore majoring in psychology and studio art at Stanford. The pieces she submitted for An Art Affair were painted during winter quarter, 2009, during an independent study with Kevin Bean.

Natalia Ricotta is a Junior from Colorado majoring in Studio Art. She enjoys tea, the smell of pine needles, spinning until you're dizzy, laughing, quiet sunrises, rain, walks, wet earth, books, intimate conversation, colors, people watching in the park, playgrounds, creating, climbing rocks and trees, star gazing, worshiping her amazing God, mountains, music, candles, drawing, playing guitar, jumping in piles of leaves, waterfalls, and any kind of adventure!

Justin Blair is a sophomore who likes to paint ideas.

I am a freshman interested in studying psychology (pre-med), and I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. It is probably the only thing I do that feels organic and calming. Music and my culture are my inspirations, and I try to release a part of me into my pieces.

Shila Soni is a graduate student in Epidemiology who enjoys creating things with paper, pen, and sometimes glitter.

When I'm not busy nibbling on Dubliner Cheddar cheese or taking paparazzi pictures of my friends, you can catch me attempting to longboard around Wilbur parking lot. I also have an obsession with jewel-colored tights a la Blair, and (not so) secretly wish I was seven inches taller. My favorite book thus far is Ayn Rand's Fountainhead.

Clayton Kenney is a senior majoring in studio art who is intrigued by guerrilla sculpture.

Amy Kurzweil is a graduating senior from Boston, Ma who is writing this graphic novel about Jewish-American identity and the particular legacy of women in her family as part of the Feminist Studies Creative Honors Thesis program. Amy is grateful to Stanford and to the Feminist Studies department for giving her this chance to become a cartoonist and finally fulfill all her nerdiest dreams.

Rachel Lindee is a freshman who loves photography, theater, and traveling. Fellow Stanford students may recognize her as the 7 year old boy from Gaieties or from frequent chicken-tender chow-downs at the Axe & Palm. She hopes you enjoy her collection of photos taken in India this past summer.

Mark Kogan is a senior double majoring in International Relations and Communication. He is a self-taught photographer and pursues as a hobby in his free time. Photos taken with Canon 50D, Nikon D50, and Nikon D700. Afterwork done in Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. All prints are available for purchase from the artist. Please contact markskogan@gmail.com with inquiries.

Kerry Mahuron is a junior at Stanford pursuing an individually-designed major in "Narrative and Culture." She loves movies, the outdoors, interesting people, and storytelling. These photographs were taken at a family homeless shelter in San Leandro where Ms. Mahuron volunteers.

Kendra likes Art and Cookies.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Christina Carroll is a junior here at Stanford University. Christina has loved the arts since her early childhood and likes to draw and write in her spare time. She is grateful for the opportunity to showcase her work, and hopes that people will enjoy her art for what it is.

Iberia enjoys poetry, international music, fashion, daydreaming, traveling, and learning about other cultures.

For me, drawing is dreaming, thoughtless and intense -- an exhilarating yet inevitably failed attempt to fossilize motion and emotion, in a line.

Elizabeth Sanders is a sophomore double-majoring in Art Studio and English with a creative writing emphasis. She greatly enjoys both art and artichokes.

Arts Grant Recipients

Sasha learned to paint on the island Hvar in the Adriatic Sea. ?Since her move to the Pacific she has experimented with black and white large format film photography, watercolor, and sculpture. ?In this series, Sasha drew inspiration from the book of poems "Cuttlefish Bones" by the Italian poet Eugenio Montale. ?Her paintings are an attempt to reverse the process that Montale practiced; just as the poet sought to write poetry with the technique of a painter, Sasha attempts to paint in the way he writes. ?This summer Sasha will study with the icelandic installation artist Olafur Eliasson in his studio in East Berlin.

Nick Wenner is a sophomore studying Earth Systems and focusing on the ocean. He has been doing photography since he enrolled in a black-and-white photography class in high school. His camera has followed him around the world on many trips above and below the sea. With the photos he takes, he hopes to bring immediacy and respect to places and things many people will not otherwise have a chance to see. He captured the photographs on display here while traveling several times to Honduras and once to the Island of Galapagos over the last few years. Nick sees photography as a beautiful way to interact with the natural world without physically affecting the very organisms and ecosystems that live there.

Sara Sisun is a senior from Denver, Colorado majoring in Studio Art and Minoring in Creative Writing. When she's not painting she enjoys aerial circus, drinking tea, and reading graphic novels.

Mae Ryan is currently a Senior majoring in Architectural Design. ?She has also been pursuing photography for the past seven years and has received three grants through Stanford to pursue various photographic projects.

A senior majoring in Biological Sciences, Wayne applies to medical school this year with aspirations of becoming a reconstructive surgeon. However, he also several years of experience in the fashion industry, particularly modeling. His exposure to the industry has led him to attempt fashion design as well. So for his Arts Grant project, Wayne creates a couture collection of aquatic-themed garments that will be showcased at Charity Fashion Show: The Largest Fashion Show on the West Coast.

Catherine is a Human Biology student studying sensation and perception.? She love children's art, especially cartoons, and has been drawing comic strips for as long as she can remember.? Next year, Catherine will be pursuing a Masters degree in Learning, Design and Technology, finding ways to improve education using high-tech design.

Cecilia Yang is a Product Design major and a Creative Writing minor. Her first significant piece was covering, with watercolors, a newly-painted wall in an apartment her parents were trying to sell (she was three). In literature, she most admires the surrealism of Julio Cortazar, the playfulness of Road Dahl, the quirkiness of Lewis Carroll, and the profundity of Borges.

Emma Webster is a sophomore currently majoring in Studio Art. Emma likes English Breakfast tea, Google maps, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mikhail Baryshnikov, godlessness, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and chicken flavored Top Ramen. She dislikes rootbeer, Che Guevara pop art, humor, chicken flavored Top Ramen, "the system" and other people who dislike said system. And she doesn't particularly care for tennis.

Kerry Mahuron is a junior pursuing an individually-designed major in "Narrative and Culture." She loves movies, sports, the outdoors, and storytelling. These pictures were taken at a family homeless shelter in the Bay Area where she volunteers.

Peter Petroff is a Junior majoring in Symbolic Systems. He is from Huntsville, Alabama. He is extremely interested in soundscapes and trees.

Sarah is a graduated senior whose art explores the connections between art, psychology and education.? Her work in Art Affair deals with the history of battered materials and the way artists can transform destruction into beauty.? Currently, she enjoys indulging in the Camp Stanford life, working on her art, and organizing arts events (including Art Affair!) as SOCA's Visual Arts Coordinator.? Amidst postgraduate confusion, she hopes to find clarity sipping coffee on the front porch of La Casa Italiana.