A Digital Tour of Five Sacramento State Galleries: Part Two

Last gallery...will it be worth the visit?

Told you I'd be back.

So here we are, the Raymond Witt Gallery. I do like the nod to Andy Warhol in the exterior design, but just peeking in at first glance, I can tell it's not a very big gallery. Oh well, I guess there probably won't be anything interesting here to see or anybody to--

O hai dere.

Well, I stand corrected. Folks, meet Julia Kropinova, a student artist who was featured in the gallery during my visit. See, unlike the other galleries, none of these works have a label next to them, because it's all her work. The Raymond Witt cycles through different students through the school year and I just happened to walk in while this artist was in. Might I say, too, that her art has a very distinctive, unique quality to it, as well! In fact, you've already seen one of her pieces before--I had taken a snapshot of it earlier in the Union Gallery. Naturally, I was intrigued and started asking her some questions about her medium choices, process, and overall vision, all of which she was more than happy to share. She even pointed out her favorite work, which I took a video of just so the details could be appreciated just that little bit more.

She didn't know I was filming this. I just happened to get lucky and record just as she spoke up.

Julia considers her works to be a form of recycled art, using all sorts of materials to create framed sculptures with a great deal of texture, symbolism, and depth--literally! Her works all emphasize using three-dimensional space, rather than flat pieces. Here are some pictures of a few pieces she personally discussed with me as we looked around the gallery together.

She uses whatever material catches her eye and figures out how it can make the overall composition more interesting.

That being said, she's also a very good painter! This one is meant to have a sci-fi, cosmic feel to it.

This piece was especially interesting. According to Kropinova, this one represents urban life, the crowded feel of living in the city, and the heavy feeling of pollution. The keys represent noise and a dense population. I thought it represented a women waiting for somebody she loved at a train station, as evidenced by the red tones and heart shape, with the keys being the keys to her heart. We had a good laugh over the widely divergent interpretations, but Kropinova herself expressed being very open to people viewing her art in different ways, even though she has a clear vision in mind when she sets out to create art.

 

This one is a map of California. Look closely and you can see intersections in the strings!

She mentioned that she especially likes working with string. Big shocker, that.

So yeah, this was way cooler than I ever expected. While the gallery was small and only featured a single artist, having said artist in the room discussing their work with you makes a huge difference. Very rarely does one get the chance to hear directly from the source in such an open, casual setting. As much as I like the Library Gallery, having the ability to ask questions and have a real discussion with the person responsible for the art you're seeing is really something else. I highly recommend it.

Julia Kropinova, you are awesome and I rate you The REALLY Good Piece in the Valentine's Box. Best of luck to you and here's hoping more people take a look at your creations.