2021 Senior Project Exhibition

Student Name: Blanca Banuelos
Title: Piece by Piece 1, 2, 3
Medium/media: rotoscope
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080
Email: bbanue18@calstatela.edu
Instagram: the_rainbow_gets_me
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543437529
Instructor: Miranda Javid

Project Statement

My name is Blanca Banuelos. I am a queer animation artist. My favorite way to animate is with rotoscoping. Although it is time consuming it is what I am most comfortable with. I do not know if I will pursue it as a career choice after school is done but it is a skill I have added to my toolbox. My film is done mainly with rotoscoping and some experimental choices. I like the freedom of expression I have accomplished with animation. After some time of not having a clue on what to name my film I came up with “Piece by Piece”. I mention LEGO bricks in my film, and I thought it goes hand in hand with the story I wanted to tell. The story is done in segments that show pieces of a relationship starting to form just you would when using LEGO pieces to build a foundation. This film shows the internal struggles that Sam faces as a human being. They have a hard time believing in themselves and even harder time thinking that their crush likes them back. I am proud to have made a queer short film because representation matters to me.

Student Name: Yilin Chen
Title: The Wish
Medium/media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920x1080 pixels
Email: evelyn.chen0210@gmail.com
Instagram: eve__coc
Website: https://evelynchen0210.wixsite.com/website
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543882465
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

My work, "The Wish" tells a story about family love that travels through time and space. The inspiration for this work comes from my personal life experience. On May 12, 2014, my grandpa passed away but I was not present. When I recalled my grandfather's love for me countless times, I decided to tattoo his death day on my arm. Not being able to meet him is my biggest regret, so when I first came into the animation professional course, I decided to make this story my capstone work. The feelings of this work range from sadness to despair to finally fulfilling one's wish. Multiple languages (dates represented by Greek numbers, calculus topics, Chinese tattoo shop signs) are the characteristics of this work. When I made "The Wish", there were still many clues left in it, such as flashing tattoos, two-tone backgrounds, and the time changes of the electronic clock. These details allow the audience to watch the animation repeatedly and get a different feeling each time.

Student Name: Anthony Cisneros
Medium/media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Email: Anthonyc2490@gmail.com
Instagram: normanthony_07
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544745790
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

I grew up in a poor single mother household, as a Mexican American child in Los Angeles. Because I was poor, I mostly spent my time looking for hobbies. I have always been a fan of fantasy and horror media, so I took to drawing to express my passions in the arts. I grew drawing characters and fan arts of the many things I enjoy. In High School, I became a character designer, illustrator, and writer after realizing that I loved developing stories with interesting characters. I wanted to create worlds that dive into that genres that I am passionate for. I learned from different stories through fables, myths, novels, film, and television. These inspire me to design different worlds that mimic the reality we live in. It is important for me to diversify the kinds of characters I create because it is important to be flexible and representative. I have prior experience as a freelance caricature artist, so I learned to work with clients. Using these applications towards my artistic vision, I developed a film that establishes these principles I follow.

The film I have developed is a supernatural horror film about a cursed weapon that transforms a woman into a monster by making her addicted to consuming blood as a necessity to stay alive. The story focuses on a woman who becomes a victim of this curse, which leads to her losing her family, body and mind. She is trapped in her own home and needs her caretaker to feed her blood for her to stay alive. The emotional abuse she feels from her caretaker, and the idea of her losing more of her humanity causes her to feel like a prisoner in her own world. Throughout the film, I wanted her to become less human and more destructive to herself because I wanted to create the fear of losing oneself to their primal impulses for survival. I felt by creating a human personality to the main character was essential for the overall theme that the story portrays.

The themes I wanted to adapt was the feeling of emotional abuse, the fear of one’s own body, addiction, and loss of a loved one. These morals I felt were crucial in this story because I wanted the audience to identify the emotional pain of the main character which humanizes her. This connects the audience with the character which is significant for creating an engaging story.

I chose animation as an appropriate medium because I have always felt that horror needs to be more relevant in it. Horror is a genre that is not really explored in mainstream animation, which I felt should be. I wanted to develop works that are more adult by exploring heavier and complicated themes. We live in an era of animation that is becoming more relevant and experimental to mainstream media, so it is the perfect opportunity to do so. There is so much untapped potential, and it should become normalized. Conjuring art is my passion, motivation, purpose, and goal in life, so I used this to create engaging stories for everyone.

Student Name: Arianna Gilmore
Title: Puerile
Medium/media: 2D Animation
Dimensions: 1280 x 720
Email: AriannaGilmore@hotmail.com
Instagram: Visual_Ari
Website: AriannaGilmore.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544767362
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

Growing up is something everyone must go through whether they want to or not. Although not everyone enjoys it Puerile tells the story of a young boy who never gets the opportunity to age. Instead having to watch life pass him bye as his twin brother experiences everything, he wish he could have.

Student Name: Janey Keske
Email: Janey.kes@gmail.com
Instagram: Asteriora
Website: janeykeske.weebly.com

Title: Winter CottageMedium/Media: DigitalDimensions: 1920 x 1293px

Title: Quiet DinnerMedium/Media: DigitalDimensions: 1864 x 1090px

Title: Cliff side starsMedium/Media: DigitalDimensions: 1674 x 946px

Project Statement

My main goal in making animations and films is to be able to tell stories that matter to me. For my Capstone film I wanted to tell a story with a healthy representation of a father daughter

relationship. Especially with her “dad” not as an antagonist, but as someone who cares about her. He is afraid for her but needs to learn how to give her space and agency. Telling family centric stories is something that has been ever present in my journey as an animator.

Student Name: Zoe Kim
Title: Misty-Eyed
Medium/media: Procreate and
Photoshop/video
Dimensions: 1920x1080
Instagram: @zoestropestudios
Twitter: @zoestropestudi1
TikTok: @ramen_fairy
Email: zoenicokim@gmail.com
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

Based on the upcoming webcomic of the same name, Misty is a young woman struggling with her precognition that wants escape her current living situation and join the circus. But not everything is as it seems.

Tony Liu
Title: Yesterday’s Hero
Medium/Media: 2D animation
Dimensions: 1920x1080 px
Email: qofianibusiness@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qofianimate/
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/qofianimate

Project Statement

ARTISTIC PRACTICE

My capstone project primarily focuses on the fighting choreography and environmental visual-storytelling. Growing up with old martial art films produced in Hong Kong, the quality of the fight scenes becomes my utmost priority during the development of my education. The character designs are inspired by early Heisei-era tokusatsu series, specifically Kamen Rider and Power Rangers. The setting’s aesthetics is influenced by cyberpunk and Samurai Jack(Episode XL: Jack vs The Ninja).

CAPSTONE PROJECT

The medium used in Yesterday’s Hero is a mixture of 2D animation and motion comic. It was illustrated in MediBang Paint Pro, animated in Photoshop 2020, composed and edited in After Effect. The 2D animation is reserved for scenes that involve fast-paced action. On the other hand, the motion comic style is reserved for less “action-heavy” scenes. This combination might be jarring but the slow rhythm of the motion comic scenes is intended to amplify the effectiveness of the fight scene. Half of the audio is produced by me and edited in Audition 2020.

ABSTRACT

Yesterday’s Hero explores the aftermath of stopping an alien invasion, it is presented in the perspective of a retired war-hero being hunted down by the government for being a potential threat to humanity.

Emmett Miller
Title: Man on the Moons
Medium/Media: Video
Dimensions: 1280x720 pixels
Email: emmettcmiller17@gmail.com
Instagram: emmettcmiller

Project Statement

As an artist I try to have fun with my work, I’ll usually keep it light and playful. For my capstone though I wanted to make something important to me. So, I chose to balance my fun atmosphere with a story that is close to me and ended up with this wacky space adventure that I hope you will enjoy and eventually get someone to hire me.

Student Name: Marco Moncada

Title: Untitled Buddies
Medium/media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080
Email: marcomoncada14@gmail.com
Instagram: mmarko_103
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544872343
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

I do believe the fun and joy in animation comes from creating rather than doing what you are told to create. My capstone animation “Untitled Buddies” is my small passion project I one day hope to keep working on without certain limitations. This story revolves around three animated friends in a not so serious environment and animating their movements, expressions, subtle details, and everything, brought out the fun in why I enjoy creating animations. What is life without being silly or having a good laugh? Tell a funny joke, be weird, life doesn't always have to be a stick in the mud.

Student Name: Kimberly K. Rivera
Title: Insecurity
Medium/media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920x1080 pixels
Email: rivera.kianna0@gmail.com
Instagram: kianna_river
Instructor: Miranda Javid

Project Statement

My film is about an insecure teenage girl name Lenna who receives an otherworldly visit that requires plenty of self-confidence in the face of fear. The tone of this film is to correlate with both teens and adults who do not like themselves. The significant lesson is to acknowledge the beloved people you know who do. The overall themes are self- acceptance, courage, paranormal, and staying true to yourself. My work is established from my supernatural experience when I was a teenager. This memory is the one that will stay stuck with me through a lifetime. Even though it was an intense experience, I still learned a life lesson of being courageous and having perseverance.

Student Name: David Gerardo Rojas Gallegos
Title: LOST LOVE
Medium/Media: 3D Animation
Dimensions: 1920 x1080
Email: Divad97r@gmail.com
Instagram: David97_r
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543523238

Project Statement

I have learned to use multiple artistic mediums in order to complete this short film. My goal with this project is to visually capture the emotions that some humans go through when experiencing heartbreak. The main skill utilized for this project was 3D Modeling and Animation. With my high hopes of being in the 3D field, I pursued this challenge by having the majority of the world shown in the piece be in a 3D setting.

Oftentimes, I thought about what I desired to portray in this final project and there were a lot of ideas that popped into my mind. I battled with the idea of sharing something meaningful vs something cinematically cool. While undergoing research for the topic, I came across a trend which showed break ups being one of the most impactful moments in a young person’s life. With that in mind, memories rushed to my head of the time when I experienced what it is like to get heartbroken. This short film emerged from that research and became a visual representation of all the emotions that came crashing down on me during this impactful time of my life.

My hope is that my short film helps the viewer relate with me and in the end realize that it will get better in time. I aspire to keep exploring the depths of what 3D animation has to offer and I cannot wait to hopefully inspire people with my work.

Student Name: Katherine Ruiz
Title: I’m Having Trouble Processing the End, Please Hold
Medium/media: 2D Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Email: kruiz40@calstatela.edu
Instagram: fudgiekat
Website: https://katherineruiz465.wixsite.com/portfolio
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544389575
Option: Animation.
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

I have loved animation for as long as I can remember; cartoons were the thing that got me into doodling as a kid. Though I tend to animate in 2D, I don’t think I have a favorite medium for animation. I’m more interested in how the concept, story, and heart of an animation is expressed – I’m interested in what it has to say and how it connects with people. Besides cartoons, I have also been super inspired by many animation videos I’ve seen online. I remember seeing stuff like the “Salad Fingers” series by David Firth made me feel uncomfortable, but also, I was intrigued by its storytelling as well as by its visual and sound design. I tend to be in my head and in my feelings a lot, so a lot of the stuff I make tends to be kind of reflective and emotional. The future is uncertain, but I hope to continue developing and creating animation and art in general for whatever time I have left in this world. I heard someone say the other day how the gift of life is the ability to try, and I agree full-heartedly.

Student Name: Razina Sheikh
Title: Blurry Vision Title
Medium/Media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920x1080 pixels
Email: raz.sheikh17@gmail.com
Instagram and Twitter: just_rz_

Project Statement

My work blurs the line of imagination and reality. My film is about a young bespectacled boy investigating a mysterious and haunting noise which keeps him awake this faithful night. Without the aid of his glasses, his imagination runs wild and blurry objects can turn into terrifying yet whimsical looking monsters.

I received my first pair of glasses when I was 8 years old, so the majority of my life I couldn’t see without them. My goal for the film was to have fun and mess around with the depth of field of a vision impaired child. Making this film gave me the chance to share with the world the way I see it.

Student Name: Tayler Tovar-Allen
Title: Woodland Dreaming
Medium/media: Digital Animation
Dimensions: 1920x1080 pixels
Email: taylertovar@gmail.com
Instagram: taylerta_art
Website: www.taylertovar.wixsite.com/portfolio
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544434239
Option: Animation
Instructor: Zachary Zezima

Project Statement

My film, Woodland Dreaming, relies heavily on the saying, “Dreams are simply a version of reality that we wish to be true.” I went into the idea two and a half years ago, fully intending to just fulfill an assignment but ended up with a fledgling of an idea. It was a logical move to use it for my Capstone, but I had no idea the impact it would have on me this semester. This 2D animated film revolves around a toothpick who seeks out to make themselves look more like a tree, like how they wish they could be or even who they were meant to be. They alter, carve, and change themselves to follow that aspiration throughout the film, even so far as to grow a nose and change their color. When the toothpick wakes up and the audience realizes it was all a dream, the saying above resonates. It only dawned on me as I was animating how much this related to me as I had begun to accept my gender identity. Breaking away from the above saying was how I begun the emotional process of coming out to my family and friends over the last month.

Student Name: Dante Brown
Title: Club Yoruichi
Medium/media: watercolor, fine print ink pin, Adobe photoshop
Option: FFM
Instructor: Professor Wymann

https://vimeo.com/543479500

Project Statement

My name is Dante Brown and I have been interested in art, and drawing in particular, since childhood Drawing and watching television were my two favorite activities in my youth.

The series of drawings I’ve created appear etched in a similar style to Japanese anime illustrations. 

The characters that I have drawn inspiration from for my original fashion designs are as follows:  From Naruto, Yoruicho from bleach, Kikyo From Inuyasha, I have a series of twelve designs. I selected one design inspired by Yoruicho from bleach, I made the garment and produced a fashion shoot, so as to bring the character to life. I want my work to reach out to the nerds and geeks by combining high fashion with casual wear to form a new type of Cosplay. The Garment that I am currently working on is an authentic style made with spandex fashion fabric, the color scheme consist of a vibrant orange leotard, with a fishnet top under the leotard. and black spandex pants. This style is inspired by Yoruichi Shihoin. 

Student Name: Rene James Camarillo
Instructor: Wyman, Jemima
Email: destacarse.designs@gmail.com
Instagram: destacarse.designs

https://vimeo.com/541414548

Project Statement

Artist Statement: My name is Rene James Camarillo. I am passionate about producing clothing which captures the culture and authenticity of East Los Angeles. In a world and industry where commerce overtakes creativity, my abstract work aims to be visually engaging as it balances East Los Angeles culture and lifestyle in every stitch. I produce one of a kind apparel inspired by motifs of immigrant lives narratives and brown labor. Each design is conceptualized by me, every pattern is drafted by me, and every garment is constructed by me. My ambitions and young blood is being invested in the creation and development of my brand, destacarse. My label, destacarse. is a small cultural brand which dances with the Mexican American narrative, in an attempt to export honest East LA culture, history, importance, and conflict into my apparel. The goal is to produce clothing that captures the essence of Chicano lives and perfume the streets with meaningful beautiful clothes. East Los Angeles places me under its tongue, and I am absorbed into its gums. It’s dangerous.

Student Name: Hashimoto Reo
Email: reohashimotored@gmail.com

Website: https://rhashim2.wixsite.com/my-site/my-works
Instructor: Wyman

https://vimeo.com/543464985

Student Name: Jocelyn Huerta
Email: jhuert44@calstatela.edu
Website: https://jocelynhuerta18.wixsite.com/my-site-1
Instructor: Jemima Wyman

https://vimeo.com/544813780

Project Statement

My name is Jocelyn Huerta and I’m a crochet artist and stylist. When I discovered crocheting, I never knew it would become such an important part of my life. In 2020, I went through a self-love and self-care journey. During this time, the process of crocheting brought me peace, excitement, and hope for the future. Historically crocheting was a skill that many young girls were expected to learn during their childhood, but as clothes became cheaper and more available it was no longer necessary to learn. Once these kids became older, they had more time on their hands which is why they would come back to this hobby. I was introduced to crocheting through my grandma’s making and now I am interested in revitalizing the practice and the wearing, to a new generation through the type of garments and styling that I do. I hope to regenerate crocheting for a new generation by incorporating modern accessories, youthful colors, and contemporary styling. I enjoy creating pieces that make me feel comfortable, pretty, and unique. I hope that my garments make the wearer feel secure and confident.

Styling to me is another important part of my life where I can play dress up and combine different attires to shift tones and transgress categories of fashion. I tend to incorporate modern contemporary styles with my crocheting, to show people that fashion can be fun it doesn’t have to be so serious. Through my making and styling I want to create an open mindedness approach to fashion. This I believe can happen through a playfulness and disregard of strict categories when making garments and styling for contemporary fashion.

Student Name: Katherine Cermeno
Email: kathycermenos@gmail.com
Instructor: Jemima Wyman

https://vimeo.com/544785911

Project Statement

I, Katherine Cermeno, am a non-binary Latine (she/they) that aims to portray fashion as

personal and artistic storytelling. Through fashion, I am able to reconnect with my inner child and fully express myself. Therefore, I am able to recognize the performativity behind gender, and this is what inspires my aesthetic today. I like to describe my aesthetic as a “goth fairy drag princess”. I reside in San Bernardino, CA, one of the poorest cities in California. I adjusted to my low-income status early in life. I felt most inspired when I thrifted, and later learning about the culture of fashion, as well as the waste it constantly produces inspired me to produce garments with intent, not necessarily from scratch. Used clothing hold memories and the creator’s hard work, which deserve to live on. I find that the hands-on techniques usually used for DIY and 90’s punk garments speak immensely to the multi-dimensional artist and creative residing within me. As a plus size, non-binary, brown artist, my identities defy a multitude of societal standards. My continuous self-growth allows me to celebrate these defying characteristics, which I hope can allow others to find the same beauty within themselves.

Student Name: Cindy Nguyen
Email: cnguy175@calstatela.edu
Website: https://cindyscreations231.wixsite.com/my-site-1 
Instructor: Jemima Wyman

https://vimeo.com/543408526

Project Statement

My name is Cindy Nguyen and I am creating my own spring/summer mini collection that is connected to one of my previous projects: a catalog of Dressaholics for my brand, Cindy’s Creations.  My main focus of this work is experimenting with the process of making a collection that includes a tech-pack: mood board, sketches with swatch, digital illustrations, contact sheets, spec sheets, hang tags, and the actual garment. My work is intended to target an audience that is for young adult women that enjoy wearing dresses on a warm day. My website features this catalog with other projects of digital collections called “The Waiting Room”, Kidsplorers, and handmade projects such as “In Space” Foil Bra and process of baby pants. The main purpose of my work is that I want my audience to wear simple, casual dresses that they enjoy where it looks fun, flirty, appropriate, and mostly comfortable. I have noticed that when women shop for dresses, it does not always feel comfortable or have essential parts such as pockets so for my collection, my dresses will include them.

Student Name: Ahleahyah Piggee
Email: ahleahyah@gmail.com
Instagram: ahleahyahpiggee
Website: https://ahleahyah.wixsite.com/website
Instructor: Jemima Wyman

https://vimeo.com/544876590

Project Statement

My name is Ahleahyah Piggee. I’m in my 5th and last year at CSULA. I’m a fashion design major planning to go into costume design in theater. My portfolio consists of 5 different musicals, where I costume designed the main characters. I start with coming up with a moodboard, color palettes, sketches, tech packs, and bringing the costumes to life. My whole message for my work is representation. Representation of people of color in theater is lacking and it needs to change. I’m costume designing the main characters from Heathers, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, and Once on This Island. When bringing the costumes to life it’s going to consist of some seamstress work, as well as some upcycling. I want to showcase why representation is key. People of color deserve to be heard too. I’m very passionate on this subject because not only do I want to costume design in this field, but I also want to perform in this field.

My favorite garments are the garments I costume designed for Heathers the musical. I’m most excited for these garments. I really love how the came out. I’m excited to bring these costumes to life. I obviously wanted to make the costume my own, so I stayed away from looking at previous costume designers take on the musical. I looked at the musical and came up with my own interpretation of what I believe these characters should look like. My driving force for creating my design in deciphering the script and really getting to the characters. My main purpose for my work is to send a message out to everyone who plays a part in the theater community. My message is that inclusivity in theater is important and at the moment its lacking representation. The script allows me to come up with a substantial body of work that will lead to a beautiful garment. I purposely drew each character as a black woman because black women are constantly being ignored by society. This statement I’m making is a call to action on how we will not continue to be ignored. Inclusivity is what I’m pushing for in the theater community. This is a field that I’m interested in going into so being an activist for this community will not only help me, but future generations.

Student Name: Ricardo Sanchez
Email: rsanc134@calstatela.edu
Website: https://capstoneportfolio2021.wordpress.com

https://vimeo.com/139074715

Project Statement

The purpose of my project: to figure out how I can address all the issues within the industry, in order to fix the problems and ensure a better future. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem. 

The pieces I used for the styling photo shoot are all clothing that could be found in anyone’s closet: shirts, jackets, skirts, dresses, pants, etc. The multipurpose bag is made out of a button up that someone donated. The denim jacket, bag, and jeans were made out of pieces from the donation box.  I want everyone to see that you can bring back the excitement associated with new clothes by reinventing the pieces you already own. You can rethink the way your clothes are put together, in order to make them feel new. You potentially could keep them forever, instead of getting rid of them. Upcycling is something that I hope people will do more of in the future. It allows room for creativity and it also helps the world by not polluting the environment. 

I hope that people start analyzing their shopping habits and stop buying so many clothes.

Student Name: Ariel Suarez
Email: ariel.j.suarez@gmail.com
Website: https://arieljsuarez.wordpress.com/ 
Instructors: Carole Lung & Jemima Wyman

https://vimeo.com/543456290

Project Statement

My name is Ariel Suarez, I am a fiber artist at California State University Los Angeles. My work is centered on the idea of constructing a persona that is used to present oneself to the rest of the world, while at the same time providing protection by deflecting rejection and otherness, two very common experiences of LGBT people. I work with costumes and clothing to explore this theme of presentation. 

My biggest sources of inspiration are from the video games I found comfort in as a child, including titles such as Metal Gear and Final Fantasy. I am also very influenced by LGBT and gender non-conforming music artists such as Prince, Freddy Mercury, David Bowie, and SOPHIE. 

The main purpose of my garments are to explore other ways of being, that are not typical in daily life. My work speaks to my experiences of alienation and depersonalization that come with growing up LGBTQ. My work will always be for LGBTQ people who feel on the fringes in their daily life. My work aims to build on those themes by pushing the boundaries of presentation and persona, while also finding peace, comfort and community beyond this imposed and limiting alienation.

Student Name: Javon Tillett

Project Statement

My name is Javon Tillett and I am a Studio Artist. I have been a practicing artist for over   seven years My art practice includes working with various mediums including drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture, installation and textiles I particularly enjoy creating things that are useful and fashionable therefore my current portfolio focus mainly on my textile works. It includes a quilted baby blanket, knitted hats and cross-body bags. My projects often have an element of upcycling or are inspired by DIY culture. Fortunately, during this extended period of lockdown this focus, and way of working, suits the current situation of a pandemic

My favorite creations so far are my handbag and cross body hand knitted bags, which are made from yarn, muslin, and recycled (?) denim fabric.My designs are accessible, casual and intended for a wide range of people to enjoy.

Student Name: Christopher Aguilar
Email: chrisisaacaguilar@gmail.com
Instagram: ciaguilar_ and bigguchi
Website: ciaguilar.com
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544681597

Project Statement

Due to the pandemic, there has been a halt in trading bobbleheads. There have been limitations on face-to-face gatherings, interactions, and social events. Bobbleheadmania needed their time to adapt and grow during these times of social disarray. The app helps to adapt to these limitations and the bobblehead community to grow, collect, trade, and sell safely. As an avid bobblehead collector with an app like Bobbleheadmania, users from the community can connect with dozens of others to indulge in our collection.

Student Name: Andrew Merendino
Email:  andrewtmerendino@gmail.com
Website: andrewmerendino.myportfolio.com
Instructor: Prof. Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544782337

Project Statement

Since the spark of COVID 19, stress levels from everyone all around the world have skyrocketed higher than ever.  One group in particular has been hit hard: smokers working from home. With the ban of popular vape flavors, smokers have reverted back to their old filthy ways and doubled the amount of money they spend on cigarettes. My solution is to promote a campaign titled SmokeDemic to help end this smoking predicament for current users at home.

The goal is not to lecture my audience nor make them feel as if they are viewing another typical Anti Smoking advertisement, but to approach their problem with art/illustrations which will hopefully have them reflect on themselves and their overall addiction.  Addressing the seriousness of smoking through illustrations that revolve around comedic themes based off of the side effects and challenges of tobacco use may help alter their current addiction.  

The hope of creating an ultimatum for smoker’s working from home, and even smokers in general has and always will be a challenge. But from the POV of a former smoker, it is my pleasure to offer my possible solution to those facing this habit.

Student Name: Anthony Ancheta
Email: anthony.ancheta24.aa@gmail.com
Instagram: apa.creative
Website: apancheta.com
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543465274 

Visual Media 1 (Billboard Ver.) https://vimeo.com/543468227

Visual Media 2 (Vertical Ver.) https://vimeo.com/543466336

Project Statement

Depression in adulthood, specifically those ages between 40-55, is a topic that is often avoided due to people not having any knowledge of awareness for its symptoms. There is also a stigma associated with having mental illness and has a negative influence on the attitude and intent toward seeking mental health services among adults with depression.Health Alert!is an awareness campaign that informs adults on what depression is and what steps to take in order to seek the help they need.

Whitney Ao
Email: whitneyao.art@gmail.com
Instagram: ao_design.whitney
Website: https://whitneybaostar.wixsite.com/aosdesign

https://vimeo.com/539849779

Project Statement

This capstone project was about that since we’ve been going through a hard time of this pandemic, and I realized that people really need to know how to release their life stress not just because of the pandemic, but all of their life stress. So the goal of the project is to help California State University students since most students have to work at the same time while they’re pursuing their education, so we would like to help to reduce their stress levels by posting and sharing helpful posts on the Instagram account.

Student Name: Daniel Ascencio
Email: daasen1@gmail.com
Instagram: astralhorizon.design
Website: astralhorizondesign.com
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/543633831

Project Statement

#TellMeNoALS is an advertising campaign created for Kiesel Custom Guitars and the ALS Association. The advertisement campaign is meant to spark interest on the disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS. The target audience is the pro and amateur guitarist communities in 4 age demographics between ages 18-54 because ALS is a disease that can affect anyone. The reason Kiesel Guitars was chosen to represent the campaign was because they have a history of supporting ALS patients. They are also the sole carrier of signature guitars for prominent musician and ALS patient Jason Becker. The painterly style of the imagery maintains the more emotional and human atmosphere set forth by the quotes. The goal of the campaign is to persuade viewers into becoming educated and engaging in discussions about how ALS affects the guitar community.

Student Name: Kimberly Banh 
Email: kimberlybanh@yahoo.com
Instagram: mochimaestro
Website: kbanhdesigns.com
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/544742633

Project Statement

Loneliness is a state of emotional being that is extremely common among college-aged people in America, yet not treated as seriously as other mental illnesses. Lonely no More is a campaign that reaches out to those who are experiencing loneliness and offers them a solution.

Student Name: Adriana Barrera
Email: adribee.art@gmail.com
Instagram: adrianabarrera.art
Website: https://adrianabarreradesi.wixsite.com/my-site
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/5544847336

Project Statement 

The outdoors belong to all of us. It is a place for people to feel free, get inspired and be at peace. However, BIPOC today experience barriers to the outdoors, leaving the current landscape far from equitable. That needs to change. How can we help bring BIPOC into the outdoors? The problem isn't that BIPOC don’t want to be a part of the outdoors; the problem is that they don’t feel welcome. Currently about 95% of those who visit National Parks are white. Birds of a Feather California was created to break through the barriers BIPOC face everyday in the outdoors. From transportation issues to gear/equipment, Birds of a Feather’s goal is to take people outdoors to get in touch with nature. From hiking, camping or even glamping events, Birds of a Feather wants to help support and nurture positive outdoor experiences for BIPOC.

Along with hosting meet-ups and outdoor recreational events, Birds of a Feather also creates tote bags, sun hats and bandanas that would boost the confidence of any explorer and also promote the cause.

Student Name: Tim Byun 
Email: tbyun92@gmail.com
Instagram: timbyun
Website: timbyundesign.com
Instructor: Z. Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544430592

Project Statement

My Senior Capstone Project is centered around promoting awareness of the Korean-American community in America and in South Korea. Korean-Americans face the issue of being identified as Korean in America and as American when in South Korea. The goal of this project is to create a campaign to spread awareness of Korean-American issues and highlight them to American and Korean audiences, and to share stories with a campaign that Korean-American communities can identify with. This campaign is called 'We Are Korean-Americans' or 'W.A.K.A.' I chose to create posters to be displayed digitally and in print format. The pieces in this campaign aim to bring authenticity and visibility by featuring every single Korean surname, merging Korean and English characters to create a complete typeface, telling personal stories through the lens of food culture, and using traditional Korean visuals.

Student Name: Christian Carwardine
Email: hello@crstn.design
Instagram: crstn.design
Website: crstn.design
Instructor: Z. Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544371973

Project Statement

Black lives are so often robbed of opportunities for experimentation, curiosity, vulnerability, softness, and joy that our non-Black counterparts enjoy. My work focuses on amplifying intersectionality within the Black community and providing a protected space to color outside the lines of the ridiculous hypermasculine social expectations placed on Black people. Bump the Ends is about unity, education, and bridging the gap between cisgender Black folks and transgender Black folks. Using nostalgic imagery from culturally prominent archives, like Jet magazine, I communicate that the Black experience is not monolithic, yet rather multiple, varied, and limitless.

Bump the Ends imagines a world in which Black people are given opportunities to be vulnerable in public spaces; a world where we are given grace and praise for growing our hair out naturally; and one where we are told that we are also soft and delicate instead of just strong and fierce. Bump the Ends is about Black cohesion, and the celebration of existing authentically, embracing our vulnerabilities, and reshaping our futures as a collective community—a community that protects and nurtures our individualities while providing safe opportunities for Black fragility, experimentation, and transformation.

Student Name: Lauren Dahncke
Email:  ldahncke17@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-dahncke/
Website: https://ldahncke17.wixsite.com/mysite
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/543555111

Project Statement

Being in a toxic relationship is not healthy. But knowing whether a person is in one, and then knowing how to leave may help. How to Leave a Toxic Relationship is a comic intended to show a dysfunctional relationship and showing the actions to take to leave the relationship and safely leave.

Student Name: Ashley Del Real
Email: ashley.delreal7@gmail.com
Website: ashleydelreal.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544744668
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544750937

https://vimeo.com/544751632

Project Statement:

My capstone project is creating an interactive zine for my local library, Azusa Public Library. The zine is to help promote the library and teach the community what our library can provide for them. With computers and phones giving people more access to the internet, the libraries aren’t being used to their fullest potential. There are many classes, events, and different opportunities that libraries provide to bring the community together. I created two zines to be handed out at any public area (example: coffee shops, stores, city hall, etc.) for the community to see and pick up; the first one is an Endless Card that includes essential information on the library, their events of the month, and their bookmobile. The second zine is called Stack Books; this foldable is the book pick of the month. Each mini-book has a short description of what it is about and who recommends it. These two zines are for print to hand out to the public; this was decided because not everyone has social media or a computer, and this zine is supposed to be fun and interactive for the whole community.

Student Name: Cassandra Giang
Email: phancasticdesigns@gmail.com
Instagram: phancastic_cg
Twitter: Phancastic
Website: https://phancasticdesigns.wixsite.com/my-site
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/543580784

Project Statement

The topic of gaming has been overshadowed by the stereotypes of society. While we do hear about people who are addicted and antisocial, gaming can also be beneficial. As someone who grew up playing games, gaming helped when I was at my lows in life living in an Asian household where I was told all I should do is study or read when I’m not doing homework. My goal was to shed some light about the gaming community and how it’s not what people always perceive it to be. I’m someone who listens instead of talking, so for my project I wanted to listen to and share stories from those who had similar experiences with gaming. As an illustrator, I used my skills to bring life to those stories. As a designer, I created a brand that represents gaming and communication. I then created a blog-style website to share the stories with the world. My hope is to help people frame the way they think about gaming and not judgmental first glance.

Student Name: Cynthia Grigorian
Email: cynthiagrigorian@gmail.com
Website: www.cynthiagrigorian.com
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544878974

Project Statement

How can we motivate people to integrate nature into urban environments to ensure a sustainable future? Nature has the ability to transform our lives, however, the inability to integrate it into our cities is having a serious impact on our physical and mental health. Creating an application that gamifies miro gardening will encourage users to implement the knowledge gained and to apply them to the real world. The app will allow users to take instant action, reprogram urban spaces, and create a more sustainable future. The app will promote well-being, boost the economy, mitigate pollution, inspire physical activity, be an educational tool for children, and improve neighborhood safety. Gardening can be overwhelming for some, so creating an app that is light-hearted, calming, and gratifying can ease users into the gardening world. Users will get the opportunity to learn how to garden while raising money for local nonprofit organizations through virtual coins earned in-game.

Student Name: Miguel Jeronimo 
Email: ajmiguel1998@gmail.com
Instagram: miguel_studios
Website: https://www.miguelstudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-jeronimo-084900167
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/539947388

Project Statement

Be Loved is a book all about self-care, positive reinforcement, and emotion for college students to engage with. It utilizes expressive writing, which is a therapy technique that involves answering questions or prompts, in writing. These questions promote deep emotional thinking and positive psychology. 

College students live under the constant pressure of going to school, working, and managing a social life, neglecting self-care and mental health. This is why anxiety, depression, and other mental health-related issues have increased among college students. Worst of all, college students are not seeking therapy or any help to support them through tough times. 

Be Loved is a one-week process with three open-ended questions for each day of the week. It comes with activities and positive messages to set the mood. The goal is to provide college students a chance to see if expressive writing is something they find helpful and hopefully keep pursuing it. If writing is not helpful, the book also provides additional resources. 

The book helps college students to see their successes and remind them that they are AWESOME.

Student Name: Jesse Villa
Email: jvilla8@calstatela.edu

https://vimeo.com/544865469

Project Statement:

In recent news of October 2020, PC workstation has been booming drastically due to covid, which shifted the world to remote learning for school and work. Not many people are familiar with specific programs on computer hardware and capability. In this senior capstone project, Aimics is a website designed to teach and educate others about PC components.

Aimics website link: http://jvpixdesign.com/aimics

Student Name: Alex Joj-Escun"
Email: alexanderjescun@gmail.com
Instagram: monrovia.artist/
Website: https://elexjoj8198eb.wixsite.com/my-site-1/work and ajojesc.myportfolio.com
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/541855275

Project Statement

The Anti-semitism and Holocaust exhibit is a virtual exhibition for college-aged students. It focuses on a social justice issue and form of hate that targets many Jewish-Americans in the United States. This is seen by swastika symbols, vandalism of Jewish-owned buildings, attacks on synagogues, or hate groups such as Neo-nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. It is a growing issue that continues to occur across America. For this reason, this project was created to inform viewers about the effects of anti-semitism. So that they may take action to stop it from growing in their local communities.

Link to the virtual exhibition

https://www.artsteps.com/view/604071fa9edba6745a37cf77

Student Name: Phillip Landeros
Email: philliplanderos93@gmail.com
Instagram: landerosphillip
Website: https://prldesigns.myportfolio.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/phillip- landeros-5145541a7
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://www.vimeo.com/544887665

Project Statement

Conversion therapy is a grotesque practice that punishes children and adults for their sexual identity. As a gay man,LGBTQ+ supporter, and designer/artist, I want to help end this vicious process by bringing light to its harmful effects.When designing my posters, I wanted these Christians, parents, and conservatives to see the side effects of "trying"to change their child's mentality. With these posters, I want people to know the dangers of conversion therapythrough expressing with illustration, color and making it easy to understand what is going on through the eyes ofchildren and religion. It may take some time to know what change is, so instead of attacking these parents andconservatives, they need to learn what has been going on. There will be questions toward people who don'tunderstand what is going on from the child's perspective. Children and teens are still going through puberty, soinstead of assuming or changing their path, we can all make a difference and bring awareness. These posters willquestion these people to take it upon themselves to seek help in the present and future. I am not here to forceanybody tochange; I'mjusthere tohelp makepeople seethetruth.

Student Name: HaEun Lee 
Email: haeunleedesigns@gmail.com
Instagram: noms_and_art
Website: haeunleedesigns.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/haeun-lee-88b8031a7
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://www.vimeo.com/543814961

Project Statement

Just like design, I believe food is a universal language that brings people together. I approach design like entering a kitchen that’s equipped with unlimited ingredients. With these unlimited ingredients, I use the principles of design to choose what flavor is appropriate for the project brief.

Through my hobby of watching food travel vlogs, I noticed that the low-income food culture outside the U.S. is unique in the way that they come up with creative recipes out of necessity because of their limited resources. Therefore, the capstone project brief I cooked up was, “How can food become an enjoyable experience for low-income American families?”

The best experiences occur when all five senses of the body are stimulated. Therefore, Everything Includedbreaks down a single recipe by categorizing each ingredient of that recipe into the five different senses. Thought this, each specific ingredient is viewed in more depth informing viewers how to create a more engaging and enjoyable experience. 

Everything Included plans to continue on creating experiences using different recipes from various cuisines around the world. Ultimately, I want Everything Included to become an experience that everyone can partake in. Thank you! 

Student Name: Jasmine Li
Email: Jasminelidesigns@gmail.com
Website: https://jasminelidesigns.wixsite.com/portfolio
Instructor: Zachary Vernon 

https://vimeo.com/544388209

Project Statement

Composition bloomed from the desire to tackle the ever-growing trash problem in the world. The beauty industry is guilty of putting ⅓ of plastic waste into U.S. landfills from their single use products. There are many eco-friendly brands out there, but they do not seem as popular as the “big name brands.” People seem to gravitate towards sleek plastic products rather than the friendly eco-brown. This leads to the main question of “how can sustainable makeup packaging be more desirable to consumers?” 

The main goal was to show that there are eco-friendly options out there that can make products look great and be amazing for the environment.

Composition became a brand that utilizes sustainable and biodegradable packaging materials like compostable cardboard and vegetable ink as a replacement for the metals and plastics usually seen with makeup packaging. This project is not meant to solve the whole beauty industry waste problem, but it is meant to be a small step towards a brighter future without plastic. I’m looking forward to thinking and solving more issues like this one, where sustainability should be and can be applied.

Student Name: Valeria Medina 
Email: valmed.021@gmail.com
Instagram: arte_blanche_
Website: valmed021.wixsite.com
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/543464564 

Project Statement

“Over It” is a project that is all about breakups, and is targeted towards 18-25 year olds who are in that fresh post-breakup phase. Using Instagram as the outlet, there would be a feed that displays anonymous entries (via email) in a visually and aesthetically pleasing way. As opposed to simple generic quote accounts that already exist on Instagram, these would be real people’s thoughts and feelings being posted on a feed that would look like one cohesive and ongoing design composed of multiple designs. It would consist of different designs that blend throughout the feed all while organizing the quotes in certain parts of the designs to have each quote displayed as its own post when individually clicked on. Not only is it an outlet for people to post anonymous entries and see other entries on designs, but it is also interactive in the sense that they can participate in polls and questions on the stories. The sans-serif typeface, Verveine, would be used consistently throughout all the entries because it doesn’t compete or get lost within the designs and the neutral green color palette would be the account’s staple colors because it is scientifically proven to calm people.

Student Name: Stacey Ocheita 
Email: shini0102@gmail.com
Instagram: cydonia_graphics 
Website: https://cydoniagraphics.com/Portfolio/
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544850052

Project Statement     

Being a storyteller is one of the things I am passionate about. For this project, a person finds themselves wandering a desert filled with mazes while feeling lost in their direction. This short comic is a reflection of emotions from students that were affected by the pandemic. Statistics show that, due to the pandemic, university students are having a hard time coping and are worried about their future. The goal for this project is to help students that are feeling low, feel better about their stress and anxieties. During these times it is very common to lose a sense of who we are and why we are doing the things we are doing. A comic book medium was chosen to give the project the space it needed to tell a story. Mazes were put in the comic to not only serve the plot but, give the story a fun experience.  I hope this comic helps give students a sense of belonging and to know that they are not alone in their endeavors. 

Student Name: Faith Prollamante
Email: faithloproll@gmail.com
Website: http://faithprollamante.com/
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544877483

Project Statement

Phat Threads is a social media blog for plus-size women in the LA area, aimed to close the gap of accessibility between straight and plus size clothing. Each blog post touches on various topics related to the audience’s needs and frustrations involved with finding clothes. I was inspired to make Phat Threads from my own personal experiences being frustrated trying to find clothes/stores that will fit my body, as well as finding ways to express my style with the limited options I have.

Student Name: Courtney Quod
Email: clquod@gmail.com
Website: courtneyquod.myportfolio.com

https://vimeo.com/544847181

Project Statement

For my Senior Capstone project I wanted to focus on how graphic design can be used to promote accessibility. I started with the problem that the stigma revolved around disabilities deters students at higher education institutions from taking advantage of valuable campus resources. Often times, this is the first time students with disabilities attending college have to be their own advocate and seek any assistance or help they need without a parent or guardian. The objective was to re-brand the current Cal State LA Office for Students with Disabilities into a Wellness Center. The new Cal State LA Student Wellness Center will better aim the focus on student needs while reducing the pressure of seeking help.

Student Name: Krystal Robles
Email: krysclear21@gmail.com
Website: https://www.krystalr.com/
Prototype Link: https://xd.adobe.com/view/89fb01ef-74fc-4806-b80d-83562a8c064a-dca8/
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/544864194

Project Statement

Guardian is a mobile app that reduces stress and anxiety and fosters a greatersense of personal safety for users. It provides access to information andresources, GPS tracking, live streaming, an emergency alarm, a way to makefake calls or texts, as well as a discreet way of getting out of a dangerous oruncomfortable situation to help keep people safe. It prioritizes personal safety, focusing on harassment, assault, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes that often go unreported.

Prototype Link: https://xd.adobe.com/view/89fb01ef-74fc-4806-b80d-83562a8c064a-dca8/

Student Name: Mark Rosenau
Email: mcr1094@gmail.com
Website: markrosenaudesign.myportfolio.com
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/544789496

Project Statement

Greetings! My name is Mark Rosenau and I am a graphic design major. I love creating fun and interactive experiences like branding and apps. And, when ‘app-licable’, I simply cannot resist the urge to try to make you laugh.

Due to the pandemic forcing us into an online-only environment, I conceptualized a new app titled “Eggl”, with the intent to bring the Cal State LA community closer together. Its main features involve facilitating relationships with fellow students and getting students more involved with the bigger campus community. This app provides a simple way to keep track of and sign-up for campus events with the calendar system. Additionally, like any social media, students can create and interact with posts about their academic and personal life. Students can also share their academic skills with the collaboration feature for tasks like schoolwork or personal projects for fun. Indeed, if this project were to be realized, with Eggl students of all personalities and majors can grow together and network in this new online community.

Student Name: Salvador Contreras
Email: contrerasdesignco@gmail.com
Website: https://sal-contreras.com/
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/544363006

Project Statement

Student Homelessness in Los Angeles County is a series of printed works highlighting the issue of homelessness amongst college students in the LA area. The issue of homelessness in LA and the surrounding areas is well known, however, homelessness amongst college student students isn’t discussed as often. This was created in order for students to realize that their classmates may be experiencing trouble outside the classroom.

Student Name:  Sophia Sandoval
Email: sandovalsophia9@gmail.com
Instagram: sophiavsandoval
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophia-sandoval-ba488b1b5
Website: https://sophiavsandoval.weebly.com/ 
Instructor: Jimmy Moss

https://vimeo.com/540502704

Project Statement: 

The children’s book, Oscar and Emma, tells a story of two siblings (Oscar and Emma)​ growing up in a Latino household with strong machismo and marianismo values. These values are what bring a gender imbalance into Latinx homes which can be extremely harmful to children in the long run. Oscar and Emma was made to create a conversation about how harmful the machismo/marianismo mindset is in Latino households.

Second Media Piece: (Oscar and Emma eBook) 

https://issuu.com/sophiavsandoval/docs/oscarandemma

Student Name: Henry Trinh 
Email: htrinh.design@gmail.com
Instagram:  ryy.designs
Website: htrinhdesign.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-trinh-3579331b4
Instructor: Zachary Vernon

https://vimeo.com/542951807

Project Statement

Misconceptions about the asexual (ace) community are problematic because they influence how people do not take ace people seriously and/or not believe them. There are many resources out there that touch upon ace misconceptions, but there was an opportunity to showcase the information in a different way.

The purpose of Ace Disclosures is to debunk ace misconceptions through a branded Instagram account that uses typography in a puzzle-like way to engage viewers. Instagram was chosen since imagery is a focus on the platform and the carousel format adds an interactive element.   

The project was informed by Asexual Artists created by Lauren Jankowski and the interviews of ace people proved invaluable in researching about ace misconceptions and the effects it has on the ace community. The outcomes for this project are to have people be educated on ace misconceptions, respect the thoughts and feelings of ace people, and to educate themselves on the ace community through other sources.cThis project is important to me because the best use of design is when it’s being used to help others. Also, it helped me connect to a community where I am still trying to figure out where I belong in it.

Student Name: Dulce Villanueva
Email: villanuevadulcea@gmail.com
Website: https://dulcevillanueva.myportfolio.com/ 
Instructor: Professor Zachary Vernon

Project Statement

The arqive is an online map of stories created and collected by and for queer people from all around the world. The objective of the project is to transition The arqive website to a mobile application. This transition is important to the LGBTQ+ community because there are currently no applications dedicated to represent the queer community besides dating apps. In the process of this transition, I have learned that having an application targeted to the LGBTQ+ community will help people from all around the world be able to find resources, historical events, and stories that they can read, share, and relate with. The goal of this project is to give people in the LGBTQ+ community a safe space to communicate with other members.

To see a prototype of The arqive (launching later this month on the Apple store and Google Play go to this link.  The arqive

Student Name: Daniel Amenero
Email: erographs@gmail.com
Instagram: erographs
Website: danielamenero.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544327196 
Instructor: Luis Bermudez, Cole Case, Richard Wearn

Project Statement

RED MATTER

Are you confused? 

The grey matter, it starts to splatter turning red, every disaster choosing no master destroying the plaster stuck-o praying for harm, praying for harm, praying for harm, you’re praying for harmony

Are you confused?

the colors are bright, they say that it’s right, we are so dark, we can’t all be wrong.

Are you confused?

Wake up smiling end of the day your dying, you start to pound, your heart out your chest it starts to break the wave, you’re under the crest

Are you confused?

(inhale)(exhale)

we all are.

Student Name: Shugar Cantillon 
Email: shugar2bii@gmail.com
Instagram: scantillon
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543803617
Instructor: Oliverio Rodriguez

Project Statement 

My title of my works is called “The Last You”, where I create various panels out of pieces of plywood materials as well as various ceramic sculptures of a flying bat.  For the plywood panels, I use sand as my primary medium to symbolize my indecisiveness throughout the COVID-19 months. Originally, they were supposed to be assembled into a life-sized portable gift box, but then it shifted to the idea of being assembled into a large version of a pinhole camera, then into a makeshift coffin for myself, then into a sculpture that had nothing to do with the ceramic works, etc. As for the ceramic pieces, they express a part of myself where I function during the night and I wish that I could fly away to freedom. They also express my desire to be remembered for centuries. The habit of creating and assembling them tie into myself, where they must be small and tell a story regardless of if they’re part of something bigger. Overall, though my designs are simplistic, the stories behind each of them are ambiguously complex.

Student Name: Vastie Castellanos
Email: vastie.castellanos@yahoo.com
Instagram: artby_vastie
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543746755
Instructor: Oliverio Rodriguez

Project Statement

My name is Vastie Castellanos and the title of my work is Pursuit of Dreams. I am working on a series of oil paintings of street vendors, focusing on themes such as immigration and life in Los Angeles. This made me want to focus my paintings on the hard work that many immigrants do to have a better life. My work spotlights a multidisciplinary approach to representations and practices of food vending across time and space. By focusing on street vendors and telling the stories of those who make it, sell it, regulate it and eat it. My work reveals the various roles that street food plays in cities of the past and present; they show the relationship between micro-enterprise and urban liveliness. They show how processes of urbanization shape both the social lives of streets and can in turn be shaped by vendors themselves. There are about 50,000 street vendors operating in Los Angeles, many are undocumented, many are refugees, whose families came here fleeing violence in Central America. Many are seniors, most of them are women of color. Street vendors are the lifeblood of LA’s food culture. They are part of the visible fabric of our streets. Their presence makes sidewalks safer and more welcoming. Street vendors are people we can all relate to and have our own stories to tell about them.

Student Name: Andres Hernandez-Alger
Email: ahernandezalger@gmail.com
Instagram: andrrrrespt2
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543747096
Instructor: Oli Rodriguez

Project Statement

As an artist, it is my duty to continue to make work regarding current events in my community. By creating work that focuses on these events, the issue at hand is addressed directly by raising awareness, pointing out the injustice, and keeping the conversation going. Specifically for my project, I am focusing on Latino immigrants and issues such as gentrification and discrimination that a lot of people face when moving to the United States. In the past year alone, there have been many events regarding our community that could allow me to create work that is not only relevant but also a call to action. Recently, another street vendor was killed in California and there were protests in Echo Park due to the LAPD clearing out the homeless encampment. Because these issues are what I am highlighting, I selected different photos of protests calling for social reform against issues such as the treatment of the homeless and immigrants, as well as gentrification and how it affects predominantly Latino neighborhoods. I also chose to include another photo that I took in Highland Park, again portraying the emptiness of the area, but also criticizing the changes being made in the community. I will be using these images to create a painting that embodies the impact of immigrants and how they built these communities and highlight issues such as gentrification and racism have put our communities at a disadvantage. I chose to include my most recent work, whichhttps://www.instagram.com/andrrrrespt2/ embodies someone like me, who was born and raised in LA, but can appreciate the cultural values and importance of the impact that the immigrants before us have left in our communities and wants to uplift and give these people a voice.

Student Name: Iliana Isaia
Email: ilianaisaiaofficial@gmail.com
Instagram: ili.creates
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/540787893
Instructor: Professor Oliverio Rodriguez

Project Statement

The title of my project is called Afakasi, which means to be half caste or to be half Samoan. I created 9 images of myself wearing traditional Samoan attire in front of a projection of my family’s Samoan tapa cloth, my Samoan tattoo that I got that represents my family and I, and the backgrounds of Samoan landscapes. I’m creating these images to represent my Samoan culture and the traditional dance called the Taualuga. I am doing so by wearing traditional Samoan taualuga dance apparel from the dress, necklace, and headpiece. The themes in my work surround the ideas of my ethnicity and cultural identity. The way these pieces flow together, are due to showing the process of how I get dressed for the Taualuga dance and also shows myself dancing as well. First, I take images of myself getting ready by adding different clothing, jewelry, and adding the headpiece. I photograph myself with a blank expression to focus on the Samoan apparel, then I portray myself smiling and dancing to celebrate Samoan traditions. I selected these images because not only does it represent my culture but keeping traditions alive as well by dancing for parties, family, and celebrations.

Student Name: Ellisha Javar
Email: javarellisha@gmail.com
Website: https://heythisismyart.tumblr.com/
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543909993
Instructor: Oli Rodriguez  

Project Statement

Having grown up in the South, it was when I decided to move Westward to the Golden Coast of California that I began to connect the dots to voids within myself that were missing. Disconnected from my cultural identity, I was able to find clarity and direction in regard to my Filipino heritage, and ultimately the struggles that many minorities face in American society. With the notion of social construct, systems of oppression, and the lasting effects of colonization, I was able to create pieces in relation to this ongoing issue in society in my final body of work Ako ay Pilipino (I am a Filipino).

From photo collage depicting fragmentation in cultural identity to frosted etched glass representing forgotten minorities, the work in Ako ay Pilipino (I am a Filipino) talks about the erasure of Filipino culture and history as a result of Spanish colonization in the 16th century as well as evoking questions in relation to race and identity in modern day America. 

In particular, these pieces are reflective of societal labels, stereotypes, colorism, and the concept of the invisible minority. With my work referenced heavily from Brown Skin, White Minds Filipino -/ American Postcolonial Psychology by E.J.R. David Ph.D I hope to bring awareness to the psychological problems that many minorities in America face, through my own experiences.

Student Name: Camille Jessie
Email: Camillejessie@aol.com
Website: https://live.foliofusion.com/free/cjessie/camille_jessie
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/542451514
Instructor: Oliverio Rodriguez

Project Statement

Radical Feeling is a creative project exploring text, image, and the ways they relate to one another. It is made up of several cotton linen canvases with 35mm photographs printed onto them. On top of these photographs are hand embroidered words and phrases. Hand stitched embroidery was chosen as the way to express these phrases onto the canvas because of the physical connection created between the artist, the canvas, and the words. The images are some I have taken over the last few years and the phrases they have been paired with have been overheard or have been thought of by me. This project makes the viewer feel emotions and vulnerability that is triggered by the text on images. There is a poetic and romantic feeling that comes from the pieces in this project that allows the viewer to think about their own relationships and feelings with a poetic and romanticized lens.

Student Name: Biancca Lemus
Email: biancca.lemus96@gmail.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544368952 
Instructor: Cole Case

Project Statement

My name is Biancca, the name of my series is titled, Life Around Nature, which has been inspired and dedicated to my grandparents especially my maternal grandpa. In my artistic practice I have worked with different types of mediums such as painting, drawing, photography, and ceramics. I have always had a type of connection to nature because of all my family members have garden in their house especially my maternal grandparents in Mexico. Throughout the series of my artwork the theme connects to nature and landscape and understanding of the beauty of nature. In each of these artworks have a specific meaning behind them and a connect to me. All three of my art works on acrylic on canvas for each work as in the first it’s a painting at the pier when I get anxiety or need to relax and clear my mind, I would go there to help myself clear mind. The two painting are the main dedications to my grandparent the single represent love and support from my loved ones, as for the final painting I did devoted it to my grandpa with his favorite flower known as Alcatraz flower “Lily flower” and rose in between showing how much I miss and love my grandpa. The reason for this series is my appreciation and dedication to my grandparent and to nature itself. To show the appreciation of beauty that nature has shown and provide for us to value and not to take advantage of nature. 

Student Name: Michael Leone
Email: mleone3@calstatela.edu
Website: https://sonicthehamster200.wixsite.com/technoccult
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543743121
Instructor: Cole Case 

Project Statement

Who are these strange yellow things? Cactus? Stuffed toys? Who else but the Overman. As most people will fall to their complicit life of comfort, the overman are born from strife. The overman watch on as humanity goes on to become last men.The Overmandeals with and pokes fun at ideas such as the gaze, representation, as well as playing with historical elements. No one gazes at the viewer, thus denying their gaze and their importance as spectator to the scene. Figures that look human though often ambiguous of being male or female recline and live their lives as the absurd world surrounds them. This is a work of humor, unease, pseudo sexual instances and all sorts of weird.

Student Name: Wenjing Liu
Email: wenliu1218@gmail.com
Website: https://live.foliofusion.com/free/wenjingliu/capstone_2021
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543467681
Instructor: Cole Case 

Project Statement

The title of my project is Chinese Culture. The mediums I use are mostly acrylic on canvas. Due to my background and the influence of the environment, I’m visualizing the cultural theme of Chinese traditional festivals, opera, food, and drink. Peking Opera is an important form of Chinese traditional culture, in which a variety of artistic elements have been used as a symbol of Chinese culture. Eating habits are more than just three meals a day to quench one's thirst and hunger. It often contains a unique culture. Eating and drinking is also a medium of emotional communication between people. I choose these elements because they are representative and distinctive. They are all passed down from hundreds of years ago. These elements can be connected together, they are reflected in all aspects of society and customs in life. Traditional culture is big concept, it is so important and it retains its own power and has a unique spiritual temperament.

Student Name: Savaughn Long
Email: savaughnlong@gmail.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/545331847
Instructor: Rodriguez, Oliverio

Project Statement

I make art pieces relating to African Tribal art and culture which I love and enjoy. My art pieces include African themes. I’m made a nice African Congo mask and painted it with multiple colors and did some handmade African abstract art with my clay. My skills focus on hand building since my work is mainly on paintings and sculpture and convey emotions of what my ancestors went through. The color of black people is celebrated through my work of Art, instead of the stereotypes other races put on my people. I show the beauty of black people inside and outside. My paintings are large dimensions of 16 x 20 inches and for my sculptures, handmade with monster clay.

Student Name: Sara E. Lopez
Email: Lopezelizabeth634@gmail.com
Instagram: _serahhliz_
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543738303 
Instructor: Oliverio Rodriguez

Project Statement

My series “Gentrification” is done primarily with acrylic paint on canvas. Growing up and to this day, I've seen how gentrification changed the neighborhood I used to live in and still is prevalent to this day. It affects many aspects of the neighborhood that not many people would

think of. This happens in many other neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area, but I chose to tell it through a lens that is more personal to me. So far, I have painted my views about the erasure of art, specifically murals that have been covered up all over LA by new developers. I also painted about businesses that contribute to gentrification. The new demographic that moves into an area tend to support the new “organic” businesses rather than ones that have been there for generations. Finally, the new addition to the series is about the new housing development in Highland Park. When developers decide to build apartments or condos, they tend to price the rent at a higher rate which then displaces the people that have been living there for generations.

Student Name: Julia Martinez
Email: escapethejuliet101@gmail.com
Instagram: pandasloveburritos
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543870397
Instructor: Cole Case

Project Statement

Have you ever wondered if you truly know the answers to everything? If so, what if I told you might not all be what it seems. Conspiracy theories are my favorite subject, along with world history and Hollywood. Ever since the tragic event of 9/11, my fascination with aliens; and odd celebrity deaths, sparked my interest in conspiracy theories. I began having doubts about what's questionable when it came to specific events outcomes that didn't make sense. I know I'm not alone when it comes to feeling like we are being lied to and need clarification. Hence, my inspiration for wanting to express these issues and my feelings in my artwork over time. This collection illustrates some of the most famous conspiracy theories and historical movements such as true crime cases, famous tragic events, myths, and beliefs seen throughout many centuries. The pieces also will bring awareness of my favorite conspiracy theories, such as Aliens, the Illuminati, Egyptian pyramids, the Moon landing, 9/11, Hollywood corruptions, Presidential scandals, and the Titanic switch conspiracy. The mediums used are ceramics, photography, acrylic paints, and watercolors on 9x12 canvas. These works are also inspired by my favorite conspiracies mentioned from true crime podcasts, YouTube videos of conspiracy theories, TikTok series, and documentaries.  

Student Name: Jas Parker
Email: jptheartist34@gmail.com
Instagram: jptheartist84
Website: https://jptheartist34.wixsite.com/jasparker
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544102789
Instructor: Oli Rodriguez

Project Statement

Queen me is a self-portrait poetry series focusing on the black woman, her voice and identity. 
Her intimate thoughts, personal words, and process of healing through creative expression. 
A voice for the survivors....
This poetry series is a collection of words and images that embodies 
Self-love through tragedy, 
Triumph through pain and
Using portraiture as a way to express one’s feelings. 
A digital diary through imagery, writing, performance, and video.
Ultimately, creating an atmosphere of inspiration, hope and encouragement.
As a woman who has experience many traumas through loss, love and physical violence. 
Who has in endured negative stereotypes around her race, gender, and identity. 
But who has also triumphed through it all and made a way out of no way.
I am here. 
And it’s important for me to stand in my truth, share my voice
and create a series of writing to address issues of racism and violence against women. 
And how we can collectively heal and connect through visual arts.
Spread awareness to One’s own experience.
How we can overcome any situation and how uplift others in the process. 
You are not alone.

Student Name: Celestina Rodriguez
Email: rodriguezcelest@yahoo.com
Website: https://live.foliofusion.com/free/tinnaa/portfolio
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/544176659
Option: Studio Arts

Instructor: Cole Case

Project Statement

My series titled, Inner Thoughts, is inspired by different emotions that we express. It consists of self-portraits made in acrylic. I am a very shy person so when it comes to things such as showing how one feels, I tend to keep that well-hidden. The theme of the series is Uncovering Hidden Emotions. This body of work highlights the importance of expressing emotions and how it shouldn’t be something we are embarrassed about showing. These self-portraits connect to the

theme as they all express an emotion or state of being that many of us bottle up and hide behind a smile. Each portrait depicts a different facial expression correlating to a specific emotion. These emotions being anxiety, depression, and frustration. Text plays a huge part in this series as thought bubbles are incorporated within the background. They showcase what different words and phrases linger on the mind during these moments. The reason for this series is to not only captivate and create a relatable atmosphere for the audience, but to also generate a message of awareness on the normality of emotional expression. We are humans that experience happiness, fear, sadness, and anger, so we shouldn’t be afraid nor told to hide away how we feel.

Student Name: Jessica Sanchez
Email: jessicasanchezortiz1@gmail.com
Instagram: unsuenodorado and project__identidad
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543810595
Instructor: Cole Case

Project Statement

As I’ve grown older, I’ve wanted to connect to my parent’s homeland, so in creating this body of work, I’ve been able to appreciate the culture my family comes from as well as coming to terms with my own queerness in a culture steeped in machismo. I grew up in a Hispanic household that was making the best of being in a foreign country and learning to assimilate, so most of what I know about my culture is second-hand knowledge and from an American point of view. My paintings feature women-identifying creatives, folkloric dancers, mariachi musicians, and singers. La Bruja de Texcoco is a muse of this project, who is a trans singer with a less “passing” look. She has a thick beard, but wears makeup and traditional Latin dresses. She explores her femininity while still embracing features that are more masculine. She shows other queer people like me, who have been questioning their own identity, that who we are doesn’t have to fit in a binary. Latinidad and queerness are not mutually exclusive, despite them always being framed as incompatible. Identidad is a project about self-love and coming to terms with who I am and becoming comfortable with myself.

Student Name: Ivan Sandoval
Email: Khivan175@gmail.com
Instagram: khivan17
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543512290 
Instructor: Oliverio Rodriguez 

Project Statement

My series of paintings is called 誓いChikai(Oath). These are based on the Ukiyo-e  woodblock prints these past few years. I have struggled from depression and anxiety and I grew up being Autistic.  I've always had a strong connection to color and have seen this world differently through this ordeal. As I learned to embrace my flaws, I made an oath to myself and despite recently having to recover from a psychological traumatic experience, I made a promise that I wouldn't give up and that I would learn to face my fears and have this spiritual awakening.  From being part Japanese on my mother’s side it's taught me to value Filial Piety and being able to see the inner beauty in anything which is also known as Wabi Sabi わびさぶ. From having these values and life experiences painting has been a way for me to cope with all these experiences and it's something that's changed me for the better. This is why I chose to include many cultural references to Japan such as cherry blossoms, Mt Fuji, Kitsune (foxes), Koi fish, and create very textured landscapes by using modeling paste based on my Chikai. 

Student Name: Leticia Ybarra-Romero
Email: Lybarra45art@yahoo.com
Personal Video: https://vimeo.com/543302857
Instructor: Professor Oli Rodriguez

Project Statement

My name is Leticia Ybarra-Romero, and I am a senior at CSULA.   My senior capstone project will include my creative work on canvas and wood panels using acrylic as my medium.  My work will convey my profoundconnection to my strong Christian beliefs and stories behind my chosen pieces that are relevant to my childhood.  

Being an emotional slave to the effects of sexual abuse as a young girl, my home basement became my outlet during my torment.  Drawing Jesus from a painting hung on a basement wall took me to a safe place where I experienced serenity and hope.  

Angel wings take me back to a spiritual event as a kid.  A reckless car heading my way at high speed was about to kill my sister and me.  My mother told me a spiritual force lifted us in mid-air and dropped us onto the sidewalk.  Angels do exit.  

Lastly, the depiction of spiritual birds that reminds us of our departed loved ones.  They come and visit us to convey they have gone to a better place and are looking out for us.  The birds provide hope and consolation to those that believe in the afterlife.