Graduate Student loves public's reaction to
his art
By Douglas Sulenta
The Collegian
Wednesday marked the beginning
of a Fresno State graduate student’s art exhibit, which will be
showing at the Conley Gallery until Oct. 2.
Steven Stubblefield, a native of Denver, CO., recently received his B.A.
in general education with an emphasis in art. He is now set to graduate
with an M.A. in art with an emphasis in sculpture.
Stubblefield moved to Fresno in 1987 and started his college career at
Fresno City College, where he was studying criminology and planning a
career in law enforcement after college. But he soon changed his mind.
“You see that the crime never stops and it becomes depressing,”
he said.
His counselors at FCC suggested he explore the arts since Stubblefield
had played in bands and had always loved art in all its forms. Soon he
started to take art classes at FCC and found he had a knack for painting
and creating sculptures.
He said he first gained an interest in art by painting houses with his
family.
“My father, grandfather and most of my uncles were all house painters,
and I loved to paint too.”
After an accident left him in the hospital for some time, unable to work,
he was forced to look into other options. This is when he began considering
going back to school.
Stubblefield says he gets his inspiration mostly from attempting to push
everything he does in art to the limits. “I love to try to exceed
the limits of the work, exceed the boundaries of the space. I like to
try to push my art to the max.”
Mostly, Stubblefield enjoys being able to mix with people when showing
his art.
“Art gives me a chance to work with the community. I love the reaction
that I get from the people.” He said it’s like getting instant
gratification for the work he’s done.
The project showing at the Conley gallery is a bigger piece than he’s
used to working with. Stubblefield said it sometimes turned into a “wrestling
match,” when he was working with the large pieces he currently has
on display.
It’s easy to see how this work might be a challenge to transport.
His work in the front of the gallery stands over 20 feet tall, featuring
a mix of large pieces of driftwood and boxes. The piece starts, standing
tall in one corner of the room and tapers down to the other corner of
the room with pieces suspended from the ceiling throughout.
His other work in the back of the gallery is a work that is made up of
nearly a thousand pieces of women’s underwear he found in trash
bins, or bought at yard sales and the Salvation Army. He said this was
his “fun” piece.
But above all he wanted to show appreciation for the instruction that
he received at Fresno State. “I can’t think of a better group
of people to help me than the professors at Fresno State.”
Comment
on this story in the Features forum >>
|
