Artist: Ana Alvarez & Ricardo Corona
Exhibition: The Enchanted Borderlands
Media: Illustration
Gallery: Dr. Maxine Merlino Gallery
Website: Ricardo Corona (ricardocoronaart.com)
Instagram: Ana Alvarez(aadorisart), Ricardo Corona(ricardocoronaart)
Ricardo Corona is a Pre-Production major in his senior year, who was a transfer student from Riverside City College. From the beginning, Corona knew he wanted to be involved in animation, but the specifics were never as clear, until he found Background Painting. He chose to pursue that and when he started at Long Beach State, he steered toward visual development and concept art. Throughout his career at Long Beach State, he discovered an interest in combining different themes that weren’t normally placed together to create something new. For this exhibit, Corona’s goal was to combine fantasy and the wild west into a cohesive new theme called “Mythical West.”
Ana Alvarez is a senior in the Pre-Production major who transferred from a community college in San Diego. The idea that drew Alvarez to art was the storytelling that could be accomplished through it. She wanted to create new stories through every part of the process like world building, landscapes, the details in clothing design, and character design, which is her forte. She enjoys every part of the process and has fun while doing it!
As a team, “Mythical West” was always the goal for them. When deciding on a theme, or idea, this was the one that stuck out most and which resulted in a completely refreshing take on the Wild West.
Ricardo Corona’s piece Lavender Haze is a moderately-sized piece. The piece illustrates clean lines and silhouettes over a gradient sky populated with two moons and small white stars. The almost monochrome cool colors contrast the farthest red-brown mountain, giving the whole piece balance in color. The purple and blue in the sky are not over-saturated, but a good mix of pastel and vivid. The black silhouettes add a stark contrast in the piece. There is a distinct separation between the foreground and the background because of Corona’s use of line and color. The silhouetted figure farthest to the left has the most dynamic lines in the pose. Although simple, the piece is powerful in conveying its message.
Ana Alvarez’s piece Jen Redwater consists of three versions of the same character standing side by side. The piece displays various versions of a character’s design. The piece mostly consists of variations of the complimentary colors: red and green. Throughout all the versions of the character, there is a strong influence of jagged lines, especially in the pants, that create a strong, recognizable silhouette of the character. In the variations, there is one holding a gem, another with a cape and hat, and the last with over-sized gloves decorated with pieces of the green gem from the first. The figures feature a variety of hairstyles as well. Each character design is separately distinct, but still part of a whole story.
For both artists, the goal of this exhibit was to create a new kind of world. A mix of the wild west and fantasy created their theme of the “Mythical West.” Throughout the pieces there is a new collaborative world built. Through Corona’s background design and Alvarez’s character design, the exhibit creates an alternative universe where elves, magical gems, and hippogriff-riding cowboys coexist. The exhibit exudes a feeling of fantasy and wonder. There is a curiosity to get to know more about the world and meet the characters to be able to hear their tales. Their goal of exploring a newfound genre was met and even exceeded as their exhibit transforms the space of the gallery almost into a museum of another world.
Walking through this exhibit was like walking through Disneyland. The artists’ collaborative work created a space that transported me into the world they created. The works together, gave me a feeling of wonder and curiosity. The pieces themselves are very serene and calming. Each character adds to the story of The Enchanted Borderlands, yet comes with their own story. In Alvarez’s piece Jen Redwater, the character comes with a story of hard work and intense engineering. As an engineer, I related to the character in her way of creating something from raw materials. Although the character created something physical from a raw mineral, I create code of new ideas from building blocks. A piece like Corona’s Lavender Haze is serene with a hidden surprise. When seen from afar, the piece is mystical, but when the silhouettes are seen, there is a spark of excitement in seeing cowboy-like figures riding mystical creatures. All in all, the exhibit was exciting and the artists’ collaborative work made it feel like a whole world built to be explored.
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