Elizabeth Moeller's "McDumpsty" 2020
This perfectly describes my thoughts on 2020- we should burn it in a dumpster. Crocheted with acrylic yarn, stuffed with poly-fil pillow stuffing. Pattern from my favorite crochet designer, Twinkie Chan.-Elizabeth Moeller
Jessica DiCampli's "The Bird, " 2020
This work was created during the Spring 2020 quarantine with the theme of vulgarity. The idea was to take an old garment and give it new sustainable life. This pattern, designed and carved into a stamp from my own middle finger, was made to be worn on the days when you're feeling like you want to say !@#$ it to the world. -Jessica DiCampli
Elizabeth Moeller's "Hidden Agenda," 2020
When I first heard my best friend, Crystal, was helping with an art show at UHCL I knew I had to make something to support her and the school, especially since I am an alumni. There was this project I always wanted to make but never had the right excuse to. When Crystal told me the theme for the exhibition, this was the first thing that popped in my mind! I have made illusion projects before but nothing this long. I love that it looks like a normal striped scarf from the front and then the hidden image appears when you look at it from an angle. It actually helped my anxiety during the election, waiting for all the results to come in, I was frantically knitting away! Knitted with acrylic yarn, pattern from G.B. Threepwood-Elizabeth Moeller
Karla Garcia's "Inner Self"
I love doing portraits so I decided it was time for me to do a self portrait. I started working on it and once I was done, I realized I wasn't satisfied with the final product. So, I started tearing it apart. In a way, it felt good to let myself go and I ended up with this. I think it shows that there is always something deeper than just our outer looks. - Karla Garcia
Passion Trenkelbach's "Pot Drop," 2020
You know that feeling you get when you're just so frustrated with something that you want to drop everything and leave? This is the result of that feeling. 2020 has been a never ending struggle it seems in almost every aspect. This piece, for me, represents what it has been like to pick up the pieces after they've fallen and make something from what would be broken. -Passion Trenkelbach
Jennifer Lehnert's "DIVISIVE"
Set against the backdrop of covid-19, Trump rips this country in two while hiding behind religion. These two topics have absolutely dominated my thoughts this year.-Jennifer Lehnert
Christina Bruley's "Plague Me"
I made this piece right after the Covid situation started and classes were forced to go online. This is a linocut print that I made at home, which was a struggle. I have a fascination with plague doctors and the bubonic plague anyway, but Covid to me felt very much like a contemporary plague. I felt very limited in my work and daily life and this was a reflection of that. I took a rougher approach to this piece as well, which was a correlation with how chaotic my life felt at the time. I tend to have a playful irreverence to how I see things, so I approached this piece in a tongue in cheek manner. - Christina Bruley
Tina Cruz's "Margarita Garcia"
I painted a portrait of my grandmother Margarita Garcia also known as Grandma Maggie. She is my maternal grandmother and my last living grandparent as of today. She was a farmworker, entertainer & singer. I painted this portrait in honor of her, showing her how grateful I am to be her granddaughter. I hope to pay respects and homage with this painting after my husband lost both of his grandparents this year due to Covid 19. This year has put into perspective to cherish the time I have left with my grandmother. This year has helped me find my way back to her. I know how hard it has been for so many others to have also lost grandparents and loved ones this year due to Covid. May all those lost rest in peace. - Tina Cruz
Joshua Collins' "Lost in Anxiety But Hope Is Always Near," 2020
I used warm colors for representation purposes for Hope. Red is a strong color representing the theme perseverance. Orange is an energetic color that usually represents good health. Yellow is a calming color that helps with happiness and cheerfulness. The mask being hope I painted it in these colors to help show emotions and stay strong in the uncertainty .I like to call the uncertainty the anxiety. The background and cool colors I used in it help demonstrate that feeling. Blue is usually a representation of sadness. Purple is representing mystery and the uncertainty of the future. -Joshua Collins
Caleb N. Davis' "Babylon Sports Co."
The inspiration behind the work is awareness. As a broad term it can be applied to social awareness, environmental awareness, spiritual awareness, consciousness as an idea itself, and each of those play a factor. Those are the lenses in which this piece about racial injustice and police brutality, in the midst of a global pandemic, should be viewed. - Caleb N. Davis
Passion Trenkelbach's "Choke," 2020
My work this year has shown a lot of destruction and alteration in my pots. Somehow it feels strange to come out of this year with perfect forms, when nothing about this year has been perfect. This piece was the start of that journey, when things started to become difficult, but before everything started to fall apart. A snapshot into the squeezing chokehold this year has had on everyone's lives. -Passion Trenkelbach
Mario Reyna's "It's You," 2020
Time is blameless. You are not.-Mario Reyna
Jazmon Greenwood's "Madness in May"
The year 2020 was hard to say the least and as I am approaching the end of it, I took out time to reminisce on the hardest part; the month of May. This piece is a representation of my feelings and reality. The month of May for me was filled with uncertainty, rage, and anxiety, while compartmentalizing my chaos in order to still manage to succeed in school and work. In all of this, COVID was sneakily rising and life was uncertain. -Jazmon Greenwood
Jude Jakubec's "2020 Life is TRASH"
Due to covid, I haven't got out enough but was inspired by the live stream video of Critter Cam, where they have raccoons eat at night. Also, they were relatable. They come at night, they eat food, then carry on. Usually they are found in dumpsters so 2020 is definitely one of those but on fire. - Jude Jakubec
Marissa Gaines' "Quarantine Blues," 2020
I made this piece in April when I had a creative block due to the stress of this pandemic. Since March, time felt as though it did not exist and this has impacted people's mental health. There are so many uncertainties of 2020 including the fear of getting sick, losing jobs, and being isolated from loved ones. The crying eyes represent the emotional turmoil that resulted from quarantine. The hour glass represents how time is slipping away and how it has made our lives feel out of control.-Marissa Gaines
Danna Butcher's "Stress"
I created "Stress" when I was feeling pushed and pulled between the realities of Covid-19 and my future. I was studying for certifications while being unsure about what was supposed to be my final semester and internship. I was watching news and social media where people where turning the pandemic into politics. There were many times where my emotional exhaustion felt so great, I imagined I was melting under the strain of existing in a chaotic world that was only becoming more unpredictable. - Danna Butcher
Jessica DiCampli's "In the End"
This collaged screen print was started in the studio and finished at home in the spring of 2020 due to quarantine. This work was created to portray the message that, no matter who you are or what color your skin is, in the end, we all end up the same way. This piece was conceptualized in response to and support of BLM. - Jessica DiCampli
Joshua Collins' "Twenty and Twenty"
Twenty and Twenty is a play on 2020. I have had teeth and mouth problems oddly during this time so the edges represent teeth. The inside is the Hurricane form as seen on weather radar to represent the storms hitting land. The masked areas I filled with imagery relating to 2020. The top left dark square has a white X. This is the one thing I felt was a happy thing during 2020 and represents space X launch. below this is black and white drawings and two simple stick men holding hands. This is to represent the race equality march and riots. The main emphasis drawing is single file line stick men with masks on. Taking parts from both equality and the pandemic. Finally the masked man drawing at the top right is also a Covid virus cell magnified. - Joshua Collins
Tina Cruz's "Covid Ventures"
This was my first painting in the 7 months since Covid 19 had taken over the world. I hadn’ t touched a paint brush since February. Art seemed so small in comparison to what was happening on Earth. I took a long hard look at my life and began to refocus and prioritize the things that mattered most. I changed my major from art education to solely art and design. Due to health issues with myself and my family, I chose to stay home to help keep them safe as well as myself. This painting marks a break of that hibernation. It was my mind taking a step of faith during Covid and changing my path for the better. This was the year that I chose to risk it all, not having a plan B to fall back in case my art path did not work out. Without this year, I would have never been able to refocus and follow a new path in life. - Tina Cruz
Karla Garcia's "No. 6"
I was trying to achieve a Jackson Pollock's abstract expressionism look using the human figure. Accidentally, I ended up recreating Michelangelo's Creation of Adam but with feet instead of hands. This drawing helped me relax during tough times in the quarantine. - Karla Garcia
"Missing: The Human Connection"
This piece was inspired by a conversation with fellow UHCL artist students lamenting the missing human connection in our online asynchronous courses and how that negatively impacted our academic performance as well as our social-emotional well-being. I envisioned all of us "connected" by technology yet unable to see each other physically, so I developed the concept of laptops arranged in a circle with each student "trapped" inside the screen, facing outward, wearing their chosen facial expression of how they feel about missing the human connection with their peers. - Roman Avila (self-portrait), Caleb Davis (self-portrait titled "Lonely Stairs"), Melissa Duffy (main photographer of installed work), Jazmon Greenwood (self-portrait), Jennifer Lehnert (self-portrait, concept design, and installation), and Yulia Trujillo-Rodriguez (self-portrait)
Marissa Gaines' "The Year 2020"
This piece conveys that no matter how many twists and turns and dead-ends that were experienced in 2020, better times are coming. When taking a close look, you will see the details of the string that winds in every direction and sometimes reaches a dead-end before making its way to the top. The vibrant colors represent resilience and positivity through the hardships we have experienced this year. - Marissa Gaines
