Cool Laguna Wilderness Pictures and Other Art On Display at Soka University

Two new artist exhibits joined 's Founder's Hall art gallery Thursday.

Southern California artists Ron Chilcote and Cathy Breslaw will showcase their work at the opening reception of the gallery on Jan. 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

THE LAGUNA WILDERNESS: IMAGES AND IMPRESSIONS
Jan. 19-May 11; Soka University’s Founders Hall Art Gallery Second Floor

About Ron Chilcote

Laguna Beach resident Ron Chilcote works as a landscape and nature photographer and is a professor at the University of California. Chilcote has devoted much of his career to research and teaching on the third world. The hills, canyons and waters from Aliso and Wood Canyons to Laurel and Little Sycamore Canyons are portrayed in his work. His work includes both chromogenic prints and Polaroid impressions. Some are then painted over.

Artist’s Statement:

"As an activist photographer I frequently take my camera into the field where it is possible to find peace and spirituality and to discover how to shape a commitment not only to preserving what is left of pristine nature but to finding the positive values of human existence. My convictions have been shaped by personal experience, and my imagery seeks to capture the beauty that endures to the present. The imagery for this work has been developed through 15 years of photography and hiking through the Laguna Wilderness that buffers the cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Hills.  It is inspired by my many years working on conservation through the Laguna Greenbelt and its founder, Jim Dilley. It depicts the story of an effort to conserve public lands as open space. Its history is in my book, Nature’s Laguna Wilderness."

CATHY BRESLAW: TRANSITIONS
Jan. 19-May 11; Soka University’s Founders Hall Art Gallery first floor 

About Cathy Breslaw

Cathy Breslaw, a contemporary visual artist living in Carlsbad, has been featured in more than 25 solo and 40 group exhibitions across the United States. Breslaw has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University. She experiments with commercial materials to create large format wall, floor, sculptural and installation works. Breslaw focuses on concepts of light, space and the interconnected nature of life.

Artist’s Statement

"Making art has been a continuous thread throughout my life.   Punctuated by the joy and reverence I have for nature and a relentless curiosity about the world around me, my work combines painting, drawing and sculpture. Many of my ideas stem from research and reading about space and time as well as structural forms appearing in the natural world.  I am especially drawn to transparent-like elements and have been primarily using industrial mesh and other commercial plastic materials to create my works. Color plays an integral role in enhancing the atmospheric transparency of the materials. The work, sharing forms of painting, sculpture and installation leads the viewer to take an intimate look at seemingly ordinary materials that because of what has been done to them, transcends their function."