Eclectic Expressions Santa Barbara Arts Fund

Jun 16

Jun 16 Eclectic Expressions Santa Barbara Arts Fund

By Camille Lubach

The exhibition title “Eclectic Expressions'' perfectly defined the collection of vibrant artwork filling the Santa Barbara Arts Fund gallery space on 821 State Street. Curated by creative director and artist, Too Zen, the multi-media show featured 28 BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ artists in a range of mediums.

Too Zen’s personal aesthetic, “psychedelic surrealism” as she calls it, guided the participating artists whose color palettes disregarded neutral tones in favor of glowing hues and punchy pastels.

*Eclectic Expressions, Gallery view, The Arts Fund Santa Barbara, 2022*

With a degree in psychology and minor in Black Studies, Too Zen views art as a therapeutic practice and a way to convey one’s personal narrative. In Eclectic Expressions, observers are invited into each artist's inner world, gaining insight into varied cultural and emotional experiences.

The former cooking supply store Sur La Table shines as a gallery space, its open concept design welcoming to the art folks who began to rapidly stream in on the evening of the closing reception. Several artists arrived early with friends and family, even one eager vlogger, tripod in hand, trailing behind.

Cupcakes and wine eased the social scene as more people arrived. Arts Fund program manager Terra Cobian flitted from person to person, describing pieces with enthusiasm and providing detailed backstories to curious art lovers.

Too Zen’s broad social media network extends beyond the Santa Barbara city limits, with artists like Maeve Riley, traveling down from the Bay Area to show off their creative canvases. Riley learned about Eclectic Expressions via Instagram and has two pieces in the show.

One of Maeve’s pieces is an intimate portrait of a deer on plywood, translucent watercolors delicately tracing the natural lines of the wood grain, “incredible creatures and terrible pests,” the artist noted. Her second piece is a seated self-portrait against a riot of fuchsias and yellows.

Bright colors also reign in the works of Antho, an Oxnard-based artist that utilizes Procreate and Photoshop to superimpose an indigenous headdress over a white Jesus, such as in the work, The Sun. Antho’s clever social critiques travel from canvas to city walls as a graffiti artist and mural painter.

*Cassaundra Einolander, Red Shafted Flicker with Bob Cat Skull*

Goleta native Angela Cantu makes an impactful first impression with her impeccable makeup and clothing. A steady hand is evident in the green and yellow eyeliner adorning her lids and in the crisp lines in her abstract acrylic paintings. She cites cubism and Matisse as inspiration for her canvases which show careful brushwork and geometric precision. It is not easy to produce smooth color fields with a fast-drying medium such as acrylic. Cantu had to work quickly to ensure that she got the intended blurred effect in Cosmo and Wanda on Acid.

Upon leaving, the gallery space was pulsing with artists and art appreciators. The beautiful pieces received an enthusiastic response from visitors who loved the expressive and introspective array of works. It appears Too Zen’s journey as a curator is just beginning.

This summer, The Arts Fund will merge with the Museum of Sensory & Movement Experiences (MSME), taking over the 3,000-square-foot space which will operate as The Arts Fund’s Community Gallery, and MSME as an Arts Fund program.

Cover Image: Angela Cantu, Shifting Perspectives