AHUA highlights ‘Belonging’ through spring exhibition | New University

The Art History Undergraduate Association (AHUA) hosted its 12th annual opening ceremony exhibition at the Student Center to celebrate the 2024 theme of “Belonging: [home, memory and root]” on May 24. The exhibition unveiled multimedia art pieces, which will be displayed from May 28-31 from 12-6 p.m. at the UCI Catalyst Undergraduate Art Gallery.

AHUA President Taylor Robertson and Vice President Gloria Lee commenced the event by welcoming guest speakers. Inaugurating the exhibition as guest speakers were UCI School of Humanities Dean Tyrus Miller, Art History Chair James Nisbet and assistant professor of art history, archaeology and visual studies Camille Reiko Acosta. Speakers shared the importance of navigating the perception of home and sense of self through art.

Miller described the exhibition as a “living laboratory” of curation and expressed the importance of art’s role in conveying unspoken events through history in a speech.

“One of the things that engagement with art teaches us is how closely connected art is to our belonging to places, people, communities and nature as cosmos,” Miller stated as he addressed the crowd. “Through our experience in art, we are able to gain access to distant civilizations across the world to spiritual experiences in other cultures and to the changing human experience in cities.”

The gallery is made up of 23 multimedia art pieces, including paintings, photography and sculptures, selected through student submission to AHUA. All pieces were curated under the umbrella of “belonging” and how the concept of this word changes its meaning when the prefix “be” is removed, in which belonging or longing can occur literally and metaphorically.

Nisbet highlighted the ambiguity of belonging and how AHUA’s commitment to community exploration allows students to search for answers to this ambiguity.

“I’ve lived in California for 15 years now. Does that make us belong more in places than others?” Nisbet stated as he addressed the crowd. “I was once in Helsinki, Finland and had the strangest sense of belonging. I discovered that the land of that city used to be connected to land in Northern Ontario where I also lived. That leads me to the question of how belonging can take the form of so many different ways.” 

Fourth-year art major Lea Clemente created a canvas painting titled “Smyrna Diner” based on a candid photograph taken during a family visit to Delaware.

“This is a photo I took not really planned, but to just capture the memories visiting my grandma as I hadn’t been there in over 10 years,” Clemente said in an interview with New University. “I’ve never really done anything like this so it’s definitely exciting to see my classmates’ work in a different medium.”

Second-year Korean literature and culture and linguistics double major and AHUA Events Coordinator Rachael Lee wrote a personal narrative poem, “Forsythia,” in reference to memories of her grandfather with the forsythia flower. Lee’s poem was displayed in a black frame, situated between two canvas paintings.

“I’m always interested in the power of words and language. I just wrote all of whatever I wanted to convey initially because I was lost,” Lee said to New University. “At the end, I really circled back to trees, flowers and nature.”

Second-year mathematics major Alyssa Barrera curated a photograph titled “Trinkets” that depicted a scene of handmade or collected objects and family photographs on a desk at home. Barrera previously exhibited photography work at the UCI Starlit Reverie Student Art Showcase.

“I was in a photography mode in maybe 2021 and I noticed a scene on my parents’ desk, seeing all the memories on the table to encapsulate that moment,” Barrera said in an interview with New University. “All these mediums come together and no two are the same, but they speak in the same conversation.”

Third-year art major Isabel, who requested to omit their last name, sculpted a wide clay pot with patterns of plants and bulls. According to Isabel, the piece is connected to their sense of self with familial roots in the Philippines. 

“I didn’t feel like I could relate to the pottery [back in the Philippines] since they’re connected to certain tribes there,” Isabel said in an interview with New University. “I wanted to paint plants and animals because they’re not just within the Philippines and I feel that about myself.”

Situated across from Isabel’s clay pot, fourth-year art major Andrea Flores Miranda’s “Tiny Passenger” canvas painting depicted childhood memories of riding on the back of a motorcycle with their father.

“This is one of many paintings in a series of paintings I’m working on based on childhood photographs,” Miranda said in an interview with New University. “I go through family photographs that I connect to and I remember that my dad actually ended up quitting because he knew it was too dangerous.”

Acosta concluded the event by explaining how art can visualize those marginalized by the “ancient world” in the “artistic world.”

“I come from immigrant families. I myself have been an immigrant through many countries,” Acosta stated to the crowd. “But we form communities and bonds through shared artistic practice.”

Exhibition attendee Vicente, who requested to omit their last name, discovered the event through a promotion by UCI Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative.

“It’s really nice that the event is called ‘Belonging,’ because I feel like I can belong here,” Vicente said in an interview with New University.

To view AHUA’s 2024 spring exhibition, visit bit.ly/AHUABelonging for more information.

Karen Wang is a City News Editor. She can be reached at karenw14@uci.edu.