Op-ed: Microplastics made macro art exhibit

Last updated on April 12, 2024

The Cabrillo College art gallery is hosting three exhibits titled “Materiality” that challenges the norms and creative possibilities held by unorthodox materials in art. Cheryl Coon, Benjamin Hunt and Robert Ortbal present a unique exhibition filled with thought-provoking pieces that play with scenes stitched together by familiar forms and objects. All three artists showcase examples of incorporating space and dimension into their art to bring their pieces to life.

Coon’s zip-tie sculptures mimic microscopic organisms such as plankton and protozoa in her large-scale installation. The sculptures themselves convey a paradox between the organisms’ biological forms and the unnatural plastic zip-ties used to create the figures, spotlighting the natural world at odds with the man-made world. Coon’s work is inspired by her fascination with the “infinite variations of natural geometry” seen in microscopic organisms, as she writes on her website.

Hunt’s acrylic replications of everyday furniture and construction materials place gallery attendees in a familiar, yet unfamiliar spatial setting. The translucent quality of the acrylic invites the viewer to engage with the pieces closely to get a better look into what is hidden underneath the opaque layers of the pieces. The furniture calls back to forgotten memories that have become ghosts of the past. In an interview with CapRadio, Hunt unveiled his understanding of what ‘spatial art’ means as the encompassing of the three-dimensional realm in art, its installation and the environment it creates.

Ortbal offers an odd journey through a whimsical rabbit hole-like world, presenting small, masked figurines scaled in accord with travel cases, polaroids and full-sized wearable masks, alongside close-up portraits of the figurines. The displays consist of cluttered, colorful and random landscapes, toy figurines and contrasting proportions that fit together into one unclear story.  When Ortbal was asked by editor and critic David M. Roth about what he hopes people will get from his work, he said, “I like to leave people with questions –questions about what it means to be human.”

A closing reception for the exhibit will be held on April 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. and is open to the public. Artists will speak about their work and answer questions. Free parking will be available during the reception in lots A and B for those who are interested in attending.