Alicia was born in 1979 and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She earned her BA in English Literature and Spanish from the University of Oregon in Eugene.  While enrolled at the University of Oregon, she studied and did volunteer work in Oaxaca, Mexico; Seville, Spain; Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; and Havana, Cuba.  After graduation, she worked in social services in California, and worked in a state-run orphanage in Costa Rica.  She has been painting full-time since 2005.  Her work is exhibited regularly throughout the United States, most recently at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, Altered Esthetics Gallery in Minneapolis, and Femina Potens Gallery in San Francisco.  She was recently awarded an Honorarium from the City of Berkeley and a grant from the George Sugarman Foundation to continue her Culture Corset series.  She is currently a Post-Baccalaureate Degree candidate at San Francisco Art Institute.

Alicia DeBrincat  "Bubblehead" oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2008

In my constant effort to be liked by everyone, I sometimes find myself selling myself short, minimizing my achievements, laughing at jokes I don't think are funny, and making self-deprecating remarks.  I'm afraid of being perceived as difficult or a bitch, and I find it easier to truncate aspects of my personality in order to be seen as likeable.  The problem with this, though, is that it's exhausting and I catch myself acting like someone who's not really me.  This eager-to-please persona can come off as kind of a bubblehead.  This is the basis for this somewhat self-loathing self-portrait.

Because I am very short, have a pleasant demeanor, and smile a lot, people often describe me as "cute."  This painting grew out of my fascination with and loathing for that backhanded compliment.  When someone describes a girl or woman as "cute," it as much defines what she is as what she cannot be; a "cute" woman cannot get mad, yell, swear, burp, like to look at porn, scratch her ass, and the list goes on.  The compliment "cute" can act like a muzzle, and this painting is my exploration of that.

I grew up afraid of everything.  Being female seemed horribly risky.  What with all the kidnappings and rapes and serial killings, it seemed like a gamble to even step out of the house.  As I've gotten older, I've become more observant and more questioning of the information I encounter.  I've noticed the media is only too happy to remind women how dangerous the world is for them, but does not seem to give the same attention to men.  As horror movies often explore for dramatic effect, there's a shocking, horrifying, exciting charge in the idea of a woman being the victim of chance and the violent whims of others. 

But beneath our collective fascination with women as victims, there is the objective science of statistics.  Statistics do not have a gender-based agenda.  In the US, women are statistically more likely to be victims of rape; men are statistically more likely to be victims of murder.  1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their lives; 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their lives.  Being alive is risky stuff for both men and women, but the alternative is being dead, which seems like no fun at all.  This painting explores the ideas of fate, chance, and statistics that govern our lives, bodies, and psychology.  This image also explores society's dark sexualized fascination with the "woman as helpless victim" shtick.  If women do not think critically about the information they encounter, their safety can seem like a terrifying crap shoot, a numbers game.  That is my inspiration for the title of this painting.

Christian Fagerland "Untitled" 8.25"x4" oil on panel

George Pfau.  Statement.

A professor of mine once brought up the sentence: “She fakes it so real, she is beyond fake.” I find it important to explore and de-construct this view on reality, through multi-layered, narrative paintings. I am interested in how we construct our reality though the uniforms and costumes we wear.  Additionally, I often depict figures wearing Halloween-esque masks to draw attention to the performative nature and historical baggage encompassed in costume wearing.

My paintings consist of networks of exploding, intertwining forms and tangled swarms of lines in the midst of raw canvas or semi-opaque layers of paint. Curvilinear and angular shapes are woven together to create forms that vacillate in and out of abstraction. Emerging from this are many images including representations of figures, foliage, interior spaces, structural floor plans and other diagrams. 
Frequently, these elements are differentiated by dozens of topographic layers of clear acrylic paint. Some are only revealed to the viewer after an extended period of time spent scanning the various areas and layers of the piece, created by a technique of stretching additional pieces of linen or cotton fabric over the original, underlying canvas.

The fully recognizable elements are rendered in oil on the most superficial layer of the painting. consequently, these images are meant to explore and dissect the superficiality of the elements of 
society they depict. Each piece acts as a stage for painted performers to enact previously unseen narratives, often describing instances in which fake and real converge.

George Pfau “Our next program: repetition contest” 20” x 20” oil and acrylic on canvas/cotton

My advanced degrees are not in art, but in Engineering, Financial Planning and MBA.

On September 1st, 2002 I left a very rewarding career as a VP at a great company  to dedicate the rest of my life  studying art.  Since then, I have taken art courses, at Ohlone college, and have been pleasantly  surprised at the quality of teaching in the art department. 

My main focus is portrait painting, because I am very intrigued by the human faces.  I like my portraits to connect with the viewer, through their eyes and expression.  I have chosen mostly children as my model because of the clarity of their soul through their faces. 

I understand my journey  has just started and I have a long way to go.  But since 2006, several of my paintings have been selected, some awarded, and some have been sold in National and  International competitions.  That tells me I must have been on the right  track, and must have had the quality teachers.
 

Farshid Namei, "Nas" 16"x20"

This is one of my nieces.  Nas, was a twenty two year old aspiring actress at the time. I took the reference photo of her  without her mother's permission who is extremely religious. 

I made this painting from a photo I took when I was in Sunol representing Ohlone three years ago. I was never able to locate the parents who had given me the permission to take the picture of their daughter.  I made two paintings of her; One was sold at Salon International in 2006.

This is my niece when she was five.  While I was in Michigan I followed her with my camera everywhere. She finally got fed up with me and shouted at me "Leave me alone!" That  was the moment I clicked.

Given the absurdity of the world we live in I have taken on as my singular task that of providing a bit of irreverence through whimsically sophomoric to topically edgy sculptures.  I expect that when you view my pieces you might think that this guy has a pretty self-indulgent sense of humor.  Yeah that, and being in a classroom with 12 year olds for 35 years is not a conduit to high art, just good preparation for a little zaniness.

 Exclusively I use recycled reused materials in my work both for the environmental reasons, and because it forces me to be more creative in my approach to art.  Well, and according to my wife I’m damn cheap.  It would be ever so much easier to simply go to the store and buy wood, paint, whatever, rather than scrounge, but that would eliminate part of the challenge for me.  The making of art is my ultimate goal, and the most satisfying.

Peter Langenbach "Banana Split" 74" h x 20"w x 16"d
Recycled materials headed for landfill.

Gratifying our self-indulgence.

Our current administration has left the energy problem unresolved.

Genetically altered  drought resistant, pest resistant, sustainable crops, who wouldn't want that?  Are they safe?

Everyone's a connoisseur.

Dome Reflections, SF Conservatory of Flowers (water lily) image size 29" x 21.5" Watercolor

Jian Wu graduated from the prestigious Art College of Qing Hua University (former Central Art and Crafts College of China) in 1984. During the period between his graduation and his emigration to the United States, Jian Wu was commissioned for works in five star hotels and his works were exhibited in China’s National Art Exhibitions. In 1993, he went to study at the Graduate School of Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and joined the university’s faculty shortly. He received his Master of Fine Art degree in 2000.

As a professional artist, Jian has had solo exhibitions and participated in group shows in the States. He has won awards in nationwide professional art exhibitions and competitions. His book Pastel Technique was published by China Youth Press in 2005. And a book of his oil painting collection, The Overseas Oil Painter of China—Jian Wu , was published by China's renowned publisher, Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House in 2007. Jian Wu's works have been collected throughout the United States and the world.

Jian "James" Wu, Sketch book drawing: 36” x 24”. Pen on sketch book.