Created using his memories as a child and the ones he has come to cherish, Ismael de Anda III has dedicated his exhibit at Cerritos solely to the memories he has lived through this life.
“Viento” represents some of the Anda’s latest creations, ranging from sculptures, paintings, and framed artwork.
“They’re early works. The earliest one here is from 2004. A lot of my work is from personal memory, so depending what the memory is that’s going to decide what the object will be,” de Anda explained.
In the art gallery was a little room dedicated entirely to one memory in de Anda’s life.
The room came to life with the colors of green and yellow.
In the walls of the room were framed passages, which took the reader the path of Anda’s memory.
As de Anda explained he chose to build a model of a swing set that was in front of his grandparent’s home in El Paso, Texas.
He also mentioned that this was one of the earliest experiences with sculpture he had as a kid.
“One time I came to visit my grandparent’s home, and I noticed the swings were falling apart, so I decided I wanted to rescue it and create a new one,” de Anda said.
Students from Cerritos mostly admired the swing set, because it was something different and represented more thoughts than one.
“My favorite piece would be the model of the swing set because it looks delicate and it gives you a feeling of a time in his youth. There are two seats, so it may be him sharing that time with somebody else,” said Sonya Hernandez, art major.
English major Ratho Lai also agreed that the swing set was his favorite piece.
His interpretation of the piece represents the people that were sitting there together, their connections and conversations.
Even though Anda always had a passion for art. He admits that when he first started out he wasn’t the best.
“When I first started drawing, I was really bad, so my first semester of college, I decided to take some art classes to motivate myself, but it’s always been a part of me.”
One of the biggest pieces in the exhibit was the drawing in the back of the wall.
Dominating with its bright colors, this piece was called the “two headed ceramic beast.”
Painted on the actual wall itself, it covered it completely from top to bottom and side to side.
“I found this image in an old book in a library, so it’s based on ceramic figurines that come from Mexico. For me personally, the two heads provides a possibility for more than one personality or more than one identity,” de Anda said.
Something different that was in the exhibit was the fact that people could participate and leave a little of themselves in the exhibit.
In one of the walls of the art gallery was a drawing and a passage written on the wall. All along the painting nails followed its path.
These were nails that the audience had drilled into the wall itself, placing them along the lines of the drawing.
“Usually, people don’t get to participate in art exhibitions, so I thought this would be a great opportunity for your school, in this environment where people are learning techniques, so this is a form of artwork.
“You practice the technique or maybe first learn it,” Anda explained.
Along his side, de Anda’s girlfriend came to give him support and to check out the exhibition.
“I think it’s great, since I know him I know that a lot of his pieces are from his childhood memories and experiences,” said Letty Banvelos.
Her favorite pieces were the shirts (guayaberas) that were stretched out to look like paintings.
De Anda does art workshops for many art museums and also works for the educational department for museums here in Los Angeles.
Story continues below advertisement
