SANTA ANA, Calif. – A host of quirky, colorful, knitted sea creatures called “Mogus” are part of an installation by Indonesian artist Mulyana currently at the Orange County Museum of Art’s temporary art space called OCMA Expand.
Mulyana’s work takes a playful look at a topic that is very serious, the environment. Part of OCMA’s exhibition examines the environment and our relationship to it.
OCMA curator, Cassandra Coblentz, says the exhibition focusses on California and the Pacific Rim with a diverse collection of environmentally conscious artists using a wide range of materials and techniques in their explorations.
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“As a curator, themes for exhibitions always come from the artists I'm interested in,” said Coblentz. “This artist, Carolina Caycedo, is someone I've been wanting to work with for a long time and I've been in conversation with.”
Coblentz explains that Caycedo’s flowing textile-based images bring an indigenous perspective to the idea of waterways as it explores an alternative sense of deep time.
Robert Zhao Renhui challenges our assumptions about the perceived relative importance of different life forms with his piece that classifies almost every species of fly and fly trap. Coblentz says, these artists all have a sense of the urgency of our current environmental situation.
“I don't think the sense of just observing and being passive is ok for any of these artists anymore,” said Coblentz. “There's really this sense that we not only need to create awareness, but we also need to create a kind of critical understanding of the crisis of the time that we're living in.”
\Museum director and CEO, Todd Smith, explained where OCMA is headed next as work has begun on their new space at the Segerstrom Center.
“We never had the space to show off this world-class collection that we've put together in the last 50 years,” said Smith. “[The new building] allows this synergy, this coming together of all the arts into one complex, and the opportunities for collaboration are just going to be phenomenal.”
The artists on view show a diverse response to environmental issues and together ask, “What is the role of the artist in these discussions about our environment?”
“I do think it's somewhat idealistic to believe that art can make a change,” said Coblentz. “But I wouldn't do this if I didn't believe that also to some extent. I do think the conversation and the awareness is at least somewhere to start.”
The current artists will be on view until mid-March and the museum hopes there's something for everyone as well as room to add your voice to the conversation.