CRAFTING THE FUTURE: Rene Camarillo, Jamaal Hasef, Terrick Gutierrez, Kayla Salisbury, Lenard Smith, Jaden Williams

CRAFTING THE FUTURE

Rene Camarillo, Jamaal Hasef, Terrick Gutierrez, Kayla Salisbury, Lenard Smith, Jaden Williams 

Crafting the Future: Rene Camarillo, Jamaal Hasef, Terrick Gutierrez, Kayla Salisbury, Lenard Smith, Jaden Williams, features a cross section of works in a variety of media from six emerging Los Angeles artists. The works include paintings, ceramics, photography, and fashion design and represent the culmination of two years working together with artist Corey Pemberton, director of the national arts nonprofit organization from which this show derives its title from. The organization Crafting the Future itself is dedicated to diversifying the fields of art, craft, and design by giving BIPOC artists educational and professional opportunities. The works in this exhibition demonstrate these artists’ creativity, experimentation, and dedication to the mastery of their craft. 
 

Terrick Gutierrez is an LA-based interdisciplinary artist, creative technologist, activist, and storyteller.
Growing up in South Central LA, Terrick began to draw as a form of escape at an early age. Keenly observant, he recognized the unique circumstances presented to a young Black male. In many ways, his work is a visual autobiography reflecting the struggle and resilience of his youth. In other ways, his imaginative work explores and celebrates the beautiful richness of Blackness.
A full-ride as a Gates Millennium Scholar at historic Morehouse College gave Terrick the opportunity to explore art as a form of healing. The ability to physically leave certain environments while being educated allowed him to unlearn and unpack the many ways he had been conditioned to view the world and, equally, himself. Terrick received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in art from Morehouse College in 2017, and a Master of Professional Studies in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University in 2019. He has exhibited in Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles and is in private collections on the East and West Coast.

Kayla Salisbury has for over a decade centered her work in and outside of the studio around her community working with youth and organizing community outreach programming.
She is the founder of the Coloured Art Studio Nonprofit which is bringing an enriched Black and Brown centered arts education program to South Central youth. Salisbury uses her community work, adoration of Black culture, and experience teaching ,fused with locals' stories to highlight issues and to promote necessary social conversations in her artwork. Her lively portraits are a combination of intricate linework and folk-art style caricatures. They are inspired by stories, conversations, neighborhood icons, words, and painted figures found in the heart of South Central. In her paintings, drawing, and sewn work she shares messages to influence and inspire more diverse representations of the beauty of Black bodies. Salisbury holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration with a minor in Social Impact Design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Phoenix.

Rene Camarillo is an East Los Angeles born and raised creator who produces hand-crafted apparel with themes of immigration, labor, cholo silhouettes, and other personal East Los Angeles mementos. In an industry (fashion) where commerce overtakes creativity, Rene Camarillo continues to cross-examine and critique the social engagement of fashion, fiber, and materials. Utilizing storytelling collections that investigate the prescribed narrative of the Latinx existence, Camarillo established the design label, destacarse., where Rene Camarillo hand patterns, constructs, and produces each abstract garment with both integrity and curiosity. destacarse. is a cultural brand investigating East Los Angeles Chicano culture, focusing on immigration, street lifestyle, and labor in an attempt to export an honest identity of historical importance and conflict into its artistic apparel with every stitch.
destacarse: verse mejor (to stand out)

Jamaal Hasef earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Art from California State University, Bakersfield, completed a certification in Art & Marketing from Sotheby's London, and received a Master of Fine Art in Studio Art from Claremont Graduate School.
The artist states, "My work explores ideas and looks of blackness globally, which I conduct through research, travel, and found objects. I use my photography skills to capture moments and subjects, which are later used as reference images for drawings, 3-D design and paintings. Viewers are introduced to black body shapes, familiar objects, plants, and bright colors in the artwork. My main subjects are mostly black males and largely humans of color. The viewer is also introduced to familiarity, similarities, and different forms of representation."

Lenard Smith is a first-generation Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Smith trained in advanced photographic studies and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bard College. His work is grounded in traditional practices and methodologies, utilizing fieldwork and immersive studio time as the core of his art-making process. Inside the studio, Lenard Smith wanders inside himself and his shared identities. These are depicted in paintings and sculptures, from multiple perspectives. The artist has compared his artistic process to the tradition of the ragpicker, sifting through personal and found objects. He reexamines their purposes; to create new hierarchies within interdisciplinary compositions. Whether producing short films, collecting sonic recordings, or working in the studio to create paintings and sculptures his work questions hierarchies to create a new order.