From Claremont to Pasadena - Cardboard Cut-Outs Get a Second Life at Group Show

2025 has been the year of saying “yes” to a diverse range of projects. It’s funny, because I have been telling myself that I need to start creating bodies of work well ahead of time so that I can keep up with the number of requests to participate in shows. So far, as of writing this blog, I have been in 5 shows/displays (it’s only June). I’ve been (kind of) managing do so that this year.

Earlier this year I was invited to do a window installation for a local bakery down the street from my home. Some Crust Bakery’s window display is traditionally a space for non-profits to artfully curate an attractive window to entice customers to come inside, but also to use it as a platform to tell the story of their mission. I have always wished that in another life tangent, I would be living in a rural area, quietly designing amazing window displays for boutiques…a direct result of my twee-millennial-core folk music loving era. Didn’t we all want to just be figuring out life quietly while enjoying a cafe pastry amongst quirky things? I digress.

I used the opportunity to create these fun cut-outs depicting a sweet dining experience in a fantasy world. A Bichon reaches up toward a fine set of arms wrapped in ribbon. A loaf of challah, a strawberry, a croissant, a champagne glass and a giant fork are sprinkled in the window display just below the neon “Some Crust” sign which has decorated the space for decades. Using a monochrome palette, I am able to focus on the line-work of the illustrations and further amuse the viewer with unusual technicolors. Just through that red door, you’re greeted with a huge display of cakes, cookies, breads, and sandwiches.

Then I was invited last minute to be part of a group show curated by none other than Cheyne Ellett this month

Cheyne Ellett is a recent friend and collaborator I’ve been working with since late last year. We first collaborated for the inaugural Ontario Art Book Fair. At my fulltime job, we were looking for an artist to fully transform our space with original installation art, and some branding. If you don’t know Cheyne, I would describe him in three words: visionary, passionate, and hard-working. Needless to say, he worked well with our budget and over-delivered.

Anyhow, since then our paths have crossed a few times. We tend to reach out to each other for advice, information on upcoming opportunities, and the like. A gallery in Pasadena called The Language Mobilization Factory reached out to Cheyne to curate a last-minute show. Calling on the community, Cheyne decided to put together a group show, and I got the invite. Given the other participating artists, I decided it was a good chance to showcase my illustration work which is starkly different than the photo work I’ve been deep into this year. I have always felt that I have a few distinct styles, and I don’t get a ton of chances to show off work like the Some Crust installation. So I landed on busting them out again for this show.

Cheyne and I decided to re-display them according to an image I had mocked up when the cut-outs were originally being created. I think it worked out! Needless to say, the show turned out amazing because of the diversity and vibrance of all our work collectively. I don’t usually go for group shows. This is not for vain reasons…I simply really want to know who I’m working with and have been protective recently. But, if Cheyne calls, you answer and say yes. I completely trusted his taste and vision. That’s what makes this show special.

Swipe to view more gallery shots of the show called All Together Now. The show is on view at the LMF Gallery located in Pasadena from now through July 5, 2025 at 55 N Baldwin Ave, Sierra Madre, CA 91024.

The show was curated by Cheyne Ellett. You can check out his work here.

Gallery shots of the LMF Gallery by Morgan Rindengan.

More about the show can be read here.

Permanence/ Infinity Opening at the Claremont Chamber of Commerce

This past Saturday, January 4, 2025 my solo exhibition Permanence/ Infinity opened at the Claremont Chamber of Commerce during the Claremont Art Walk. The exhibit featured works from Permanence, a body of works completed during my residency at Pitzer College from 2023-2024, as well as some work previously shown at Seattle Design Festival in 2024 entitled Infinity: What if we collaborated? which is four, 8ft by 4ft multi-panel cyanotypes which were previously configured as an accordion zine and installed outdoors this past Summer. After the festival.

(Above) I took the panels and sewed them into flat panels for an alternative display. The trick was figuring out which side to showcase, as they are printed double-sided. These works are series of 1:1 ratio contact prints, as well as photography all exposed using sunlight.

I also debuted a new work entitled Sutro Baths (A gust of wind nearly killed me), which is a patchwork collage of cyanotypes, knitted patches, embroidery, transparency, and found collage images bound together. Reflecting on a recent hike at the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, I was compelled to attempt to dive into the fringes of my memory on a sensory level. The cold and wet winds at the site, the way the sun beams through the various tunnels and caves, and how vulnerable I feel when balancing myself along the walls and ruins. Most of the work is made up of images I took myself on an iPhone, as well as found images which evoked some of that vulnerability, along with scarp cyanotype tests I’ve collected throughout the past two years. You’ll also find two monotypes in this work (in pink) which are photographs of the Sutro Bath caves using Jacquard Solarfast on watercolor paper.

The most surprising thing was the turn out. There wasn’t a moment that the galleries weren’t filled with visitors. I met many aspiring artists, or artists who wanted one on one time to pick my brain. I was also able to connect with many good friends I hadn’t seen in months.

The show is on view from January 4th through February 21, 2025 at the Claremont Chamber of Commerce located on 205 N. Yale Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711.

Claremont Lewis Museum invites Curious Publishing as Featured Free 4 All Installation

In late Spring, Associate Director of Exhibitions & Collections at the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, Seth Pringle reached out to me via email with some information about his vision for a new type of exhibit to come to the museum in the Summer of 2024. The idea was that, for the first time, CLMA would open its doors to all artists on a first-come-basis and hang work salon style throughout the galleries for a one-day show called “Free 4 All” on August 24, 2024. The Claremont Lewis Museum of Art is not typically associated with emerging artists, and the effort was to attract a new audience in the form of patrons and artists alike.

I have worked with CLMA for several years as a volunteer artist coordinator for their annual event FestivArts (formerly Padua Hills Art Fiesta), did portraiture at one of their annual galas, and at some point, was a donating member of the museum back in my Claremont Chamber Emerging Leaders days! However, my connection to the Museum didn’t touch on my work with Curious Publishing. In fact, I was surprised that they suggested that I exhibit Curious in their museum to begin with. Their space was always in the gray area of attainability in terms of platforming artists like myself. Sure, I had established the rapport and collaboration in many other ways with their staff and board, but to have Curious’ work on display front and center in Downtown Claremont was unexpected. It was an automatic “yes” from me.

I think it’s important to take opportunities like this, not only for the (yes I’m gonna say it), exposure, but also to use it as a creative testing ground. The logistical puzzle of putting together this installation within a few days was an exciting challenge. I had to think of how I would utilize the entire atrium, and also display books which would be for sale during the event. How much was I willing to invest? Is vinyl important? What about wall color? I decided to go with the classic Curious pink, and Seth agreed to prep the walls ahead of time before installation. He had some shelving laying around, and painted those to match. He even offered the use of a wide table they had built for a previous exhibit. And with every new exhibit or tabling that I participate in, I had to incorporate something entirely new to make the installation special.

Nicholas Aceves, Ontario, Fontana, Riverside, 2024, Digital illustration printed on Canon ImagePrograf

I worked with my good friend, Nicholas Aceves to dream up a poster display. The Claremont Lewis Museum of Art is located at the historic and iconic Claremont Depot directly next to a Metrolink station, which is a local commuter train line. Nick drew inspiration from the history of the building, and decided to highlight a few local cities in the Inland Empire. I decided to display some conceptual accordion-bound books along with a wall mounted paper sculpture to anchor in the far southwest corner of the installation. Inspired by children’s picture books, I went to town on some repurposed paper and soft pastels in my studio the weekend before the installation. (What artist doesn’t love a good last-minute project deadline?)

The event itself had a fantastic turn out. I’m not sure the exact numbers, but I bet you can find it in their annual report. I’d estimate several hundred guests of all ages and backgrounds throughout the day were in attendance. I saw a lot of familiar community faces, but also met many patrons of the Museum who were just delighted to see this type of art being represented. Curious made out with some cash to put towards printing as well (can’t beat that). Like most great things, it was over all too soon.

Reading Room: Zines, Comix & Other Radical Texts

Curious Publishing was invited to exhibit at the Wignall Museum at Chaffey Community College this past Summer. The curator, Rebecca Trawick met with me and my husband at Art & Bodega when we were still located in the Claremont Packing House earlier this year to discuss the possibility of doing an installation in the form of a pop-up looking like our shop (irl). Since we knew we’d be closing the shop soon, we decided that we’d go with our classic “curious pink” as the foreground of our show and build from there. The installation ended up being a library of our greatest hits or past published works, along with three unique art pieces created for the show. My good friend, Nicholas Aceves created an XL zine highlighting some of my cross-industry work and how that ties in the Curious mission. I opted to create three CURIOUS Mag covers, one each depicting a portrait of the “founders” of Curious. Another work I created was a zine/sculpture featuring quick doodles of my recent experiences traveling.

Curious has been in a sort of flux state for the past couple of years, and much of my time has been spent traveling for freelance work or exhibiting at art book fairs around the west coast. I think it’s important that I start to blend together my life’s experiences with the work I do with curious in an intentional way. It’s not something that’s been easy for me in the past but I’m starting to learn that I seriously dig being transparent with my audience. The more I am able to share about my life, the stronger my endeavors in publishing and art will become.

It was exciting to see this installation come to fruition. My sincerest thanks go out to Rebecca Trawick, Roman Stollenwerk and Andrew Hadle who were so helpful designing the layout for our installation. Thanks for letting me go pink from floor to ceiling!

Rebecca Ustrell, Memory Chime, 2024, Recycled paper, brass rings, bells, vintage fasteners

September 3 – November 16, 2024
Reading Room: Zines, Comix & Other Radical Texts presents a loud and proud exhibition that celebrates the contemporary relevance and impacts of zines and comics on culture today, on the visual and literary arts, and in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.